Antisemitic incidents reach new high in the US, report finds
The number of antisemitic episodes in the United States surged to the highest recorded in a one-year period in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel last year, the Anti-Defamation League said Sunday.
The new figures — covering Oct. 7, 2023, to Sept. 24 — were about triple the number of cases reported to the organization during the same period a year before, the ADL, a civil rights organization, said in a statement.
The group identified more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents, which were split into categories such as verbal or written harassment, vandalism and physical assault. The largest number of cases — 8,015 — fell under verbal or written harassment, according to the figures.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, said Oct. 7 would be “one year since the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.”
“From that day on, Jewish Americans haven’t had a single moment of respite,” he said, adding that instead “we’ve faced a shocking number of antisemitic threats and experienced calls for more violence against Israelis and Jews everywhere.”
The organization has been tracking cases of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault in the United States since 1979 and publishes its research in an annual report.
The group said it recorded “an unprecedented total number” of 8,873 antisemitic incidents in 2022, a 140% increase from the previous year.
Its latest report is the fourth time in six years that the ADL has said it inventoried a record-high count of antisemitic episodes.
The states with the highest number of recorded cases in the most recent report were California (1,266), New York (1,218), New Jersey (830), Florida (463) and Massachusetts (440).
The antisemitic incidents have increased since Hamas attacked Israel last year and the war became a heated issue on U.S. college campuses, where numerous protests have taken place.
The report noted that at least 922 episodes had taken place on college and university campuses. During the same period a year earlier, the organization had recorded nearly 200 cases on campuses.
The ADL also said that the number of bomb threats made to Jewish institutions such as synagogues had soared from its previous report to 1,000, from 81.
In addition, the group said, its preliminary research found that more than 3,000 of the antisemitic incidents had occurred during anti-Israel rallies in public spaces, such as parks and streets.
The ADL, which was founded in 1913, said it used the research to create and improve programs to counter and prevent the spread of antisemitism and bigotry.
The organization said it expected its preliminary figures to increase as it received more reports. Final data for 2024 will be published in the spring of 2025.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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