Discrimination and attacks against Muslims and Palestinians rose by about 70% in the US in the first half of 2024 amid heightened Islamophobia due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) advocacy group said on Tuesday.
Human rights advocates have reported a global rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bias, and antisemitism since Hamas invaded Israel's borders on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking hostage another 250, instigating the Israel-Hamas war.
In the first six months of 2024, CAIR said it received 4,951 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian incidents, a rise of nearly 70% compared with the same period in 2023.
Incidents in the US in the last nine months include the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American child in Illinois on October, stabbing of a Palestinian-American man in Texas on February, shooting of three students of Palestinian descent in Vermont in November, and the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian-American girl in May.