WASHINGTON: Following Hamas’ attack on Israel and Israel’s assault on Hamas-governed Gaza, complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian discrimination and hate in the US rose by almost 180% in the three months that preceded October 7, said to an advocacy group on Monday.
Why is it important?
Since the start of the Middle East conflict, human rights activists have noticed a rise in anti-Palestinian and Islamophobia attitudes in the US and abroad. Among the US incidents that caused fret was the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in Illinois in October and the shooting in Vermont in November that took the lives of three students of Palestinian tradition.
Based on the numbers.
During the last three months of 2023, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced on Monday that it had received 3,578 complaints, citing “an ongoing wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate.”
Comparing the same period last year to the current figure, complaints have increased by 178%.
Employment discrimination complaints topped the list with 662 occurrences, followed by reports of hate crimes and events (472 times) and discrimination in education (448 times), according to the group.
The Anti-Defamation League stated earlier this month that, in the three months after October 7, antisemitic occurrences in the US increased by 360%, opening a new tab, in comparison to the same time last year.
US security alerts in context
Since the 1,200-person Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel’s military retaliation in Gaza, which the local health ministry claims has killed over 26,000 Palestinians or more than 1% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, the US government has recently released new tab safety regulations for faith-based communities. These changes come amid an increase in antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Amid the chaos, the US Justice Department is keeping an eye on and opening new tabs concerning growing threats against Muslims and Jews. President Biden denounced antisemitism and Islamophobia and opened another chapter in the issue.
