Discrimination and attacks against Muslims and Palestinians in the United States hit a record high in 2023 as Islamophobia and bigotry grew as the Israel-Gaza war raged late this year, data from an advocacy group showed on Tuesday.

In 2023, complaints totaled 8,061, a 56% increase from the previous year and the highest level since the Council on American-Islamic Relations began keeping records nearly 30 years ago. About 3,600 of the incidents occurred between October and December, CAIR said.

Human rights advocates have also reported a global rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bigotry and anti-Semitism since the latest conflict in the Middle East.

Incidents in the United States include the October stabbing of 6-year-old Palestinian American Wadea Al-Fayoume in Illinois, the November shooting of three Palestinian students in Vermont, and the shooting of three Palestinian students in Vermont in February. The stabbing of a Palestinian man in Texas.

CAIR’s report said there was a “resurgence of anti-Muslim hatred” in 2023, following the first recorded annual decline in complaints in 2022. In the first nine months of 2023, such incidents averaged about 500 per month, before jumping to nearly 1,200 per month. last quarter.

“The main driver of this wave of increased Islamophobia is the escalation of Israeli and Palestinian violence in October 2023,” the report said.

CAIR said the highest number of complaints in 2023 related to categories such as immigration and asylum, employment discrimination, hate crimes and education discrimination.

According to Israeli statistics, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people. Israel’s subsequent military assault on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has killed more than 32,000 people and displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people, according to the local health ministry, pushing the strip to the brink of starvation and triggering accusations of genocide that Israel denies. .

CAIR said it compiled the figures by reviewing public statements and videos, as well as reports from the public’s phone calls, emails and online complaints systems. It contacted people who had reported on the incident in the media.