Muslim rights group reports ‘staggering’ increase in discrimination complaints
Reports of both Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination against Arabs and Palestinians have surged alongside incidents of antisemitism
Shoes removed for prayer with congregants reflected in glass as they depart Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, in October. The Council on American Islamic Relations Reported a surge in discrimination reports it has received since October. Photo by Getty Images
By Arno Rosenfeld January 29, 2024
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim advocacy group, reported a nearly 200% increase in complaints of bias, discrimination and hate crimes following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel.
CAIR received 3,578 complaints during the last three months of 2023, almost triple the number that it fielded during that period in 2022.
“Despite this disturbing wave of bias targeting the Muslim, Arab-American and Palestinian communities, we are witnessing an impressive resilience in the face of bigotry,” Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national director, said in a statement.
The Oct. 7 attack and ongoing war in Gaza have been accompanied by an increase in discrimination against Jews, Muslims, Arabs and others in the U.S. perceived to have a connection to the Middle East.
The Anti-Defamation League said that it found more than 3,000 antisemitic incidents during a similar period following Oct. 7. Staff at the organization identified many of these events independently, speaking to victims, and identified others based on media coverage or reports from partners.
In contrast, CAIR’s data is based solely on complaints made directly to the organization, which is the largest Muslim advocacy and civil rights group in the country. It said that 19% of the complaints involved employment discrimination. It categorized another 13% as “hate crimes and incidents” and an additional 13% involved discrimination in educational settings.
CAIR did not release a list of the incidents it received reports about. The report of a steep increase comes after the organization charted a decrease in the overall number of complaints in 2022, during a period in which the organization said that domestic politics had been “less volatile.”
The violence in Israel and Gaza, and political fallout in the U.S., seem to have changed those circumstances as supporters of both Israel and the Palestinians say they have faced a torrent of abuse and vitriol from their political opponents.
Two notable incidents of violence against Arabs and Muslims included the murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian American in Chicago in mid-October, and the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
