The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group, with regional offices across the United States and in Canada. Since its establishment in 1994, CAIR has worked to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America.

From May 13-15, CAIR hosted the “Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism: Causes and Remedies,” conference in Washington, D.C. This conference brought together scholars, researchers, religious leaders and community activists to discuss issues related to the twin phenomena of growing anti-Muslim bigotry in the West and increasing anti-American sentiments in the Islamic world.

Immediately before the conference CAIR released its annual study, which this year showed that anti-Muslim hate crimes had jumped 52 percent, from 93 cases in 2003 to 141 in 2004. CAIR’s report, “Unequal Protection,” outlined 1,522 incidents and experiences of anti-Muslim violence, discrimination and harassment in 2004.

CAIR said factors contributing to the sharp increase in reported incidents included the lingering impact of post-Sept. 11 fears, increased awareness of civil rights issues in the Muslim community, a general increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric, growth in the number of local CAIR chapters reporting cases and abuses associated with the implementation of national security policies. The complete report may be viewed at: http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2005CivilRightsReport.pdf.

“These disturbing figures come as no surprise given growing Islamophobic sentiments and a general misperception of Islam and Muslims,” said CAIR Legal Director Arsalan Iftikhar, the report’s author.

Ten states accounted for almost 79 percent of all incidents reported to CAIR in 2004, with California alone reporting 20 percent. By far the greatest increase over last year, in both real and proportional terms, occurred in the areas of unreasonable arrests, detentions, searches/seizures, and interrogations. In 2003, complaints concerning law enforcement agencies accounted for only seven percent of all reported incidents. In 2004, however, these reports rose to almost 26 percent of all cases.