If the latest FBI hate-crime statistics are any
indication, of the 1,314 verified offenses
motivated by religious bias, 68.5 percent were anti-Jewish.

Only 11.1 percent were anti-Islamic, despite
claims of rampant anti-Muslim bigotry in the U.S.
by groups like the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Across the board, hate crimes in the U.S. dropped
last year by 6 percent, according to the 2005 FBI
report release last week, although violence
against people based on their race accounted more
than half of the reported incidents.

Police nationwide reported 7,163 hate crime
incidents in 2005, targeting victims based on
their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual
orientation and disabilities. That was down from
2004, when the FBI reported 7,649 incidents.

The vast majority of hate crimes in both years
were motivated by race, according the reports,
which detailed the data based on so-called
"single-bias" incidents. That means the crime was
motivated by only one kind of bias against the victim, according to the FBI.

Race-based criminal activity accounted for 54.7
percent of hate crimes last year, up slightly
from 52.9 percent in 2004, the FBI found.

Another 17 percent of hate crimes in 2005
targeted victims for their religious beliefs, and
14.2 percent for their sexual orientation.

Victims were assaulted in more than half – 50.7
percent – of the hate crime cases against people.
Six people were murdered and another three were
raped in reported hate crimes last year. The rest
of the victims, or 48.9 percent, were
intimidated, the report shows. The FBI also
looked at hate crime incidents that targeted
property, with 81.3 percent of cases resulting in
damage, destruction or vandalism.

Sixty percent of the known offenders in 2005 were
white, and 20 percent were black, the report showed.

The data was collected from police agencies
across the country, representing city, county,
state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies.