US right heats up inflammatory rhetoric on Palestine as Muslim groups worry

Outpouring of extreme statements from Republican politicians threatens safety of Arab Americans, groups warn

Senator Lindsey Graham wants to see Gaza flattened. Congressman Max Miller said the laws of war should be swept aside. A former US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, suggested that Palestinians as a whole were responsible for Hamas's crimes.

American politicians have rushed to plant their flags firmly with Israel after Hamas killed more than 1,400 people, and abducted about 200 others, in its unprecedented attack from the Gaza Strip. Some have echoed the demand by the Israel Defence Forces - You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism" - reminiscent of the heated rhetoric in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the US.