US: Number of record of racist attacks against Muslims in 2023

The incidents of racist discrimination and against Muslims hit ‘red’ in 2023, with complaints scoring record numbers. According to data, the reported cases of discrimination and attacks on and Palestinians in the US for 2023 due to Islamophobia and the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have reached record rates. In 2023 there was an increase of 56% with complaints reaching 8,061, compared to the previous year and is the highest number since the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) began keeping records nearly 30 years ago. About 3,600 of these incidents occurred from October to December, CAIR noted. Human rights organisations have reported an increase in Islamophobia and bias against the Palestinians, as well as anti-Semitism at a global level after the outbreak of the war on October 7th. Among the incidents recorded in the U.S. is the deadly knife injury of 6-year-old American Wadea al Fayum in Illinois, the shootings received by three Palestinian-born students in Vermont in November and the knife attack against an American Palestinian in Texas in February. The CAIR report states that in 2023 “hate reinforcement against Muslims” was observed in relation to 2022, when complaints had first been reduced. In the first nine months of 2023 such incidents were about 500 monthly, before they were launched to nearly 1,200 monthly in the last quarter. “The main cause behind this wave of increased Islamophobia was the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine in October 2023”, according to the report. Most complaints in 2023 concerned discrimination in work and education, asylum, and hate crimes.