Muslim-Jewish Group Pushes Anti-Hate Crime Bill
Image by getty images
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council has urged Congress to pass legislation aimed at strengthening efforts to combat hate crimes.
The Protecting Affiliated Institutions Act, which has bipartisan sponsors, was introduced in both the Senate and the House on Tuesday. The Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council, which works to curb hate crimes within religious communities and to promote “the contributions of religious minorities in the United States,” has lobbied on behalf of the legislation.
The legislation would enhance the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996, which made attacks against houses of worship a federal crime. The new bill expands this resolution to include other religiously affiliated institutions, such as schools and community centers. It would also broaden the the purview to include threats, and would make damaging protected property a felony, rather than a misdemeanor.
“Burning down a mosque or vandalizing a Jewish cemetery is intolerable. Now is the time to take action against hate crimes in our country,” Council Co-Chair Stanley Bergman said.
“There was a 67 percent increase in hate crimes against Muslim Americans in 2015, according to FBI data, while Jews remain the targets of the most hate crimes based on religion,” the Council noted in a letter to Congress.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
