Report Documents Spike in Islamophobia and Anti-Palestinian Racism in Canada
A new report, titled “Documenting the ‘Palestine Exception’,” has revealed a significant surge in Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian hate incidents across Canada following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel.
Authored by Nadia Hasan of York University’s Islamophobia Research Hub, the report details a sharp rise in these forms of racism over the past 21 months, according to sources including the Anadolu Agency and TRT Global.
The report, which draws on consultations with 16 Canadian organizations, public data, and media reports, presents several key statistics. According to the findings, some regions in Canada experienced an 1,800% year-over-year increase in Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian hate crimes. Data from Toronto Police Services corroborates this trend, with a 1,600% year-over-year increase in such hate crimes between October 7 and November 20, 2023.
Further data from the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) reported a 1,300% rise in Islamophobia cases in the month after October 7, a number that climbed to 1,800% over the year. The Muslim Legal Support Centre (MLSC) also documented a significant number of incidents, with 474 human rights complaints filed between October 2023 and March 2024. Of these, 345 cases involved individuals who lost their jobs or were placed on leave for expressing support for Palestine.
Hasan noted that the data collected represents only a fraction of what affected communities are facing. The report calls for urgent actions, including the adoption of a formal definition for anti-Palestinian racism and independent investigations into how institutions have responded to these rising threats. The findings were also supported by Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, who stressed that these incidents continue to occur daily across the country.
