Reported discrimination and assaults towards Muslims and Palestinians reached a report excessive within the US in 2023, pushed by rising Islamophobia and bias because the Israel-Gaza struggle raged late within the yr, knowledge from an advocacy group confirmed on Tuesday.
Complaints totaled 8,061 in 2023, a 56% rise from the yr earlier than and the very best because the Council on American-Islamic Relations started information almost 30 years in the past. CAIR mentioned that about 3,600 of these incidents occurred from October to December.
Human rights advocates have equally reported a world rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bias, and antisemitism because the newest eruption of battle within the Center East.
US incidents have included the deadly October stabbing of 6-year-old Palestinian American Wadea Al-Fayoume in Illinois, the November capturing of three college students of Palestinian descent in Vermont and the February stabbing of a Palestinian American man in Texas.
“Resurgence of hate”
CAIR’s report mentioned 2023 noticed a “resurgence of anti-Muslim hate” after the first-ever recorded annual drop in complaints in 2022. Within the first 9 months of 2023, such incidents averaged round 500 a month earlier than leaping to almost 1,200 a month within the final quarter.
“The first pressure behind this wave of heightened Islamophobia was the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine in October 2023,” the report mentioned.
Probably the most quite a few complaints in 2023 had been within the classes of immigration and asylum, employment discrimination, hate crimes, and schooling discrimination, CAIR mentioned.
Palestinian terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 individuals. Israel’s subsequent army assault on Hamas-governed Gaza has killed over 32,000 individuals, in response to the Hamas-run well being ministry, displaced almost all of its 2.3 million inhabitants, put Gaza getting ready to hunger, and led to genocide allegations that Israel denies.
CAIR mentioned it compiled the numbers by reviewing public statements and movies in addition to stories from public calls, emails and a web-based criticism system. It contacted individuals whose incidents had been reported within the media.
