The Israel-Palestine war may be happening on a different continent, but the entire world is feeling its impact. Since The Hamas attacks on October 7th, there have been several reports of attacks on both Jews and Palestinians in several places. The most recent incident happened in Austin, Texas.
A white man stabbed a Palestinian-American man after a pro-Palestinian protest last weekend. According to the local police, this was a hate crime. The victim was 23-year-old Zacharia Doar, who was sitting in his car.
He was waiting to leave a statewide protest on February 4th at the Texas Capitol with three other young Muslims. As they waited, a white man on a bicycle rode up to them, attempting to tear a Palestinian keffiyeh off their car. The man, Bert James Baker, allegedly screamed racial slurs at the passengers.
Further aggravating matters, Baker then allegedly slammed open the car door, ripping Doar out of the passenger seat and onto the ground, where he began attacking him. The. He stabbed him in the back, narrowly missing his heart by a couple of inches.
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The entire scene played out really fast, and the other guys in the passenger seats rushed to help him. Thankfully, the wound was not fatal, and Doar survived. His father told the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) that they rushed him to the hospital, where he received emergency care.
Furthermore, he had surgery done, and it was successful. Sadly, he faces a long recovery process. The next day, the Austin Police Department arrested Barker and charged him with assault with a deadly weapon.
In addition, their Hate Crimes Review Committee looked into the matter and concluded that it was “bias-motivated.” According to their press release, the police passed this recommendation to the Travis County district attorney’s office, which will decide whether to prosecute the case as a hate crime.
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In addition, this marked a huge win for CAIR, which is a strong advocacy group for Muslims in America. Their National Deputy Director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, released a statement acknowledging this incident and the police response.
“We welcome the swift recognition of the alleged motive for this attack and call on law enforcement authorities to bring appropriate charges in the case,” he said. “Every American should be free to express their political views, wear symbols of their culture, and practice their faith without fear of attack or intimidation.”
Sadly, this is just one of many reported cases of bias-related attacks across the country. In fact, it has become very rampant since October 7th, and both Jews and Palestinians are not safe. Another big problem is that these attacks cut across several age groups.
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In October, a landlord in Illinois attacked 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume unprovoked. In November, three college students in Vermont were shot for wearing keffiyehs and speaking Arabic in public. Their only “offense” was their nationality.
This attack left one of the boys permanently paralyzed. Therefore, the government needs to do something about this pressing issue before more casualties happen.
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