Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A914-2003Oct8.html?referre

On October 9, 2003 The Washington Post reported that "a Muslim woman who said she was stabbed in the back outside a Fairfax County shopping mall and called a 'terrorist' by her assailant is the mother of an active-duty U.S. Marine Corps corporal who recently returned from a tour in Kuwait. Michelle Rothstein-Latif, 47, who was not seriously wounded in the Sunday attack, said she was offended that anyone would think she supported terrorism. 'I don't believe in fanaticism, I'm just a regular American Muslim,' said the Woodbridge resident, who converted to Islam in 1987..." Mohamed Nimer, the research director of the Washington-based Council on American Islamic Relations, said the council has "received reports of at least 62 hate crimes against Muslims since the start of this year, a 50 percent increase over the previous 12 months."