Data from an advocacy group has unveiled that discrimination and reported attacks against Muslims and Palestinians in the US have reached an all-time high in 2023, fueled by an increase in Islamophobia and bias.
A total of 8,061 complaints were filed in 2023, marking a 56% rise from the previous year and setting a new record since the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) began its recordings nearly 30 years ago.
Human rights advocates have also noted a global surge in Islamophobia, bias against Palestinians, and anti-Semitism following the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas.
According to CAIR’s report, approximately 3,600 of these incidents occurred between October and December, indicating a “resurgence of anti-Muslim hatred” in 2023 after the first-ever recorded annual decrease in complaints in 2022.
In the first nine months of 2023, the average number of such incidents was around 500 per month, before jumping to nearly 1,200 incidents per month in the last quarter.
The report attributes this wave of increased Islamophobia primarily to the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine in October 2023.
The majority of complaints in 2023 fell into the categories of immigration and asylum, employment discrimination, hate crimes, and educational discrimination.
CAIR gathered these figures through the review of public data and videos, in addition to reports from public calls, emails, and their online complaint system.
They also contacted individuals whose incidents were reported in the media.
