Nearly half of Muslim students surveyed at California colleges and universities said they had been the target of anti-Islamic harassment or discrimination in the last school year as pro-Palestinian protests erupted on campus, a sharp increase from four years ago, the Islamic Council of America said. Relations said in a new report.
The study, which surveyed hundreds of Muslim students attending 87 California public and private campuses, found that 49% of students, or 352 out of 720 respondents, said they had experienced anti-Muslim behavior by students, staff or administrators at school.
CAIR and the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, a CAIR-affiliated group that co-published the study, cited a rise in widespread pro-Palestinian protests, which last year led to hundreds of arrests and numerous lawsuits against universities, including UCLA and USC, through accusations of unjustified police use of force, free speech and violation of equal access.
Pro-Palestinian campus protests tend to include a diverse range of students, including many Muslims and Jews, and protesters are often accused of using antisemitic language or symbolism while pushing for universities to divest from Israel. In many cases, the camp has attracted protesters, including a violent confrontation at UCLA.
“Instead of feeling safe and supported on their own campuses … many universities, administrators, and law enforcement fail to provide the support they need, making students feel threatened, targeted, and isolated,” said Bayanne Kanawati, the center’s program manager. , which surveyed students at campuses including UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Berkeley and Cal State Fullerton.
“College administrators should create a safe and inclusive environment for all, especially those from marginalized communities. Students should be free to express their identity and political views, without fear of discrimination,” said Kanawati.
The survey was conducted online between March and July, a period covering the height of campus protests in April, May and June.
The CAIR report, released this week, comes as UCLA’s response to the protests has been scrutinized. Several campus groups have released findings about discrimination on campus, while the University of California system this month also released an external report criticizing UCLA’s handling of the camp. This fall, UCLA initiated new restrictions on protests, increased security patrols and launched a dialogue program on campus to bring together groups on opposite sides in the spring.
The CAIR study echoed the findings of the UCLA Task Force on Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Muslim, and Anti-Arab Racism, which published reports in April and June that said campuses are “less safe than ever” for these groups and criticized “an increase in harassment, violence, and targeting” them.
Another report last month from the UCLA Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israel Bias, which surveyed more than 428 Jewish or Israeli students, faculty, staff and administrators, also found that 84% believed that antisemitism had “worsened or worsened” since October 7 2023 Hamas attacks Israel.
CAIR also reports that students are generally reluctant to tell administrators about their experiences or seek help from university leaders. About half of all students surveyed – 47% – said they felt neutral or unsafe about safety on campus.
“Islamophobia is not just a political issue. It has very personal consequences for students who pursue their education in fear and scrutiny,” said Osman Khan, Director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying, in a prepared statement.
While the report found negative trends in Muslim students’ perceptions of their place on campus, the data is limited.
Most of the schools surveyed were in the San Francisco Bay Area or Southern California, where most of the country’s Muslim students are. Only a handful of colleges in Central and Northern California, including UC Merced and Cal Poly Humboldt, are included. Some campuses where there have been pro-Palestinian protests involving Muslim students, such as Pomona College, were not surveyed.
The number of survey respondents on individual campuses is also small. At UCLA, where more than 46,000 graduate and undergraduate students are enrolled, the survey recorded responses from 26 Muslims. At USC, the number was 21. The university most represented in the study, UC Irvine, had 43 participants.
