The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is today releasing a new analysis on the role of US employers in targeting Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs, and other workers who demonstrate support for Palestinian rights.
While educational spaces have been the central focus of anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic activity, employment spaces have proven to be at the core of modern day Islamophobic incidents. In 2023, CAIR received 8,061 complaints across the country; the second-highest reported complaint category was employment discrimination. In 2024, CAIR received 1,329 complaints of employment discrimination, making it not only higher than education-related concerns but also the highest reported category to CAIR offices for the first time in the organization’s 30-year history [1]. Other organizations have also received heightened employment complaints. In November 2024, Palestine Legal reported that it received 604 intakes involving employment-related issues since the beginning of the year. [2]
The numbers reveal a growing crisis in employment. Following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police, as well as a series of protests and demonstrations against anti-Black racism and police brutality, workplaces, along with other US institutions, overwhelmingly moved to introduce new policies and initiatives to promote inclusive work cultures. Across a variety of sectors, employers have sought out employees from marginalized backgrounds and even encouraged them to share their cultural heritage in the workplace, with some companies notably establishing affinity spaces for employees.
Yet, long before the Trump administration’s recent efforts to shutter DEI programs and hiring initiatives, employers across various sectors of American society were reneging on their commitments.
Following the escalation of hostilities in Palestine and Israel in 2023 and 2024, Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab employees have been encouraged to share their cultural and religious identity at work only to the extent that it does not threaten to express a criticism of the Israeli government, which, as of the writing of this report, continues to engage in a campaign of destruction of Palestinian and Muslim cultural and religious heritage in Gaza [3].
Moreover, workplaces that had in the recent past encouraged all employees to share support for political and social movements, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, have punished even the slightest expressions of sympathy with Palestinian civilians from Muslim, Arab, and other sympathetic employees. Across the country and across sectors, employees have had workplace chats shut down and posts removed and have been disciplined and even terminated for commenting on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. These actions strongly suggest that prior “grand gestures toward diversity, equity, and inclusion” have “fallen short in this ongoing crisis or were superficial all along” [4].
These employees must not only navigate what appear to be clear double standards set forth by their employers but also amplifying pressure from US politicians, which has also existed long before the present moment. In addition to targeting students, the House Committee on Education & the Workforce has set its eyes on employees at universities, with representatives notably demanding whether faculty who support peaceful student-led sit-ins for Palestinian rights would be fired. [5]
Even as the data suggests a troubling rise in employment discrimination, the impact of crackdowns on employees cannot be fully understood. Numerous reports to CAIR indicate that employees experiencing internal and external harassment may feel pressure to leave their place of employment, as employers fail to protect them or are even directly responsible for creating hostile work environments. This often leaves former employees without a means to find legal recourse, while making it challenging to quantify the extent of employment discrimination experienced across the country.
Still, even from the anecdotal evidence available, a clear trend has emerged: employment discrimination is on the rise, and a wide variety of employers are promoting a double standard that encourages cultural representation at work while punishing Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab employees who call attention to the very destruction of their cultural heritage. This special report consolidates these incidents, highlighting complaints across a variety of sectors within US employment. Due to the sheer number of incidents targeting Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and other employees calling attention to Palestinian rights, this report does not seek to be a comprehensive account. Instead, it is a sampling of experiences, intended to amplify key patterns across employment in the United States.
[1] Unconstitutional Crackdowns (Washington, DC: Council on American-Islamic Relations, 2025), https://islamophobia.org/civil-rights-reports/2025-civil-rights-report-unconstitutional-crackdowns/.
[2] Sarah Lazare, “Bosses Are Retaliating Against Workers for Showing Solidarity With Palestinians,” The Nation, November 22, 2024, https://www.thenation.com/article/society/palestine-solidarity-workplace-retaliation/.
[3] Amnesty International, “Amnesty International Investigation Concludes Israel Is Committing Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza,” December 5, 2024, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/12/amnesty-international-concludes-israel-is-committing-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza/.
[4] National Writers Union, “Red Lines: Retaliation in the Media Industry During the War on Gaza,” May 6, 2024, https://redlines.nwu.org/.
[5] Lewis Raven Wallace, “Journalism Professor’s Suspension Shows the Hypocrisy of ‘Objectivity,’” Truthout, September 20, 2024, https://truthout.org/articles/journalism-professors-suspension-shows-the-hypocrisy-of-objectivity/.
