Bias incidents against Muslims, Jews on the rise in US amid Middle East war, new data shows
Reported bias incidents are on the rise against Jews and Muslims in the U.S., according to new data released Thursday -- including what the Council on American-Islamic Relations calls an "unprecedented" spike in complaints of anti-Muslim or anti-Arab bias in the month since the Israel-Hamas war started and a more than 200% increase in anti-Jewish incidents investigated by New York City police.
CAIR, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization, said Thursday that from Oct. 7 to Nov. 4, its national headquarters and chapters have received 1,283 requests for help and reports of bias. In an average 29-day period in 2022, it said it received only 406 such complaints.
Hamas launched a surprise terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed at least 1,400, according to Israeli officials. Israel's retaliatory strikes in Gaza have killed more than 10,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Those submitting complaints of anti-Muslim or anti-Arab bias in the U.S. have included "a wide variety of Americans, including public school and college students, doctors and other workers, protestors, and mosques," CAIR said in a press release.
"Both Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism are out of control in ways we have not seen in almost 10 years," CAIR research and advocacy director Corey Saylor said in a statement. "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."
Reports of anti-Jewish incidents have also been on the rise amid the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas, including in New York City, new data shows.
The total number of bias crimes investigated by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force increased by 124% (from 45 to 101) in October, led by a 214% spike in anti-Jewish incidents (from 22 to 69), the NYPD said Thursday.
Overall hate crime investigations year to date trended down, with a decrease of 9% (from 531 to 485), according to the NYPD.
Nationwide, the Anti-Defamation League said last month it had recorded a "significant spike in antisemitic incidents" since Oct. 7.
According to preliminary data from the ADL Center on Extremism, 312 incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault were recorded from Oct. 7 to Oct. 23 -- a 388% increase over the same period last year, when the ADL received reports of 64 such incidents, the organization said. More than half of the recent incidents (190) were directly linked to the Israel-Hamas war, the ADL said.
Even before the latest conflict, reports of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. had reached an all-time high in 2022, according to the ADL.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned last month of an increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate attacks occurring in the U.S. amid the Israel-Hamas war.
"Targeted violence attacks may increase as the conflict progresses," the assessment said.
ABC News' Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
