Findings Show Anti-Muslim, Anti-Palestinian Hate Remain Elevated in First Half of 2024
On Thursday, August 1, the Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will hold a news conference in Baltimore to announce new civil rights data on issues impacting Muslim and Arab communities in Maryland. The data highlights a troubling trend in reports of discrimination, free speech violations, hate bias incidents and bullying, among other concerns.
WHAT: CAIR Maryland News Conference Releasing New Civil Rights Data
WHEN: Thursday, August 1, 2024, 1 p.m. EST
WHERE: CAIR Maryland Office, 6120 Baltimore National Pike, Suite 2D, Baltimore, MD 21228
CONTACT: CAIR Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry, zchaudry@cair.com, 410-971-6062; CAIR Maryland Outreach Coordinator Kim Syuardi, ksyuardi@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
KEY FINDINGS:
Overview: CAIR documented 413 cases of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian complaints, incidents and requests for assistance statewide between January – June 2024
Discrimination (45%): The highest number of reports, complaints and requests for assistance received during this period related to discrimination in government, education, employment and other sectors. This includes hostile workplace environments, retaliation against students and employees, and incidents and experiences during actions and lobbying in Annapolis on legislation such as HJ2 Gaza Ceasefire Resolution during the 2024 session of the Maryland General Assembly.
First Amendment Issues (22%): The second-highest number of reports involves First Amendment free speech concerns, particularly related to student encampments in solidarity with Palestinian human rights, school walkouts, and actions and events such as student organization activities and film screenings at secondary and post-secondary institutions of learning. These include University of Maryland College Park, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Towson University, University of Maryland Baltimore, Montgomery College, Stevenson University, and nearly two dozen public high and middle schools in Baltimore City and Montgomery, Howard, Baltimore, Frederick, Washington and Anne Arundel Counties.
Bullying (16.7%): The third major area of concern is the bullying of Muslim and Arab children in schools, which continues to be an area of focus as CAIR launched its school climate survey earlier this month in order to better assess and understand students’ experiences.
SEE: CAIR Launches Survey to Assess Maryland Muslim Students’ Experiences in Public Education
Hate Crimes and Bias Incidents (7%): Hate crimes and bias incidents accounted for 7 percent of the reports and include threatening messages, emails or incidents at Maryland mosques, and reports or observations of verbal and physical harassment and assault by anti-Palestinian individuals against peaceful demonstrators at public actions and rallies. CAIR Maryland acknowledges that these numbers likely underrepresent the true extent of the issue due to underreporting.
Earlier this week, CAIR’s National Headquarters released numbers documented 4,951 incoming complaints from January to June 2024 – a sixty-nine percent increase over the same period in 2023.
The Washington, D.C.-based civil rights group asserts that the primary force behind this wave of heightened Islamophobia has been the 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*
| January | February | March | April | May | June | |
| 2023 | 510 | 385 | 518 | 483 | 520 | 521 |
| 2024 | 782 | 818 | 824 | 889 | 963 | 675 |
*CAIR-San Diego was engaged in local rapid response during the data reporting period. National totals do not include their numbers.
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 CAIR’s National Headquarters has noted previously, this national 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
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
END
CONTACT: CAIR Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry, zchaudry@cair.com, 410-971-6062; CAIR Maryland Outreach Coordinator Kim Syuardi, ksyuardi@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