SINCE THE OCT. 7, 2023, assault that sparked the Israel-Hamas conflict, Muslim college students on school campuses all through California have endured surging charges of Islamophobia, in accordance with a 2024 Campus Local weather Report launched by the Council on American-Islamic Relations California, or CAIR-CA.
Wang is a senior civil rights lawyer for the Bay Space chapter of CAIR-CA. On Tuesday, he joined two Muslim college students, Iman Deriche of Stanford College and Zaid Yousef of College of California, Berkeley, to debate the findings of the report with journalists on the chapter’s headquarters in Santa Clara.
Ninety-two p.c of the scholars who reported that they skilled Islamophobia on their school campus stated it occurred after the Hamas-led assault on Israel and subsequent bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, in accordance with the report.
Deriche and Yousef described their private experiences of being harassed on their school campuses due to their Muslim identities.
“As escalations continue in Palestine and Lebanon, here in the U.S. This rise of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate has skyrocketed,” Deriche stated, including that her faculty has been no exception.
Deriche, who wears a hijab, stated she started dealing with an increase in bullying and harassment at Stanford for being Muslim quickly after the beginning of the conflict .
“The first incident happened in mid-October last year,” she stated. “I and others were talking around campus and while doing that, we were followed by Zionists. They took photos, screamed for us and asked for our names to dox us,” stated Deriche. “Just a couple of days after that, I and two other Muslims were verbally and physically assaulted by a Zionist student on campus while we were putting up and removing posters.”
Reluctant to talk up
Feminine college students, particularly these carrying hijabs or different head coverings, underwent increased charges of Islamophobia in comparison with their male counterparts, in accordance with the report.
Almost half of the survey’s respondents who confronted non secular discrimination or bias stated they weren’t snug reporting their considerations to their colleges out of worry of being additional focused. Of the scholars who did report incidents of harassment or discrimination to their faculty, nearly all of them stated their faculty’s response was not applicable, the report discovered.
Deriche is amongst these college students who criticized Stanford’s reactions when college students introduced their considerations and experiences of Islamophobia.
A graphic from the 2024 Campus Local weather Report carried out by the Council on American-Islamic Relations California and the Heart for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying exhibits the speed of harassment and discrimination confronted by Muslim school college students on California campuses as a result of their non secular identification. (Alise Maripuu/Bay Metropolis Information)
“Stanford has failed to take any meaningful action or address these issues. Even after reporting these incidences to the university, I, along with many other Muslim, Arab and Palestinian students on campus felt invisible since our concerns were just being completely dismissed,” she stated.
Luisa Rapport, a spokesperson for Stanford, didn’t handle Deriche’s statements particularly when requested for a response. Rapport stated that “the university is committed to providing a safe, supportive and harassment-free environment for our students.”
Deriche additionally defined how Stanford’s disciplinary actions resembling suspension in opposition to a number of college students who participated in protests led her to really feel scared to precise her political and non secular ideas. In June, 13 college students had been arrested and suspended for barricading themselves within the college president’s workplace throughout a protest.
“At the same time we felt hyper-visible as we faced increased systemic surveillance and targeting,” Deriche stated. “At times, it felt like we were losing our minds. The fear and anxiety I experience every time I leave my dorm has been overwhelming since last year.”
Stanford insurance policies set limits on protests
There have been a number of pro-Palestinian rallies at Stanford because the starting of the conflict. A whole bunch of scholars arrange tents on campus and camped in a single day for months in protest of the conflict and Stanford’s ties to corporations which have investments in Israeli entities.
As a result of Stanford is a non-public establishment, the college just isn’t required to publicly disclose its investments, has better authority to take actions in opposition to protesters and might set stricter pointers for a way, when and the place protests are carried out.
A number of days after the college yr started in September of this yr, the college introduced updates to its guidelines that set limitations on protests. For instance, the insurance policies ban in a single day tenting and in addition requires protesters to take away their face masks for identification in the event that they violate Stanford’s Coverage on Campus Disruptions.
A information convention on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Santa Clara to debate the findings of the 2024 Campus Local weather Report. From left to proper are Zaid Yousef, president of the Muslim Pupil Affiliation at UC Berkeley; Stanford College pupil Iman Deriche; Senior Civil Rights Legal professional for the Council of American-Islamic Relations California, Bay Space chapter Jeffrey Wang; and Musa Tariq, coverage coordinator for CAIR-CA, San Francisco Bay Space chapter. (Illustration by Glenn Gehlke/Native New Issues. Photograph by Alise Maripuu/Bay Metropolis Information)
Those that disrupt college actions like lessons and ceremonies or hinder the motion of any particular person on campus “are subject to disciplinary action,” in accordance with Stanford’s coverage.
