Muslim group CAIR says discrimination cases in New Jersey rose 46% in 2022

By Rabia İclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Discrimination cases against Muslims in the US state of New Jersey saw a 46% increase in 2022 from the previous year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

CAIR-NJ said in its 52-page report, titled "Beyond the Courts," that they received 152 calls for help in 2022, up from 104 in 2021.

According to the report, the complaints involved various forms of discrimination, with 22.4% cases related to employment, 17.8% coming from schools and 11.8% 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 weaponized 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 23% 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.