The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said the surge in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate that erupted last October continues in the first half of the 2024.

From January to June 2024, CAIR documented 4,951 incoming complaints, a sixty-nine percent increase over the same period in 2023. Education discrimination incidents spiked in May as student encampments urging universities to take an anti-genocide stand dominated media headlines. The experience of students and employees during this cycle of anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian hate remain the standout trends compared to past cycles.

SEE: US anti-Muslim incidents rose about 70% in first half of 2024 amid Gaza war – Reuters

[NOTE: In January of this year, CAIR released civil rights data showing that it has received 3,578 complaints during the last three months of 2023 amid an ongoing wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate. In April, CAIR released its civil rights report, which revealed the highest number of complaints it has ever received in its 30-year history.]

“Too many places of higher education, which have historically permitted Islamophobic speakers to poison their campus in the name of academic freedom, apparently find anti-genocide speech intolerable. Since last fall university administrators have been a primary perpetrator of anti-Muslim racism,” said CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor.

Saylor added, “Our data shows that as student protests dominated media coverage of the movement opposing the Gaza genocide, employers also continued punishing their employees for their viewpoints. We are also seeing Federal Agencies like Customs and Border Protection and the FBI interpreting being Muslim or anti-genocide as suspicious activity.”

[NOTE: CAIR urges individuals who have experienced religious discrimination or been targeted because of their religion to file a complaint with us. We provide legal and advocacy services free of charge.]

CAIR asserts that the primary force behind this wave of heightened Islamophobia was onset of the latest round of violence in Israel’s decades long occupation and use of apartheid policies in Palestine in October of last year.

Table 1: Comparison of Total Incoming Complaints Jan-June 2023 and 2024*

*CAIR-San Diego was engaged in local rapid response during our data reporting period. Current totals do not include their numbers.

Immigration and asylum cases comprised 19 percent of total complaints received in the first half of 2024. This is consistent with 2023’s total. Employment discrimination (14 percent), education discrimination (10 percent), and hate crimes and incidents (8 percent) are among the highest reported categories in this six-month period. 

Table 2: Total Incoming Complaints and the Biden-Backed Gaza Genocide Islamophobia Wave

[Note: For a baseline comparison, CAIR averaged 498 incoming complaints per month during Jan-Sept 2023.]

Table 3: Total Education Discrimination Complaints and the Biden-Backed Gaza Genocide Islamophobia Wave

What CAIR labels the Biden-Backed Gaza Genocide Islamophobia wave continued through June, with incoming complaints not yet dropping to early 2023 levels. May’s surge was likely the result university administrations cracking down on anti-genocide student protestors. Columbia University’s crackdown on its students was in April.

According to researchers at Princeton University, 95 percent of demonstrations occurring between October 7 and May 12 were peaceful, with “no reports of encampment protesters engaging in physical violence or destructive activity.” 

SEE: Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiatives’ Issue Brief: Analysis of U.S. Campus Encampments Related to the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Islamophobia in the U.S. comes in cycles, with the last two large waves generated by Donald Trump’s 2015 announcement and 2017 implementation of his Muslim ban. As we have noted previously, this wave exceeds the combined totals of incoming incidents received during those two cycles.

CAIR’s 2024 Civil Rights Report “Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate” contains the institution’s 2023 numbers.

SEE: Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate

Educators and employers can obtain the relevant guide to Islamic religious practices to understand the basic religious needs of Muslims. These guides do not address political speech. We recommend those interested in discussing ways to preserve the integrity of academic freedom and the American tradition of protest contact CAIR’s research and advocacy department. 

SEE: Guides to Islamic Religious Practices

For students and employees, CAIR produced guides to understand your rights and how to protect them.

SEE: CAIR’s Guide for Students Speaking Out Against Islamophobia and for Palestinian Rights

SEE ALSO: Employee Guidance: Speaking with Human Resources

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CONTACT: CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, csaylor@cair.com; CAIR Research and Advocacy Coordinator Farah Afify, (202) 742-6410, fafify@cair.com; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com