Anti-Muslim incidents in the United States hit a record level in 2023

Discrimination and reported attacks against Muslims and Palestinians reached a record high in the United States in 2023, driven by rising Islamophobia and prejudice, data from an advocacy group showed.

Complaints totaled 8,061 in 2023, an increase of 56% from the previous year, and the highest since the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) began its records nearly 30 years ago.

Likewise, human rights defenders have reported a global rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian prejudice and anti-Semitism since the outbreak of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

According to the CAIR report, about 3,600 of these incidents occurred between October and December, indicating that 2023 witnessed a “resurgence of hatred against Muslims” after the first ever recorded annual decrease in complaints in 2022.

In the first nine months of 2023, such incidents averaged about 500 incidents per month before jumping to nearly 1,200 incidents per month in the last quarter.

The report said, “The main reason behind this wave of escalating Islamophobia was the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine in October 2023,” indicating that the most numerous complaints in 2023 were in the categories of immigration and asylum, employment discrimination, hate crimes, and discrimination in education.

CAIR said it compiled the numbers by reviewing public statements and videos as well as reports from public calls, emails and an online complaints system, and contacted people whose incidents were reported in the media.