WASHINGTON D.C. – Ever since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas, the rate of hate crimes against both Muslim and Jewish Americans has spiked. For Muslim Americans, a 172% increase was noted between October 7 and December 2, 2023, from reports of bias and requests for help, compared to the two-month average from 2022. Yet, this is only part of a larger overall trend of hate crime increase, which was starkly and ironically highlighted on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, during a Senate Judiciary hearing about the state of hate crimes in the United States.

Upon reciting her prepared testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, a bipartisan senatorial group, Maya Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute, fielded questions from some of the senators, including Republican John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana, who attacked her with a line of racist and Islamaphobic questioning. 

Shortly after some introductory clarifying questions about Berry’s background and occupation, Senator Kennedy asked the abrupt and shocking question, “You support Hamas, do you not?” referring to the Palestinian terrorist organization, which has been in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007. To this, Berry responded by remarking, “Senator, oddly enough, I’m going to say thank you for that question,” and “that it demonstrates the purpose of our hearing,” referencing the hearing’s purpose of bringing attention to hate crimes.

Throughout the hearing, Senator Kennedy repeatedly asked Berry similar questions about whether or not she supported Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Islamist paramilitary group, and the Iranian government. Upon expressing the disappointment she felt that comments like Senator Kennedy’s were being made on a national stage, Berry also firmly stated, “I don’t support violence, whether it’s Hezbollah, Hamas, or any other entity that invokes [violence].” 

However, multiple times during Berry’s testimony, Senator Kennedy retorted, “You can’t bring yourself to say no, can you?” even though Berry had responded and made it clear that she did not personally support Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran. 

Towards the end of the hearing, Berry declared to Senator Kennedy that “it’s exceptionally disappointing that you’re looking at an Arab American witness before you and saying ‘you support Hamas.’” 

To this, Senator Kennedy started a similar line of rhetoric, saying that he found it “exceptionally disappointing” that Berry could not bring herself to say that she did not support Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. With a smug look on his face, Kennedy ended the questioning with a racist and offensive remark about the hijab, a head covering worn by many Muslim women: “You should go hide your head in a bag.”

A variety of politicians condemned Senator Kennedy’s comments. Illinois Senator and Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin criticized Kennedy’s incendiary comments as “fan[ning] the flames of hatred and division” and stated that “Jewish, Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Americans all deserve to be safe.” The Senate Judiciary Democratic Committee also condemned Kennedy’s remarks, calling his words “horrible.” “His horrible bigotry and hate have real consequences in the Arab community and the Palestinian community, in other communities, and it makes us all less safe,” commented Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, in a later interview. 

A variety of organization leaders also expressed anger toward Kennedy’s words. Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, stated that the group condemned the “discriminatory and vitriolic attack” on Berry and labeled Kennedy’s remarks as “racist rhetoric.” Dylan Williams, vice president of government affairs at the Center for International Policy, likewise called it a “flagrantly racist and defamatory attack on a hearing witness.” 

This incident is not the first time Senator Kennedy has made Islamophobic comments. During the confirmation hearings of Adeel Mangi, who President Joe Biden nominated to be the first Muslim American judge in a federal appeals court in November 2023, Senator Kennedy asked Mangi whether he “celebrated 9/11” and labeled Mangi “anti-Semitic,” despite his endorsement by a coalition of fifteen Jewish organizations.

Following the hearing, Berry stated in an interview, that “to actually experience [such bigotry and hatred] at a hate crime hearing … was pretty extraordinary.” Kennedy’s disgusting words and how the general public subsequently overlooked them shake the very foundations of the “American dream” — the dream of a country where people are defined by their words and deeds, rather than religion or ethnic background.