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US Anti-Muslim Incidents Rise by about 70 Percent in 2024 : Reuters
Washington: Discrimination and attacks against Muslims and Palestinians rose by about 70 percent in the United States in the first half of 2024 amid heightened Islamophobia, the Council on American-Islamic Relations advocacy group said on Tuesday.
Human rights advocates have reported a global rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bias, and antisemitism since the eruption in October of the Israeli invasion which has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.
In the first six months of 2024, CAIR said it received 4,951 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian incidents, a rise of nearly 70pc compared with the same period in 2023.
Most of the complaints were in the categories of immigration and asylum, employment discrimination, education discrimination, and hate crimes, CAIR said.
In 2023, CAIR documented 8,061 such complaints in the whole year, including about 3,600 in the last three months after Israel invaded Gaza.
Alarming US incidents in the last nine months include the fatal October stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American child in Illinois, the February stabbing of a Palestinian-American man in Texas, the shooting of three students of Palestinian descent in Vermont in November, and the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian-American girl in May.
There have been numerous protests in the US, Israel’s key ally, against brutalities in Gaza since October. The CAIR report noted the crackdown by police and university authorities on pro-Palestinian protests and encampments on campuses.
CAIR says it compiles numbers by reviewing public statements and videos as well as reports from public calls, emails, and an online complaint system. It also contacts people whose incidents are reported by the media. - Reuters
According to a report in The Times London by Bevan Hurley , r eported incidents of anti-Muslim discrimination rose by nearly 70 percent in the United States in the first six months of 2024, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Corey Saylor, the council’s research and advocacy director, said the general climate of anti-Muslim prejudice had led universities and employers to punish employees for expressing pro-Palestinian viewpoints.
The complaints also included reports of hate crimes , and discrimination in immigration, asylum, and employment.
… Antisemitic incidents surged by 140 percent in 2023 compared with the previous year, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
… The most extreme examples of alleged Islamaphobic violence in the US are still before the courts…
About 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 people were taken hostage by Hamas in the October 7 invasion.
Since then, at least 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and millions displaced in the Israeli assault on Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
