US Muslim group reports sharp rise in anti-Muslim bias incidents following Israel-Palestine conflict

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released data Thursday that indicated an "unprecedented" surge in reported cases of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias following the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Between Oct. 7 and Nov. 4, the Muslim advocacy group said in a statement that its national office and chapters received 1,283 requests "for help and reports of bias, which is a 216 percent increase over the previous year."

During a typical 29-day span in 2022, CAIR averaged 406 such complaints, according to the statement. People reaching out for support include a wide variety of Americans, including public school and college students, doctors and other workers, protestors and mosques.

CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor said Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism are out of control in ways we have not seen in almost 10 years.

"The Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian rhetoric that have been used to both justify violence against Palestinians in Gaza and silence supporters of Palestinian human rights here in America has contributed to this unprecedented surge in bigotry," said Saylor.

Saylor noted that American Muslims are facing the largest wave of Islamophobic bias that the Muslim group has documented since then-candidate Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban announcement in December 2015.

"Political leaders, corporations, media outlets, civic organizations and others all have a role to play in ending this surge in bigotry," he added.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas. on Oct. 7.

At least 10,569 Palestinians, including 4,324 children and 2,823 women, have been killed. The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.

Basic supplies are running low for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents due to an Israeli siege, in addition to a large number of casualties, massive displacements and thousands of buildings destroyed.