Anti-Islamophobia Rally, Protest Scheduled At Texas Capitol

AUSTIN, TX (AhlulBayt News Agency) - A group calling for an end to Islamophobia and attacks on people adhering to the Muslim faith have scheduled a protest at the Texas Capitol grounds this week.

"Over the past decade or so we have watched the scapegoating of Arabs and Muslims turn to violence, both verbal and physical," a press advisory on the upcoming event scheduled Wednesday evening reads. "Since the Paris attacks and attacks on Pulse nightclub, we have seen an increase of violent acts, even here in the Greater Austin Area."

The current political climate in the U.S. also has helped fan the flames of xenophobia, officials of the group said: "With political leaders giving voice and support for this violence and hatred against our Muslim neighbors, we have decided to take action in the form of a public campaign to show that these ideas are unacceptable."

Pflugerville resident Karen Dominguez Burke is spearheading the upcoming event. During a telephone interview with Patch, she explained how she was motivated to act after witnessing a growing backlash against members of the Muslim community -- even in her own community where the local Islamic center located just blocks from her home was vandalized.

"It was infuriating," she said of the incident in Pflugerville. "Nobody's place of worship should be defamed or vandalized.

In November 2015, members of the Islamic Center of Pflugerville arrived for morning prayer to find someone had left feces and fecal-covered pages torn from the Quran on the footsteps of their mosque. Two months later, two Muslim women were verbally abused by a patron at the Kerbey Lane diner off Guadalupe Street while other patrons stayed silent.

"We decided we need to have a consistent response to these kinds of attacks," Burke said.




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