The NYPD documented five anti-Muslim and 35 anti-Jewish hate crimes in the two weeks following the fatal Oct. 7 Hamas strike on Israel and the violence that followed.
According to the statistics, which were originally published by Gothamist, there have been 196 documented hate crime complaints against Jews and 12 against Muslims so far this year, according to the NYPD.
Both groups’ incidences are still down from this time last year, when 18 anti-Muslim hate crimes and 208 anti-Semitic hate crimes were registered. Furthemore, the figures might alter since some instances are still being looked into and might turn out to not be hate crimes at all.
Local Jewish and Muslim leaders have expressed concern about an upsurge in identity-based assaults, and the FBI and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland have lately issued warnings about rising threats against Jewish and Muslim Americans.
Muslim advocacy groups such as Majils Ash-Shura, also known as the Islamic Leadership Council of New York, and the New Jersey and New York Chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations claim to have received a deluge of complaints about anti-Muslim harassment and discrimination, ranging from school bullying to workplace terminations to random assaults.
The Community Security Initiative and the local Anti-Defamation League both reported a “explosion” in online messages threatening violence against Jews and an increase in antisemitic occurrences in New York City, respectively.
In order to qualify as a hate crime under the law, a primary offense like an assault or robbery must have occurred, which increases the likelihood of harsher penalties in the event of a conviction.
