AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Amid a growing climate of online hate, the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts has reported a surge in Islamophobic abuse and threats following its efforts to strengthen engagement with the local community through social media.
The 42-year-old mosque, located in West Springfield, launched a Facebook campaign earlier this month to promote its annual “Mosque Open House Day”, an event held since 2017 to foster cultural dialogue and mutual understanding among neighbors.
According to Dr. Khurram Ovays, a physician and the mosque’s public relations officer, a promotional poster for the event was posted and boosted on Facebook on October 8 for $20. However, instead of drawing interest, it attracted about 120 comments, mostly filled with hate speech and explicit threats from users across the United States. Some of the posts even called for violence and a so-called “holy war” against Muslims. Despite the hostility, the event proceeded peacefully on October 11 with around 70 attendees.
A report by the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) shows that incidents of Islamophobia in the state rose by more than 40% in 2023, particularly after the onset of the Gaza war in October that year. The number of threat reports received in the three months following the conflict exceeded the total recorded in 2022.
For years, the mosque has hired a police officer during Friday prayers for both traffic control and deterrence against potential threats. CAIR-Massachusetts is currently assisting the center in applying for state security funding. Meanwhile, recent reports of physical assaults and poisonings targeting Muslim students have prompted experts to warn that the “normalization” of Islamophobia poses increasingly dangerous risks to public safety and social cohesion.
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