New CAIR Civil Rights Report Reveals Highest Number of Complaints in Group’s 30-Year History
‘Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate’ documents 8,061 total complaints received nationwide in 2023, showing even higher spike than after Trump’s Muslim Ban
(PHILADELPHIA PA, 4/3/2024) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, yesterday released its 2023 civil rights report, which reveals the highest number of complaints it has ever received in its 30-year-history.
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Titled “Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate,” the report documents 8,061 complaints. Nearly half of all complaints received in 2023 were reported in the final three months of the year.
The report notes that the 2023 wave of anti-Muslim incidents was a 56 percent jump over the previous year and surpassed even the period following the implementation of President Trump’s Muslim Ban, which saw a 32 percent jump over the previous year.
SEE: 2024 Civil Rights Report: Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate
Employment discrimination (15%), education discrimination (8.5%), and hate crimes and incidents (7.5%) are among the highest reported categories.
“The data confirms what we have known for months. Since October 2023, a number of American politicians have blatantly promoted anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian rhetoric in a bid to justify the Israeli government’s genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” said CAIR Research & Advocacy Director Corey Saylor, “We are seeing the consequences of this reckless and racist targeting reflected in the data as one of the worst years of anti-Muslim hate recorded in CAIR’s 30-year history.”
In a statement, CAIR-Philadelphia Civil Rights Attorney Timothy Welbeck said:
“This unprecedented spike in complaints documented by CAIR’s civil rights report demonstrates a massive rise in hostility towards Muslims in our nation. Regrettably, Islamophobia and bigotry have existed in our nation for centuries; however, it has been exacerbated in recent months by the anti-Muslim rhetoric and anti-Palestinian bias during a time of historic atrocities committed against the people of Gaza. This is compounded by the continual efforts to silence those who oppose it.
“We urge all who read the report to remember each of these numbers, each reported incident, represents a person who has encountered hatred and/or discrimination. Hatred impacts the lives of people in deep, unsettling ways, and we have remained committed to combatting it. Join us in the fight against hatred and bigotry; raise your voice against the murder of innocent people, reject the rampant hatred of American Muslims, and heed the recommendations of the report, so that we may ensure our nation makes good on its promises of liberty and justice for all.”
The report also details dozens of anti-Muslim incidents that occurred in the United States in 2023.
In 2023, CAIR also filed a number of lawsuits on behalf of incarcerees and detainees, including an incarcerated Muslim woman in Minnesota who was reportedly photographed without her hijab and forced to carry that photo on her ID card.
The report also documents continued efforts to challenge the federal government’s watchlist in 2023, including a lawsuit with a dozen plaintiffs seeking an end to the government’s secret watchlist that almost exclusively targets Muslims for harassment and humiliation when they travel.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, PhD; 617-401-5397 (mobile), atekelioglu@cair.com; CAIR-Philadelphia Civil Rights Attorney Timothy N. Welbeck, Esq., 267-398-5640 (mobile), twelbeck@cair.com.
