Discrimination and attacks targeting American Muslims and Arabs increased by 7.4% in 2024, driven by heightened Islamophobia linked to the ongoing Gaza conflict and college campus protests, according to a Muslim advocacy group.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported a record 8,658 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents in 2024—the highest since it began tracking such data in 1996.

The majority of cases fell into categories such as employment discrimination (15.4%), immigration and asylum issues (14.8%), education discrimination (9.8%), and hate crimes (7.5%), as detailed in CAIR’s report.

Advocacy groups have pointed to a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Arab sentiment, and antisemitism following Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which began after a deadly Hamas attack in October 2023.

CAIR’s report also highlights law enforcement and university crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses.

For months, demonstrators have called for an end to U.S. support for Israel. During the peak of campus protests in summer 2024, universities saw class cancellations, administrator resignations, and the suspension or arrest of student protesters.

Human rights and free speech advocates have condemned the suppression of these protests, which university officials labeled as disruptive. Noteworthy incidents include violent police arrests at Columbia University and an attack on pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the University of California, Los Angeles.

CAIR stated, “For the second consecutive year, the U.S.-backed Gaza genocide has fueled a surge in Islamophobia in the United States.” Israel has rejected allegations of genocide and war crimes.

In a high-profile case last month, an Illinois jury convicted a man of a hate crime for the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in October 2023.

Other troubling incidents since late 2023 include the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian American girl in Texas, the stabbing of a Palestinian American man in Texas, the beating of a Muslim man in New York, and the shooting of two Israeli visitors in Florida by a suspect who allegedly mistook them for Palestinians.

Recently, the U.S. government has come under scrutiny from rights advocates for arresting Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student known for his leadership in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.