The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has documented an “appalling” rise in reported anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias incidents in the month since violence escalated between Israel and Hamas, the organization announced Thursday.
The nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group said it has received 1,283 requests for help and reports of bias in the month since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The organization said in 2022 it received an average of 406 complaints in a 29-day period.
The new data, CAIR said, reflects a 216% increase in requests for help and reported bias incidents compared to the previous year.
Corey Saylor, director of research and advocacy at CAIR, said in a statement shared with CNN that the data represents the largest wave of Islamophobic and anti-Arab bias the organization has recorded since then-candidate Donald Trump called for a Muslim Ban in 2015.
“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,” Saylor said in the statement.
Throughout the year, CAIR records and monitors incidents of reported anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias from local chapters across the country.
The new data reflects a sharp pivot from CAIR’s cautiously optimistic outlook earlier this year, when the organization published a report noting 2022 was the first time the US charted a decrease in anti-Muslim bias incidents since they began tracking such reports in the 1990s.
“One year of declining cases is not a problem solved; it’s a glimmer of hope,” the organization said in the April report. “Securing future declines has never been more urgent.”
But now, Saylor said, the violence in Israel and Gaza is contributing to an “unprecedented surge in bigotry” in the US. The organization again called on President Joe Biden to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Saylor also urged Biden to do more to address anti-Muslim hate, noting that President George W. Bush visited a mosque in the days after 9/11 to address the rise in Islamophobia.
All Americans including “political leaders, corporations, media outlets, civic organizations” have a role to play in combatting the increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric, Saylor said.