1 day Ago
Nearly half of Muslim students in 87 colleges and universities across California experienced harassment or discrimination at school, according to a new report. The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) and its Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying unveiled its latest report, “Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses ” at a press conference Tuesday, Nov. 19 .
“The past year has been extremely traumatizing for college students of various ethnicities of the Islamic faith, all because they valiantly chose to stand up,” said Osman Khan, director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, at the presser. “Students should not have to suffer physical reprisals or fear of possible academic and future employment repercussions for simply practicing their constitutionally protected rights to petition for assembly and speech.” On Tuesday, CAIR-CA officials called out growing Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bias in schools, which they linked to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that first erupted in October 2023.
Summer Salama, a graduate of USC, speaks about the current environment for Muslim students as the 2024 campus climate report is released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, titled, Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Anaheim. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) Osman Khan, center, director of Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, announces the 2024 campus climate report compiled with the Council on American-Islamic Relations titled, Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, on Tuesday, Nov.
19, 2024, in Anaheim. Standing with Khan are from left: Amir Valiulla, student at Cal State Fullerton; Omar Mattar, Advocacy Initiatives Director, MSA West; Bayanne Kanawati, Program Manager, CPHB; Summer Salama, graduate of USC. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) Amir Valiulla, a student at Cal State Fullerton, speaks about the current environment for Muslim students as the 2024 campus climate report is released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, titled, Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, on Tuesday, Nov.
19, 2024, in Anaheim. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) Osman Khan, director of Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, announces the 2024 campus climate report done with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, titled, Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Anaheim.
(Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) Bayanne Kanawati, program manager, with the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, speaks about the 2024 campus climate report done with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, titled, Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Anaheim. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) Osman Khan, director of Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, announces the 2024 campus climate report done with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, titled, Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, on Tuesday, Nov.
19, 2024, in Anaheim. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) Bayanne Kanawati, left, program manager, with the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, listens as Omar Mattar, advocacy initiatives director of MSA West, speaks about the current environment for Muslim students as the 2024 campus climate report is released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, titled, Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Anaheim.
(Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) Osman Khan, director of Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, announces the 2024 campus climate report done with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, titled, Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Anaheim. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) Summer Salama, left, a graduate of USC, speaks about the current environment for Muslim students as the 2024 campus climate report is released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, titled, Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, as Osman Khan, right, director of Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, listens, on Tuesday, Nov.
19, 2024, in Anaheim. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) Summer Salama, a graduate of USC, speaks about the current environment for Muslim students as the 2024 campus climate report is released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, titled, Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Anaheim.
(Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) The latest report, which looks at the 2023-24 academic year, sheds light on the experiences of hundreds of California Muslim college students, recommending actions for their safety as the school year continues. Officials said that 720 students at public and private schools statewide were surveyed, ranging mostly between ages 18 and 24 (79%), female (60%), Middle Eastern (42%) and South Asian (37%). It examines student perceptions of their schools’ administrations, law enforcement involvement, and the impact harassment has had on their identities.
The report also highlights university response rates, looking in depth at incidents at California schools including UCLA, USC, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Los Angeles. “Rather than feeling safe and supported, many have faced suppression of their free speech and have been penalized for opposing Israel’s actions and advocating for Palestinian rights,” officials said. “Unfortunately, this issue is not new, and many universities, administrators, and law enforcement have failed to offer the necessary support, leaving students feeling targeted and isolated.
” Many Southern California schools — including UCLA, UC Irvine, USC and Cal State L.A. — have been at the forefront of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with campuses seen varying levels of pro-Palestine and pro-Israel activism during the last school year.
Some demonstrations were more peaceful and others more violent, involving student arrests , building occupations and police activity . Such clashes have sparked new policies banning campus encampments and wearing identity-concealing face masks , as the 2024-25 school year began . Many Muslim students surveyed — including some involved in pro-Palestine actions on campus — reported “higher than average” concerns about safety, feeling targeted or being doxxed.
According to the CAIR-CA report, 1 in every 5 students had their personal information compromised or were doxxed after Oct. 7, 2023, “as a result of pro-Palestinian activism or student group affiliations.” Key findings of CAIR-CA’s 2024 Campus Climate Report include: The college climate report was also consistent with statewide research, which shows a rise in religiously motivated hate.
