‘Unprecedented’ number of Islamophobia, anti-Arab bias complaints reported in past month: CAIR

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group, said it has received an “unprecedented” number of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias complaints in the past month. 

In a news release on Thursday, the advocacy group said it has received 1,283 complaints reporting bias in the month since militant group Hamas’s surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7.

The latest data is a 216 percent increase over the previous year, the group noted. In 2022, CAIR received only 406 complaints within a 29-day period. 

“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,” CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor said in a statement. 

“American Muslims are facing the largest wave of Islamophobic bias that we have 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.”

CAIR’s report comes as the New York Police Department (NYPD) released its monthly crime statistics Wednesday, saying it saw a 214 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Jewish people last month. 

According to statistics, NYPD reported 101 reported hate crimes, 69 of them against Jewish people in October 2023. This is compared to October 2022 statistics when 45 hate crimes were reported, including 22 of them targeting Jews. 

Tuesday marked a month since Hamas militants conducted their surprise attack against Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,400 people and the taking of around 240 hostages, of which only five have been freed.

In response, Israel has launched a series of airstrikes, killing more than 10,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Israel also launched a ground invasion in recent days, with troops and armor encircling Gaza City, further raising fears for remaining civilians.