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WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Rights advocates have noted a rise in Islamophobia and
anti-Palestinian bias in the U.S. and elsewhere since the
eruption of war in the Middle East. Among incidents in the U.S.
that raised alarm were a November shooting in Vermont where
three students of Palestinian descent were shot and the fatal
stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American child in Illinois
in October.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said on Monday
it has received 3,578 complaints during the last three months of
2023, amid what it called "an ongoing wave of anti-Muslim and
anti-Palestinian hate."
The figure is a 178% rise from complaints in the same period
from a year earlier.
Complaints of employment discrimination led the list with 662
instances; hate crimes and hate incidents were reported 472
times; and education discrimination 448 times, the organization
said.
Earlier this month, the Anti-Defamation League said that in the
three months after Oct. 7, U.S. antisemitic incidents rose by
360% compared to the prior year.
CONTEXT: US SECURITY ALERTS
The U.S. government recently issued security guidance for
faith-based communities amid heightened antisemitism and
Islamophobia since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian
Islamist group Hamas that killed 1,200, and Israel's subsequent
military retaliation in Gaza that the local health ministry says
has killed over 26,000 Palestinians or more than 1% of Gaza's
2.3 million population.
The U.S. Justice Department is monitoring rising threats against
Jews and Muslims amid the conflict. President Joe Biden has
condemned antisemitism and Islamophobia.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Heather
Timmons and Matthew Lewis)
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