In California, attitudes toward both Jewish and Muslim people have suffered, according to the latest report from the state Department of Justice, which looks at hate crimes over the last year. While overall hate crimes in California were down in 2023, compared to the previous year, reported hate specifically against LGBTQ+, Jewish and Muslim communities rose last year. Anti-Jewish bias rose 52.
9%, from 189 in 2022 to 289 in 2023, while attacks against Muslim groups rose from 25 in 2022 to 40 in 2023, the DOJ report said. Also, religiously motivated hate crimes rose 30%, from 303 in 2022 to 394 in 2023. By comparison, CAIR-CA’s civil rights department received over 700 intakes in 2023, with 150 alleging Islamophobic, anti-Palestinian, and anti-Arab hate crimes and incidents — the highest number of biased-based complaints in 30 years, officials said.
Overall support for a free Palestine was among the record number of complaints to their office. UCLA students set up a Palestinian solidarity camp at their Westwood campus on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The encampment comes one day after a protest on their cross-town rival USC.
(Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Student Samia Alkam (seated), a lead negotiator with the UC Riverside chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, holds a signed agreement by University Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox and other college officials, to end their on campus encampment as she speaks to protesters on Friday, May 3, 2024, on the Riverside campus. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) A supporter of the pro-Palestinian encampment at UC Irvine waves flags as a girl sits on his shoulders during a protest on campus in Irvine on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 to demand that the UC Irvine administration stop student suspensions related to the encampment, to demand UCI meet it’s demands.
(Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Hundreds of students protest outside the Palestine Solidarity Encampment on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles on Wednesday May 1, 2024. (File photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) UCLA Jewish students waving Israeli flags counter protest fellow students rally in their Palestinian solidarity camp on their Westwood campus on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The encampment comes one day after a protest on their cross-town rival USC.
(Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Pro-Palestine students form a circle to protest at the site of their former encampment as part of a UCI Divest walkout at UC Irivne in Irvine on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 in the aftermath of last week’s protest in which police dispersed the protesters and dismantled the UCI Gaza Solidarity Encampment, arresting several students and other protesters. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Tensions and protests continue to escalate, following USC’s recent cancellation of its pro-Palestine, Muslim valedictorian’s speech at graduation as protestors gather at Alumni Park at USC on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) UC Riverside student Samia Alkam (seated), lead negotiator with the UC Riverside chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, holds a signed agreement by University Chancellor Kim A.
Wilcox, and other college officials, to end their on campus encampment as she speaks to encampment protesters on the Riverside campus on Friday, May. 3, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) UCLA students set up a Palestinian solidarity camp at their Westwood campus on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
The encampment comes one day after a protest on their cross-town rival USC. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) The new CAIR report advocates for the protection of Muslim students’ legal rights, the right to free speech and protest, and for administrators to directly address discrimination and foster a “safe, inclusive environment” for all students, faculty and staff, “regardless of ethnicity, national origin, religion or political views.” It calls for officials to provide religious accommodations, invest in religious/cultural literacy workshops, and in resources on reporting hate.
At Tuesday’s presser, Summer Salama, a recent USC graduate, said that her school is “grappling with Islamophobia” and “the erasure of Muslim voices,” as seen by the “silencing” of last school year’s Muslim valedictorian, Asna Tabassum , at graduation. “Some students in class (have) received devastating news of losing loved ones in Gaza,” said Salama. “They not only mourn their families, but also face a silence and lack of empathy from their own community.
Where are the statements of solidarity? The safe spaces for healing or meaningful support from administration for those grieving innocent lives? There’s none.” “We cannot claim to be a global institution of higher learning while neglecting the global realities of our students. We cannot say we stand for justice when we turn a blind eye to injustice within our own campus,” she added.
Related links Cal State Fullerton’s Amir Valiulla, a member of the Students for Justice in Palestine, said that while some colleges have struggled with tensions and open communication, his school fostered an environment where “Muslim and Arab students can feel supported and empowered” to “engage in meaningful dialogue...
with respect and empathy.” “This dynamic creates opportunities for Muslim and Arab students to advocate for justice and human rights without the pervasive fear of backlash,” Valiulla said. “This environment has been especially important over the last year.
”.
