On November 8th during the GOP Presidential Debates, candidate Ron Desantis criticized President Biden’s efforts to fight “so-called Islamophobia” in light of the Israel-Hamas conflict.  

A “so-called "Islamophobia” that led a landlord to stab 6-year-old Palestinian boy Wadea Al Fayoume to death and the boy’s mother Hanaan Shahin so severely she could not attend the funeral. A “so-called Islamophobia” that led to the deaths of Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmed because a gunman had an issue with two of the three wearing keffiyehs in support of Palestinian civilians. A “so-called Islamophobia” that has left Muslims throughout the US to live in fear as they watch DeSantis and his peers dismiss their circumstance. While policymakers have taken note of increased anti-Semitism in the US as a result of the war, the rise in Islamophobia has been comparatively neglected. 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) from October 7th to November 14th received 1,283 requests for help and reports of bias, which constituted a 216 percent increase from the same time last year. In comparison, in 2022, CAIR received 5,156 total complaints nationwide, only five times the amount reported within the past month. To refer to this increase, as “so-called Islamophobia” is to act blatantly ignorant to the plight of Muslims in the US. Some of the reports from this year include a man in Michigan who asked community members to “go to Dearborn and hunt Palestinians,” and a resident in Bridge view, Illinois receiving a note stating all Muslims in the community would have to leave or face death.  

College campuses have been particularly impacted by Islamophobia in light of the war. The University of Connecticut main campus Muslim Student Association president Museeb Syed informed NBC that many female Muslims on campus have begun wearing hoodies instead of the hijabs, so potential bad actors do not target them. 

At Harvard College, a conservative non-profit paid for a billboard truck to display the names and photos of students, who endorsed the campus Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) statement holding Israel as entirely responsible for the conflict, with the caption “Harvard’s leading Anti-Semites.” On X (formerly known as Twitter), the Harvard Hillel —a Jewish student organization— condemned the actions of the non-profit for its “public intimidation of individuals” despite their beliefs not aligning with the exact sentiment of the PSC statement. 

A Palestinian student from Colorado State University, who requested anonymity out of safety concerns, told The Hill “I have one friend that is hijabi, and she had someone telling her… all the problems in the world are technically because of Islam.” Although it was deemed a “so-called Islamophobia,” Muslim college students around the country are being forced to adjust to the increasingly tense political climate of their campuses.  

In spite of the threats facing Muslim-Americans, we still persevere in the face of Islamophobia. On November 4th, tens of thousands gathered in Washington, DC to demand a cease-fire. While protesting, Younass Barkouch told NPR, "[he] was raised to believe that the United States condemned atrocities, war crimes, [and] heinous government acts wherever they saw them… regardless of who committed them." 

President Biden expressed his support of Israel in its assault of the Gaza Strip, to the dismay of many Muslim-Americans; however, on November 1st, the White House announced plans to tackle Islamophobia. In coordination with the National Security Council and the Domestic Policy Council, the Biden administration seeks to develop plans to protect Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre stated, "[the] announcement is the latest step… to establish an interagency group to… counter Islamophobia, antisemitism, and related forms of bias and discrimination within the United States." It is only a matter of time to see whether these efforts will make any difference in the rise of Islamophobia in the US. 

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "the ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people." Islamophobia has remained a constant in the United States since 9/11 and the ultimate disservice to Muslim-Americans who have been oppressed and treated poorly is to dismiss their experience. Considering the politicization of the war, regardless of what side you support, it is important to acknowledge that there has been a rise in Islamophobia in tandem with a rise in anti-Semitism. Thus, referring to the ubiquitous maltreatment of Muslim-Americans throughout the country as “so-called Islamophobia,” is to support our oppressors and their cruelty.