ABC News, MSNBC, the NY Post, the Guardian (UK), and others have all picked up a story on a study conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations which alarmingly concludes that

The number of reported bias crimes and civil rights violations committed against Muslims in the United States soared to its highest level last year since the period immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The council counted 1,522 incidents in which Muslims reported their civil rights had been violated in 2004, a 49 percent increase over 2003. Another 141 incidents of confirmed or suspected bias crimes were committed against Muslims, a 52 percent rise.

(See previous post.) The article also discusses the surprised reaction of some who intuitively expected the backlash to be most severe immediately following the terrorist attacks.

The report did contain some good news. Workplace discrimination complaints 23 percent of all 2003 complaints fell to less than 18 percent last year. Complaints involving government agencies fell from 29 percent in 2003 to 19 percent last year.

The most recent FBI report on hate crimes, issued last November and covering 2003, found that anti-Islamic crimes remained at the about same level 149 as the year before. The FBI report was drawn from information submitted by more than 11,900 law enforcement agencies around the country.