Data released from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today shows a 63% increase in reports of education discrimination since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
The data, is part of what CAIR called a “disturbing” increase in complaints filed with the organization since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War that’s ravaging Palestine and the Gaza Strip. The organization has seen a 178% increase in complaints filed during a similar time period in 2022.
“Justifying violence against Palestinians in Gaza and honest rhetoric has an impact on how students are treated,” said Farah Afify, Research and Advocacy Coordinator for CAIR.
The data on education discrimination includes discrimination at both K-12 and higher education institutions. This data does not include instances of bullying in educational settings, Afify explained, because it’s important to make a distinction between bullying and discrimination that comes from the top-down.
“Bullying wouldn’t necessarily fall into education discrimination because that is more focused on understanding how an institution itself might participate in promoting anti-Muslim rhetoric or Islamophobic rhetoric without necessarily engaging in the particular individual harassment of students, so those are just by definition, two different cases and we want to make sure that we’re acknowledging that both of those are cases that can occur and that we’re adequately categorizing them and reporting that data.
Afify referenced two recent instances of what CAIR considers education discrimination–the first occurring at Edina High School in Edina, Minn., where t wo Edina High students were suspended for repeating a pro-Palestinian chant during a protest walkout at the school in October. They were given a three-day suspension for chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
CAIR called for the students’ suspension to be rescinded and filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of…
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