CAIR reports increase in discrimination complaints against Michigan muslims
Muslims nationwide have reported a sharp increase in discrimination since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Men pray during Friday prayers, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, at the Islamic Center of East Lansing in East Lansing, Mich.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a civil rights report this week that cited a sharp rise in anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian discrimination complaints following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
CAIR Michigan Executive Director Dawud Walid says the office saw an unprecedented number of complaints from October to December 2023.
“We have logged 495 complaints within that same timeframe,” he said. “And this is an all time high in civil rights intake cases for CAIR Michigan since CAIR Michigan was founded in the year 2000.”
Walid says he believes the rise in civil rights complaints is directly linked to an increase of anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim rhetoric after the Oct. 7 attacks.
“Within three months of the initial siege on Gaza, we saw in our office a 350% increase in comparison to the same time period, the previous two years,” he said.
The findings are in-line with the CAIR Foundation’s 2024 national civil rights report, which said the group received 8,061 complaints nationwide in 2023 — marking the highest number of complaints the national nonprofit has recorded in its 30-year history. Nearly half of all complaints received in 2023 were in the last three months of the year.
The increase marks a 56% jump over the previous year — surpassing the period following former President Trump’s Muslim Ban, which saw a 32% jump over the previous year, the report said.
Walid says a permanent ceasefire and stopping military aid could help scale back discriminatory incidents.
Amy Doukoure, an attorney for CAIR Michigan, says the office is getting calls daily from those seeking legal representation or training on how to protect themselves.
“We represented victims of hate crimes. We helped people get personal protection orders. We engaged with the FBI to help them investigate crimes of threats and terroristic threats via telephonic means being made against Michigan Muslims for doing nothing more than showing their support for Palestine,” she said.
Visit cairmichigan.org to read the full report.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
