Antisemitic Incidents Rocketing in US Since Hamas Pogrom, New ADL Data Shows
Pro-Hamas demonstrators are detained by police officers in New York during a protest at the Brooklyn Bridge. Photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton
Antisemitic incidents in the US rose by an eye-watering 360 percent in the period since the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel reignited the conflict in the Middle East, according to new data released on Wednesday by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
A total of 3,283 antisemitic incidents were recorded across the country by the Jewish civil rights group, compared with 712 in the same period the previous year.
“Since Oct. 7, there was an average of nearly 34 antisemitic incidents per day, putting 2023 on track to be the highest year for antisemitic acts against Jews since ADL started tracking this data in the late 1970s,” the ADL noted in an accompanying statement.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO, emphasized that the present situation was previously unknown among American Jews.
“The American Jewish community is facing a threat level that’s now unprecedented in modern history,” Greenblatt warned. “It’s shocking that we’ve recorded more antisemitic acts in three months than we usually would in an entire year.”
The breakdown of incidents includes 60 episodes of physical assault and 553 acts of vandalism. More than 1,000 pro-Hamas rallies featured antisemitic rhetoric.
“In this difficult moment, antisemitism is spreading and mutating in alarming ways,” Greenblatt said. “This onslaught of hate includes a dramatic increase in fake bomb threats that disrupt services at synagogues and put communities on edge across the country.”
Many of the incidents recorded by the ADL took place in environments such as schools and shopping malls. Earlier this week, a high school basketball game in Yonkers, NY was canceled after the home team showered their Jewish opponents with antisemitic insults, while a teenager wearing an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sweatshirt was physically assaulted at a mall in East Rutherford, NJ.
Of the total, at least 505 incidents took place on college campuses, and another 246 were reported in K-12 schools. At least 628 incidents were reported against Jewish institutions such as synagogues and community centers. About two-thirds of the total incidents could be directly related to the Israel-Hamas war, the ADL said.
The post Antisemitic Incidents Rocketing in US Since Hamas Pogrom, New ADL Data Shows first appeared on Algemeiner.com.