“Just this past fall, Stanford escalated its repression by changing its free speech policy under the guise of security measures,” Deriche stated. “These changes restrict free speech to specific times of day, one specific designated location on campus, and had an added requirement for students to remove face masks for identification purposes. It’s clear that these disciplinary action and restrictive policies are just scare tactics aimed at silencing pro-Palestinian advocacy, particularly targeting Muslims who are easily profiled.”
The White Plaza on Stanford’s campus is a chosen space for spontaneous protesting allowed between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. The coverage updates additionally added 4 different areas the place demonstrations can happen, however they must be registered upfront, in accordance with Stanford’s Freedom of Expression web site.
UC Berkeley highest for Islamophobic incidents
Throughout the Bay at UC Berkeley, Muslim and Arab college students have additionally been dealing with rising charges of non secular discrimination, in accordance with the report.
Eighty-five p.c of respondents from UC Berkeley reported experiencing Islamophobia, the very best out of the 87 school campuses surveyed all through the state. Of these UC Berkeley college students, 95% of them stated that they endured the anti-Muslim harassment after Oct. 7.
“What distinguishes Islamophobia at Berkeley from other forms of hatred is that Islamophobia is institutionalized,” stated Yousef, who’s president of the Muslim Pupil Affiliation on the faculty. “Muslims are made to feel that our gatherings and protests are inherently violent and unwanted.”
Like Stanford, college students at UC Berkeley have carried out related sit-in protests, erecting a whole bunch of tents on campus.
Being the president of the Muslim Pupil Affiliation, Yousef stated that he has seen the worst of Islamophobia at UC Berkeley.
“An unfortunate aspect of serving on the board of the Berkeley Muslim Student Association is having firsthand experiences of Islamophobia,” Yousef stated. “My friends and myself were being hounded by Zionists, called ISIS terror supporters and rapists for wearing traditional Islamic attire to our Friday prayers.”
A graphic from the 2024 Campus Local weather Report carried out by the Council on American-Islamic Relations California and the Heart for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying exhibits the sorts of non secular apparel and grooming traits of Muslim school college students in California who’re focused with harassment and discrimination for his or her Muslim identification. The report was launched on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (CAIR-CA and CPHB through Bay Metropolis Information)
Eighty-eight p.c of Muslim respondents from UC Berkeley reported feeling focused by college students due to their non secular identification in comparison with the typical of 53% throughout the 87 California faculties surveyed.
However 71% additionally stated they felt that professors and instructors at UC Berkeley had been unfairly singling them out for his or her Muslim identification in comparison with the typical of 37% on the different colleges within the state, in accordance with the report.
Mogulof additionally referred to a latest video message from Chancellor Wealthy Lyons during which Lyons condemned speech that requires violence but additionally acknowledged that the First Modification can forestall the college from taking disciplinary motion.
UC Berkeley Chancellor Wealthy Lyons addresses campus free speech pointers on this video from Aug. 19, 2024. (UC Berkeley/YouTube)
“To be clear, even terrifying rhetoric can be protected by the First Amendment and so the challenges we face cannot be countered by dictate or direction from the administration,” Lyon stated. “We need to stand up as a community and implore those who call for violence, who use threatening or hateful language, to consider the inherent danger in their words.”
Hope for the longer term
Together with a surge in harassment in opposition to Muslim and Arab Individuals following the 9/11 terror assaults, the latest rise in anti-Muslim discrimination on school campuses after Oct. 7, 2023, has made Islamophobia a standard a part of the lives for a lot of Muslims dwelling in the USA, Yousef stated.
“We live in a world where Islamophobia is so normalized that even Muslims sometimes feel that it is normal,” Yousef stated. “The casual life of a Muslim entails Islamophobia at almost every level.”
Regardless of the rise in Islamophobia on school campuses in California, Yousef is optimistic that the Muslim group will obtain outdoors assist from its supporters within the Bay Space.
“There’s definitely uncertainty about what the future will bring. But at the same time, we do have hope in our allies,” Yousef stated. “We have hope in our community, in our institutions, in organizations like CAIR, who are doing amazing work to protect our rights and we hope to keep fighting the good fight.”
