Washington – The Anti-Defamation League is reporting a 57 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. last year, the highest tally that the Jewish civil rights group has counted in more than two decades, according to data it released Tuesday.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The New York City-based organization found 1,986 anti-Semitic incidents last year, up from 1,267 in 2016. That’s the highest total since 1994 and the largest single-year increase since the group began collecting this data in 1979.
The ADL said the sharp rise includes 952 vandalism incidents, an increase of 86 percent from 2016. The group also counted 1,015 incidents of harassment.
ADL national director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said the “alarming” increase appears to be fueled by emboldened far-right extremists as well as the “divisive state of our national discourse.”
“Less civility has led to more intolerance,” he told The Associated Press.
Greenblatt also acknowledged that heightened awareness of the problem likely led to increased reporting of anti-Semitic incidents.
Anti-Semitic incidents at schools and on college campuses nearly doubled for the second year in a row, with 457 such incidents reported in non-Jewish schools last year, the ADL report says.
The ADL and other groups have reported a surge in the number of incidents in which far-right extremist groups have posted racist and anti-Semitic fliers on college campuses. ADL spokesman Todd Gutnick said the report’s tally only counts incidents in which fliers had explicitly anti-Semitic messages.
The ADL also counted 19 anti-Semitic physical assaults last year, a 47 percent decrease from 2016.
The harassment incidents included 169 bomb threats against Jewish institutions, nearly all of them by two men. The ADL report said more than 150 bomb threats against Jewish community centers and day schools last year were allegedly made by an 18-year-old Israeli-American Jewish hacker, who was arrested in Israel last March. Separately, a former journalist from St. Louis pleaded guilty to making a string of fake bomb threats to Jewish organizations last year in the name of his ex-girlfriend in an effort to disrupt her life.
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, of Ohev Sholom-The National Synagogue in Washington, said neo-Nazis in the U.S. are emboldened “in a way I have not seen in my lifetime.”
“It’s scary,” said Herzfeld, whose synagogue received a bomb threat in April. “I think there is no question that it’s on people’s minds, and there is more of it out there.”
The ADL is urging Congress to pass legislation to expand federal protections against bomb threats to religious institutions. The legislation, approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in December, awaits action in the Senate, the ADL said.
Greenblatt also urges “all public figures” to speak out against anti-Semitism “whether you’re the president of the United States or the head of the local P.T.A.”
President Donald Trump was widely criticized for saying there was “blame on both sides” after violence erupted in August at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed when a man drove his car into a crowd of demonstrators.
“There’s no question we would love to see the president call out anti-Semitism as consistently and clearly as he does other issues,” Greenblatt said.
The ADL says it compiles its incident data from news reports and information provided by victims, law enforcement and “community leaders.”
“We just don’t report something we’ve heard. We call, we check and we verify,” Greenblatt said.
‘BUT THEY’RE GOOD PEOPLE…’
Even during good times it is increasing. We have been having a tremendous economic growth in the past 8 years and anti-semitism in increasing…What will happen in the next conflict with the Muslims, be it Palestinians or Hezbollah?
It’s also interesting that things are going bad in Europe as well. Latin America used to be a nice place to be, but it’s becoming very unsafe all over.
Meanwhile, Israel is doing better and better.
The world is increasing pressure for us to return to our own land.
Wunderbar…Long Live David Duke. Long Live the “Very Fine People” marching in Charlottesville. Long Live the Racist Base yelling Ni–er at Trump Rallies. Long Live a White Amerika. Long Live the Yidden who don’t see the problem. Hail Victory to the New Order.
They have been rising ever since Obama became president and shows no signs of letting up. Obama sent us back to the 70s. Another job well done by the failure in chief.
The harassment incidents included 169 bomb threats against Jewish institutions, nearly all of them by two men. The ADL report said more than 150 bomb threats against Jewish community centers and day schools last year were allegedly made by an 18-year-old Israeli-American Jewish hacker
This tells me two things.
1) alot of it is due to the yonasonw and his ilkes (NJMoshe) who falsely and blatantly lie and accuse the president of anti semtism. They thereby pump up anti semtism and encourge copy cats as with this Israeli. Make no mistake had the media not pumped up the image of Anti semtism to debase and defame Trump this loser Israeli would not have done what he did.
2) Simply counting the number of incidents is a silly shallow view of the matter. One or two disturbed individuals can commit lots even 100’s of these types of crimes. So the crimes may increase by a few 100 which is alot but in reality its just two random mishagoyim doing it all.
News release today:
“US Cyber Command Chief Adm. Mike Rogers told lawmakers on Tuesday that he has not been granted authority by President Donald Trump to disrupt Russian election hacking operations where they originate.”
This is hard to believe. I think anyone with any related experience would have assumed that a cyber counter-offensive was in the works, if not already underway.
Whether this is all due to Trump’s negligence or to his Putin blind spot, it seems to be almost a text book case of dereliction of duty.
I mean, why doesn’t the fool just run up a white flag!
Obama hosted the so-called “Reverend” Al Sharpton at the White House on at least 30 occasions in his eight years, there. Sharpton helped instigate and perpetuate the Crown Heights Pogrom of 1991. Sharpton stated “If those diamond merchants want to get it on with me, I’ll pin their yarmulkes back on their heads”. Also, a photo has just emerged of Obama meeting with Farrakhan, while a Senator. His campaign deliberately had that photo squashed in 2008, and 2012. It is two bad that Rabbi Meir Kahane and the JDL are still not around. They would have smashed the Nazis at Charlottesville, in the same manner that they confronted them in Skokie, in 1977.
I was just waiting for yonasonw and hashomer to pounce on this and blame Trump. What lowlife liars liberals are. Feh.