A man accused of stabbing a Palestinian American while attacking a group of people leaving a cease-fire rally in Austin was arrested last weekend in the latest U.S. incident of violence amid an escalation of Islamophobia, antisemitism and anti-Arab sentiment.

A group of four Palestinian and Muslim Americans were driving home from a pro-Palestinian protest Sunday near the University of Texas campus when a white man on a bicycle approached their vehicle at a stop sign, began shouting racial slurs and tried to rip a Free Palestine flag off their car, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights group.

The attacker then reportedly pulled a 23-year-old Palestinian American out of the car and stabbed him in the chest. Austin police said Zacharia Doar was taken to a hospital, where his wounds were determined to be non-life-threatening. CAIR, which has been in contact with the affected protesters and the Doar family, said Monday that the young man was recovering from surgery.

We strongly condemn this apparent act of hate, we applaud these young men bravely defending themselves, and we call on state and federal law enforcement authorities to file appropriate charges against the suspect, including hate crime charges, CAIR-Dallas Director Mustafa Carroll said Monday.

No one should be targeted and attacked because they put Palestinian-themed items on their vehicle. Anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Muslim bigotry have no place in Texas or anywhere else in our nation.