Some Muslim students said April 3, deemed “Punish a Muslim Day” by fliers worldwide, was not the first time they felt hate directed toward their faith.
Reports of fliers advocating for the hateful day swept IU’s campus and the globe this week, allegedly beginning in London.
Though the Indiana Daily Student, campus officials and the IU Police Department could not locate the fliers on campus, rumors of them spread throughout the IU community.
Muslim students at IU spoke out following the rumors. Some said hate directed at their faith was not limited to Tuesday.
“I don’t think this kind of hate is anything new,” sophomore Sarah Naveed said.
Naveed said Muslims have long been persecuted in America, especially following the Sept. 11 attacks. The community is making a mistake if only focuses on the alleged fliers, she said, which she called a symptom of the larger issue of Islamophobia.
She talked about her mother telling her not to go anywhere but class Tuesday and worrying about the safety of students attending a Muslim Student Association event that night. An IUPD officer attended the MSA event at the request of the group.
Though Naveed said she can’t speak for every Muslim student at IU, she said she hasn’t felt the kind of blatant hatred directed toward Muslims by the reported fliers on campus before — with one exception.
She said she felt the same hatred directed toward her faith by pro-Trump protesters at a “Love Trumps Hate” rally in Bloomington following the 2016 presidential election.
One mother of a Muslim IU student, who asked to not be named out of fear for her and her daughter's safety, said she gave her daughter the same advice Naveed’s mother gave Tuesday.
She thought Bloomington was an educated community, she said, but now fears there may be some uneducated people who hate her and her family for their faith.
“It’s not fair to Muslim people or people of any religion to be afraid,” she said.
The mother said she planned to drive to see her parents in Indianapolis on Tuesday, but decided not to just in case her car broke down and something bad happened. She texted about 25 people, urging them to be careful Tuesday.
She wears a headscarf and said one of her daughter’s friends who also wears a headscarf didn’t go to class Monday, also fearing for her safety after hearing rumors of fliers on campus.
Sophomore Sarah Kawamleh said many visibly-Muslim women who wear the hijab to practice Islam, like herself, are often on edge.
“It’s an everyday struggle,” Kawamleh said. “We’re hyper-aware of our surroundings 24/7.”
Kawamleh, the social justice chair for IU’s Muslim Student Association, said she feels Donald Trump’s election empowered racist individuals to spread their beliefs.
Reported hate crimes have risen since 2015, according to FBI data.
“Punish a Muslim Day isn’t a one-day thing,” Kawamleh said. “There are a lot of cruel people out there.”
Despite the fear the fliers attempted to spread through Muslim communities worldwide Tuesday, many individuals took to social media to express support in a counter-campaign called “Love a Muslim Day.”
Kawamleh posted a message to Instagram on Tuesday, urging her followers to stay safe and look after one another.
