Nadine Osman
Anti-Muslim discrimination cases in New Jersey, US, increased by 46 per cent in 2022 from the previous year, according to a report released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on May 23.
According to CAIR-NJ’s, Beyond the Courts report, 152 calls for assistance were received in 2022, up from 104 in 2021.The cases related to employment; 17.8 per cent came from schools; and 11.8 per cent related to hate and bias.
“While it is true that the tragic events of September 11, 2001, shot Muslims into the international spotlight overnight, structural anti-Muslim rhetoric and bigotry and the resulting violence have long preceded the events of 9/11,” Qasim Rashad of the United Muslim Masjid in Philadelphia wrote in the report.
“The Patriot Act — unanimously passed by the Senate within one month of 9/11 — was not the first of its kind. In many ways, it was an expansion of the already existing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978, which was notoriously weaponised against American Muslims, among other non-white groups,” Rashad added.CAIR last month released a report covering nationwide incidents of civil rights complaints by Muslim Americans in 2022, which revealed a 23per cent decrease.
The Muslim advocacy group received 5,156 complaints nationwide in 2022, down from 6,720 complaints in 2021.CAIR noted that it is also the first recorded decline since they started tracking such data in 1995.
