During Maggie Slavin’s first months at the Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the chapter’s civil rights department dealt with a handful of Islamophobic incidents.
That all changed Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing conflict.
“Hate crimes and hate incidents happened to Muslims for sure, but it wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as it is now,” said Slavin, who started working as operations manager at CAIR-Chicago a couple of months before the attack…