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Internet platform for studying Xenophobia, Radicalism and Problems of Intercultural communication.

Vandalism

Vandalism

Over the past few years, there has been an upward trend in hate vandalism in the United States, as well as an increase in the overall number of hate crimes. Houses of worship of different faiths, from Jewish synagogues to Buddhist temples, Muslim mosques and Catholic churches, have been subjected to a great deal of vandalism, arson and other material damage.

For example, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) recorded 105 acts of vandalism against Catholic sites in the United States between July 2020 and November 2021. According to the FBI, there were 64 reported hate crimes against Catholics in 2019 and 51 in 2018. This includes broken windows, damaged and defaced statues, graffiti, attempted arson, theft of religious objects, break-ins and theft.

From 2005 to January 2022, there were more than 250 attacks on mosques in 44 U.S. states. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a semi-annual report highlighting serious anti-Muslim incidents that occurred in the United States during the first seven months of 2021. CAIR, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and Muslim advocacy organization. Usually publishes an annual report, tracking hate crimes and incidents of bias. The organization decided to publish a semi-annual "snapshot report" because of a spike in vandalism and other hate incidents in May and June, Robert McCaw, CAIR's director of government affairs, told CNN. In total, the organization reported five incidents of vandalism at U.S. mosques between February and May 2021.

In April 2022, the Anti-Defamation League said the number of reported attacks, vandalism and harassment targeting Jewish communities and individuals in the United States was the highest on record in 2021. A total of 2,717 antisemitic incidents were reported, according to an annual audit published by the ADL. This represents a 34 percent increase over the 2,026 incidents reported in 2020, according to the group.

Of those, 1,776 incidents are classified as harassment, meaning that one or more Jews or those thought to be Jews were the target of anti-Semitic slurs, stereotypes or conspiracy theories, the report said. A total of 853 incidents were vandalism and 88 were assaults.

In total, according to the FBI, of the 3,147 hate crimes committed in 2020 and classified as crimes against property, the majority (74.1%) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism. Robbery, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson and other offenses accounted for the remaining 25.9% of property crimes.

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