Israel-Gaza war drives US anti-Muslim incidents to record high in 2023

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it received 8,061 complaints in 2023, a 56 per cent rise from the year before

The incidents included the fatal October stabbing of a six-year-old boy in Illinois and the November shooting of three Palestinian students in Vermont

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Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally outside Radio City Music Hall in New York on March 28. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:45pm, 2 Apr 2024

Reported discrimination and attacks against Muslims and Palestinians reached a record high in the US in 2023, driven by rising Islamophobia and bias as the Israel-Gaza war raged late in the year, data from an advocacy group showed on Tuesday.

Complaints totalled 8,061 in 2023, a 56 per cent rise from the year before and the highest since the Council on American-Islamic Relations began records nearly 30 years ago. About 3,600 of those incidents occurred from October to December, CAIR said.

Human rights advocates have similarly reported a global rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bias and antisemitism since the latest eruption of conflict in the Middle East.

US incidents have included the fatal October stabbing of six-year-old Palestinian-American Wadea Al-Fayoume in Illinois, the November shooting of three students of Palestinian descent in Vermont and the February stabbing of a Palestinian-American man in Texas.

CAIR’s report said 2023 saw a “resurgence of anti-Muslim hate” after the first ever recorded annual drop in complaints in 2022. In the first nine months of 2023, such incidents averaged around 500 a month before jumping to nearly 1,200 a month in the last quarter.