Study Ranks California 2nd in Acts Against Arab-Americans

California ranked second in the nation in the number of incidents of “political hate and violence” against Arab-Americans in 1986, according to a report released Thursday by an Arab-American group.

The report, sent to the FBI and members of Congress, says that 42 acts of political violence--including arson, beatings and threatening telephone calls--were reported around the nation to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee during the year.

The incidents occurred primarily after controversial international events involving Arabs, such as the U.S. bombing of Libya or the hijacking-slayings in Karachi, Pakistan, the committee said.

Although this is the first time that such statistics have been compiled, Albert Mokhiber, legal services director of the committee, said that he believes the report illustrates a significant rise in anti-Arab sentiment in the United States.

Report Seeks Increased Awareness

“This may just be a snowflake on the tip of the iceberg,” Mokhiber said. “These are only the reports that are received by our office.” The report is intended to increase awareness of the problem.

The incidents cited occurred in 22 U.S. cities. Ten were reported in Michigan, seven in California and six in the District of Columbia.

Mokhiber attributed the higher figures in those jurisdictions to the large populations of Arab-Americans and Arab-American groups in those areas. The committee estimates that there are 200,000 Arab-Americans in the Los Angeles area and 300,000 in Detroit, which has the largest Arab ethnic concentration outside the Middle East.

Examples of incidents in California included threatening calls to an Arab rights activist in Pacifica, who later escaped injury when a rock was thrown through the window of his van.