Report: Documenting the “Palestine Exception": An Overview of Trends in Islamophobia, Anti-Palestinian and Anti-Arab Racism in Canada in the aftermath of October 7, 2023

Grounded in community networks and academic expertise, the Islamophobia Research Hub at York University's York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR) is an institutional home for conducting and mobilizing research, deepening our knowledge of Islamophobia, and developing innovative solutions that tackle some of the most complex barriers to robust equity and inclusion of Muslims in Canada and globally.

In the aftermath of October 7, 2023, Canada saw a rise in anti-Palestinian racism (APR), Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism (AAR) and antisemitism that affects many areas of life and work for Canadians. This report contributes to broadening our understanding of this troubling trend by documenting incidents of Islamophobia, APR and AAR in Canada, making visible the diversity of communities and people affected as well as the range of types of incidents.

The information included in this report is based on interviews with Canadian organizations that focus on combatting Islamophobia, AAR and APR, data that some of these organizations provided, publicly available data as well as media reports from October 2023 to November 2024 and some more recent updates. These incidents represent a small fraction of the cases reported to these organizations, but they provide important insights into the lived experiences and material realities of Islamophobia, APR and AAR in Canada.

To read this report online, click here