A tragic fact that should be of grave concern to Jewish Americans of all backgrounds is that antisemetism in America has reached historical highs. The Anti Defamation League’s (ADL) most recent audit uncovered that 2018 recorded the third-highest number of antisemitic incidents in the past four decades, an astonishing 1,879. That is 48% higher than the number of incidents just two years before in 2016, and 99% higher than the prior year, 2015. [Alarmingly, 2017 and 2018 had more antisemitic incidents the previous eight years combined.]
Over the last ten years there has been a spat of violent antisemitic attacks in the United States, driven by the nasty rhetoric of influential people and culminating in the truly worrying state we are in today. “Highlights” have included:
- 2009 Washington, DC Holocaust Museum shooting, perpetrated by a Neo-Nazi, killing a security guard
- 2014 Overland Park shootings, in which a Klansman attacked a JCC and retirement home in Kansas City, killing three people
- 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville draws national attention, in which far-right protesters chant “Jews will not replace us,” and one of them plows his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one
- 2018 Tree of Life Shooting in Pittsburgh, in which a white supremacist fired in a synagogue, killing 11
- 2019 Chabad of Poway shooting, in which white supremacist attacked a synagogue on Passover, killing one and injuring three
- 2019 Jersey City supermarket attack, in which two black supremacists attacked a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, killing 3 shoppers and a cop; the attackers had planned much wider attacks including a truck bomb
- 2019 Monsey Stabbing, in which five Jews were critically injured in a stabbing by a leftist fanatic at a Hanukkah party
- One of the 1,879 antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2018 was the deadliest hate crime against Jews in the history of the U.S. A white supremacist massacred 11 Jewish worshippers, and injured two others at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October. The Pittsburgh attack was one of 39 reported physical assaults on Jewish individuals in 2018, a 105% increase over 2017. A total of 59 individuals were victims of assault, not including the police officers injured at the Tree of Life Synagogue.
- 249 antisemitic incidents attributed to known extremist groups or individuals inspired by extremist ideology. This represents 13% of the total number of incidents and is the highest level of antisemitic incidents with known connections to extremist individuals or groups since 2004. These incidents were the result of an antisemitic fliering campaign and of a series of robocalls perpetrated by Neo-Nazi. Nearly half of the incidents of harassment targeting Jewish institutions were the work of known white supremacists or extremists.
- K-12 schools, as well as colleges and universities, continue to be the scenes of significant numbers of antisemitic incidents. The ADL recorded 344 incidents at K-12 non-Jewish schools in 2018 (down from 457 in 2017), and 201 incidents at colleges and universities (down from 204 in 2017).
- In 2018 there were 265 reported incidents at Jewish institutions such as synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish schools, a decrease of 23% from the previous year, but still markedly higher than the 170 incidents reported in 2016.
- The ADL has tracked antisemitic incidents for the past four decades and in 2018 recorded the third-highest number of incidents. The total of 2018 incidents decreased by 5% from the 1,986 incidents the ADL recorded in 2017. The 2018 total is 48% higher than the number of incidents in 2016 and 99% higher than in 2015.
The only peaceful path to stopping the unacceptable surge is taking our opinions directly to the ballot box. Although we may have different backgrounds and may not share the same political beliefs, we must all stand behind one concept: our unified and collective efforts to support our Constitution and end discrimination of all forms: racism, antisemitism, and bigotry.