Discrimination and attacks against Muslims and Palestinians in the US jumped by about 70 percent in the first half of 2024, as Islamophobia fueled by Israel's war on Gaza increased, according to a report from the nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Tuesday (30/7).
Human rights advocates report a rise in Islamophobic sentiment, anti-Palestinian bias and antisemitism worldwide since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war in October, a catastrophe that killed tens of thousands of people and caused a humanitarian crisis.
CAIR said it received 4,951 complaints related to anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian incidents in the first half of 2024, an increase of nearly 70 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
According to CAIR, the majority of the complaints fall under the categories of immigration and asylum, employment discrimination, education discrimination, and hate crimes.
CAIR recorded 8,061 such complaints throughout 2023, including about 3,600 complaints in the three months after the war began.
In the past nine months, there have been a number of disturbing incidents in the US including the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy in Illinois in October, the stabbing of a Palestinian-American man in Texas in February, the shooting of three Palestinian-American students in Vermont in November, and the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian-American girl in May.
Since October, there have been numerous demonstrations in the US, a key ally of Israel, against the war on Gaza. CAIR has documented police and university crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests and campus encampments.
CAIR said it gathered data by reviewing public statements, videos, and reports from phone calls, emails, and online complaint systems. It also contacted individuals whose incidents were reported by the media. (ah/ft)
