WASHINGTON, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- An annual report released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) showed a decrease in acts of violence against American Muslims, but indicated a 18 percent increase in total incidents and a 60 percent rise in discrimination cases.

The 60-page report, called "Patterns of Discrimination," details more than 280 incidents and experiences of anti-Muslim violence, discrimination, stereotyping, bias, and harassment. These incidents included vandalism of an Islamic display on the White House Ellipse, termination of Muslim women employees who wished to wear a religiously-mandated head scarf and problems encountered by Muslims who must offer their prayers during work or school hours.

Eighty percent of the incidents took place in fifteen states where the American Muslim population is concentrated. These states are: California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, District of Columbia, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and Georgia.

Some details of the report's findings:

* Incidents of harassment and violence account for 36 cases, down from 85 in 1997. This decrease is attributed to the absence of events such as the Oklahoma City bombing (1995) or the downing of TWA Flight 800 (1996) that have triggered anti-Muslim violence. (See CAIR's 1995 "Rush to Judgment" report detailing more than 200 incidents triggered by media reports linking Muslims to the Oklahoma City bombing. Also see CAIR's "The Usual Suspects," outlining media coverage of the downing of TWA Flight 800.)

* Reports of discrimination in the workplace, in schools, at airports, and in public areas totaled 248, a 60 percent increase over the previous year. Many of these cases were attributed to ignorance of Islam, a general bias against religious sentiment and outdated corporate policies that do not reflect increased religious diversity in the workplace.

Another issue covered in the report is the use of secret evidence in deportation cases. Muslims alleged that secret evidence violates Constitutional protections and targets Arabs and Muslims.

"The trends documented in this report indicate that discrimination is now part of daily life for American Muslims. This troubling phenomenon is no longer limited just to times of crisis," said Dr. Mohamed Nimer, the director of CAIR's Research Center and author of the report. Nimer added that the dissemination of accurate information about Islam, coupled with increased social and political activism on the part of American Muslims, is the only solution to this problem.

The report concludes with an analysis of Muslim responses to discrimination and an outline of CAIR's educational response. This response included publication of booklets such as "An Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices" and "An Educator's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices. Information contained in the report was obtained through investigations by CAIR staff. Some 300 reports were excluded due to insufficient evidence of discrimination.

"Patterns of Discrimination" is the third annual report published by the Islamic advocacy group's research center. CAIR began documenting anti-Muslim incidents following the 1995 attack on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

There are an estimated six million Muslims in America and some 1.2 billion worldwide. Demographers say Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in this country and around the world.

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