A hate group in the United States publicizes the identities of pro-Palestinian student activists and professors in an effort to stigmatize them and dissuade employers from hiring them in the future. The group keeps an online database of 54 people in a website called "canary mission" saying that "It is your duty to ensure that today's radicals are not tomorrow's employees," in a video explanation. In the website, which has run since March, no names of editors are displayed.Blacklisting of pro-Palestinian students and making them a potential target has received severe criticism. "Collecting information on students has particular value because it signals to them that attacking Israel is serious business, not some inconsequential game, and that their actions can damage both Israel and their future careers," Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum said, as reported by the Israeli newspaper Hareetz.Meanwhile, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority banned the display of the cartoon that won first prize at an event called the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," and was sponsored by the New York-based anti-Muslim and pro-Israel American Freedom Defense Initiative group which took place in Garland, Texas earlier this month at which two gunmen opened fire near the venue and wounded a security guard before they were shot and killed by police. All political, religious and advocacy advertising in the Washington transit system was prevented by the Washington subway. However, the founder of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, Pamela Geller, described the cartoon as a way to express "political opinion" under the right to free speech. "They are using their free speech to propagate misconception and to divide people along ethnic or religious lines," Nihad Awad, the head of the Council on American Islamic Relations said, stressing that public anger against American Muslims turns violent.Anti-Islam caricatures and events that are allegedly being held in the name of the freedom of speech and free society is considered as a way to insult the Muslim community, as many Muslims consider the depiction of provocative cartoons of Prophet Muhammed sacrilegious."These events should be taken seriously by people of all faiths. Whenever hatred and bigotry spread within a society, it hurts all members of that society," Ibrahim Hooper, the leader of the Council on American-Islamic Relations told Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency in the aftermath of the event.Since the aftermath of 9/11, hate crimes and hatred towards people of Middle-Eastern descent or Muslim communities have been on the rise in the United States. However, frequency and notoriety of hate crimes and violent attacks towards Muslims has increased in the U.S. during the past decade, especially after the deadly attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7. Intolerance, hatred and discrimination towards religious and ethnic minorities prove that Islamophobia becomes a blatant reality in the country. The fatal shooting of three young Muslims in North Carolina in the United States on Feb. 12, shows possible religious bias and hate crimes against Muslim population.The threat posed by many militants affiliated with the radical Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) to the Western world has increased negative sentiments towards Muslims. The misrepresentation of Islam by militant groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), al Qaida, Boko Haram and the Taliban trigger more fear and anti-Muslim sentiments in the western world. In an interview with Daily Sabah in Nov. 2014, the prominent Muslim leader, Nihad Awaz, criticized ISIS' actions in the supposed name of Islam, and said that Muslims are paying a very heavy price because of the activities of extremist groups in the Middle East. "Unfortunately, the image of Muslims and Islam in the U.S. and the way Muslim Americans are viewed, treated and perceived is not based on their contributions and their identity as citizens of the United States, but by foreign events that are taking place outside of U.S. borders, especially at the hands of people like ISIS. So, we are paying a heavy price and the image of Islam is paying heavy price as well because of the direct violations to Islamic teachings and values on the ground by people who profess to be Muslims," Awaz said.The number of Muslims living in the United States ranges from 3 million to 7 million, making Islam the fastest growing religion in the country, according to the data released by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies and the Association of Religion Data Archives.