Anti-Muslim Backlash Strikes U.S. Post Brussels Attack

The U.S. is gearing up to face the inevitable anti-Muslim backlash after a terror attack in Belgium.

Hence, the wave is rising across social media, on college campuses, and even in political speeches. There is anger and vitriol after the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Brussels attacks. The leaders in California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio are grappling with the problem.

The post attack period "is always a difficult time for Muslims in the United States," said Nabil Shaikh, a leader of the Muslim Students Association at Princeton University, according to usatoday.

"On Princeton's campus, students took to anonymous forums like Yik Yak to comment that there are Muslims at Princeton who are radical and would therefore condone yesterday's attacks," Shaikh said. "These comments not only are appalling and inaccurate but also threaten the well-being of Muslim students."

The backlash is stronger in Europe, especially in Belgium and Paris. There have been reported anti-Muslim rallies in Flemish cities, such as Antwerp and Ghent. A few Muslim leaders charge the cops of targeting Muslim communities in lockdowns as well as in the raids of homes.

In the U.S., most of the attack is verbal, with extreme rhetoric. As Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz said that the U.S. needs to "empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

His comments incited the Muslims immediately.

On the other hand, President Obama called the approach most "un-American.

"I just left a country that engages in that kind of surveillance, which by the way the father of Senator Cruz escaped, to America, the land of the free," he said, referring to Cuba.

Politics is playing a key role in invoking anti-Islamic sentiment, said Khusro Elley of Chappaqua, N.Y., a trustee at the Upper Westchester Muslim Society in Thornwood, N.Y.

"The average Muslim still feels intimidated, still feels scared, still feels insecure," particularly because Muslims are depicted to be terrorists, he explained.

No one has reported attacks on Muslims to the Council on American-Islamic Relations since the Brussels attack. But bullying and hate speech are increasing, said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington-based civil-liberties group.

"For girls, it's pulling on the hijab and calling them terrorists, and for boys it's saying that they have a bomb in their backpack and calling them terrorists," Hooper said. Some politicians make the problems worse. "They really have mainstreamed Islamophobia."

In Louisville, more than two dozen Islamic leaders gathered Wednesday to condemn the attacks and urge the public not to link all Muslims with terrorism, describing a growing level of Islamophobia.

"I do feel that with the attacks in Brussels and especially after Paris, people feel like they are entitled to speak hatefully. It's actually a lot worse than what happened after 9/11."