'This is just the latest example of the hate targeting the Palestinian-American community,' CAIR says in statement
An Israeli man who was shot by a Jewish man in Miami Beach --who mistakenly believed the Israeli tourists were Palestinian -- posted "Death to Arabs" on social media after the attack, drawing condemnation from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The shooting occurred Saturday night when Mordechai Brafman, 27, reportedly made a U-turn, stopped in front of the victims' vehicle, and fired 17 rounds, according to police.
Brafman was charged with two counts of attempted murder after telling officers that he “saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both,” according to a CBS News report, citing arrest documents.
Both victims, identified as Israeli tourists, survived the attack, with one suffering a gunshot wound to the shoulder and the other being grazed on the arm.
Following the incident, one of the victims, Ari Rabey, claimed on social media that the attack was "anti-Semitic" and posted the message, “Death to the Arabs,” sparking widespread criticism.
In a statement, CAIR, the US' largest Muslim advocacy group, condemned both the shooting and Rabey's post, calling it an example of “racist anti-Palestinian views.”
“It is deeply ironic and telling that both the alleged pro-Israel perpetrator and the pro-Israel victim in the Miami Beach shooting reportedly hold racist anti-Palestinian views,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “This is just the latest example of the hate targeting the Palestinian-American community in this country and Palestinians in their homeland.”
CAIR-Florida has called for federal hate crime charges against Brafman, citing his statements to police as evidence of an anti-Palestinian motive.
CAIR has also condemned recent anti-Muslim rhetoric in Florida, including statements from Palm Bay City Councilman Chandler Langevin, who recently claimed that Muslims "don't belong" in the US, and state Representative Randy Fine, who posted a tweet celebrating the killing of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi by Israel in the occupied West Bank on 6 September 2024.
Brafman remains at the Miami-Dade Corrections' Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, according to the Miami Herald.
The incident comes amid a surge in hate crimes targeting Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, and Jews across the US since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
In one of the most harrowing cases, six-year-old Palestinian-American boy Wadea Al-Fayoume was brutally stabbed to death in Illinois in 2023 in an attack motivated by his Islamic faith and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
CAIR reported a 69% increase in bias-related complaints in 2024 compared to the previous year, marking a record number of reported incidents.
