AhlulBayt News Agency: A Palestinian-American man was hospitalized following a suspected hate-crime vehicle assault in Cleveland, Ohio.
A Palestinian-American man was hospitalized after he was allegedly hit by a car driven by an anti-Palestinian assailant on Sunday afternoon. The incident occurred on Cook Road, near the border of Olmsted Falls and North Ridgeville, Ohio.
The 20-year-old victim told the police that he was walking home from lunch when a dark SUV slowed down and rolled down the window. The driver of the SUV shouted anti-Palestinian slurs at him, such as "Kill all Palestinians" and "Long live Israel", and swerved his car to intimidate him. The driver then turned around and struck the man with his car, yelling "DIE!" before speeding away.
The victim suffered injuries to his legs and was taken by EMS to St. John Westshore Hospital for treatment.
The Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the attack and urged law enforcement authorities to monitor and investigate crimes related to the rising Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in the country.
"We hope the North Ridgeville Police Department and the FBI will collect all the information they need to charge this individual with a hate crime. We should all feel safe to walk down the street to grab a bite to eat, go to the store and go to school," said Faten Odeh, CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland Interim Executive Director.
CAIR and its affiliates nationwide have documented an increase in incidents of anti-Muslim bigotry in the weeks following the start of the war between Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and the Israeli regime.
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A Palestinian-American man was hospitalized after he was allegedly hit by a car driven by an anti-Palestinian assailant on Sunday afternoon. The incident occurred on Cook Road, near the border of Olmsted Falls and North Ridgeville, Ohio.
The 20-year-old victim told the police that he was walking home from lunch when a dark SUV slowed down and rolled down the window. The driver of the SUV shouted anti-Palestinian slurs at him, such as "Kill all Palestinians" and "Long live Israel", and swerved his car to intimidate him. The driver then turned around and struck the man with his car, yelling "DIE!" before speeding away.
The victim suffered injuries to his legs and was taken by EMS to St. John Westshore Hospital for treatment.
The Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the attack and urged law enforcement authorities to monitor and investigate crimes related to the rising Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in the country.
"We hope the North Ridgeville Police Department and the FBI will collect all the information they need to charge this individual with a hate crime. We should all feel safe to walk down the street to grab a bite to eat, go to the store and go to school," said Faten Odeh, CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland Interim Executive Director.
CAIR and its affiliates nationwide have documented an increase in incidents of anti-Muslim bigotry in the weeks following the start of the war between Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and the Israeli regime.
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