American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)says the release of American Sniper has Islamophobia soar in the United States, leading to more violent attacks against Muslims.
Abed Ayoub, the legal director of ADC, stated in an interview with The Guardian on Thursday that right-wing US political commentators have also played a significant role in pedaling hate against Muslims, which resulted in the murder of three young Muslims in North Carolina.
This week three Muslims were shot dead near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus on.
"This country needs to realize that acts of terrorism are not confined to a single religion or ethnicity,” Ayoub said. "This [Islamophobia] is something that needs to stop and we would like the media to pay more attention and cover this more to show the impact of hate crime and hate speech.”
The activist called the last month release of American Sniper "the turning point” in the recent surge in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States.
Ayoub said, "It may not be directly linked to the film, but the overall way that Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment are moving in this country is portrayed in the words of those who watched American Sniper.”
"You have people on the extreme right that just push that Islam is an evil religion and Muslims and Arabs are these evil people. They could take action and tone that down a little bit - you are entitled to your opinion but don’t attack the community and don’t paint us with a broad brush.”