CLIFTON, N.J. -- With bias incidents against Arab-Americans and Muslims recently on the rise in New Jersey, an anti-discrimination group is strengthening its presence here, hoping to become a much larger part of the fight to defend civil rights and project a positive image of the state's Muslim community.

Although it has operated in New Jersey for nine years, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has not had a physical presence in the state. That will change Jan. 14 when the group opens an office a few blocks from the heart of Paterson's Arab-American community.

  "It gives people the feeling of permanency, that ADC is not just some passing fad that will go away in a few years," said the group's president, Hani Khoury. "It provides a physical location for people to go to get help and have their questions answered about Social Security, how to meet their senator or congressman, or to talk to someone about a problem."

A survey by the Council on American-Islamic Relations found bias incidents against Muslims and Arab-Americans were up sharply last year, both nationwide and in New Jersey. Some 69 bias incidents were documented in 2004, up from 40 in 2003. That represented an increase of more than 72 percent.

Recent New Jersey cases included taunts and death threats made against a Muslim van passenger in Paterson, the tossing of liquor bottles at a Union City mosque while congregants were inside mourning an Arab-American teenager who had been killed in a car crash, and the vandalism of a mosque under construction in Toms River, including the spray-painting of Nazi graffiti.

Although it was not classified a bias incident, one of the most respected elders of Paterson's Muslim community was detained and questioned on the way home from a business trip several weeks ago. The man, Mohamed Younes, had been a sharp critic of the detention and questioning of Muslim airline passengers.

Khoury, 38, is an immigration attorney who represented about 10 detainees caught up in the massive law enforcement dragnet immediately following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"Our number one priority is battling discrimination against Arab-Americans, and changing the stereotypes, letting people know we're not terrorists, we're not all evil," Khoury said. "We're human beings just like you."

The group also plans to reach out aggressively to the community on everyday matters such as registering to vote, helping them learn how to apply for jobs as police officers, firefighters, paramedics or school teachers.

"Through that, the community assimilates into the American quilt," Khoury said.

The office also will serve as a point of contact for local, state and federal elected officials and law enforcement authorities.

"This has long been a dream of mine," said board member Aref Assaf, a past president of the group. "Before we were kind of cocooned; now we're out in the open. We are a force to be reckoned with, a player, and we have arrived on the scene."

Other similar advocacy groups already operating in the Paterson area include the Arab-American Civic Organization.