Anti-Semitic Incidents Surged 60% Nationally in 2017, 41% in San Diego

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said in a new report today that the number of anti-Semitic incidents nationwide was nearly 60 percent higher in 2017 than 2016, the largest single-year increase on record and the second highest number reported since ADL started tracking incident data in the 1970s. In the same time period in San Diego, the number of anti-Semitic incidents increased 41 percent.

The sharp rise, reported in ADL’s Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, was in part due to a significant increase in incidents in schools and on college campuses, which nearly doubled for the second year in a row. San Diego State University and University of California San Diego are among the U.S. campuses most impacted.

For the first time in at least a decade, every part of the country was affected, with an incident reported in all 50 states. In 2017, there were 1,986 anti-Semitic incidents including physical assaults, vandalism, and attacks on Jewish institutions reported across the U.S. Of those, 45 were reported in San Diego.

ADL San Diego Regional Director Tammy Gillies said “we are very concerned by the steep increase in anti-Semitic harassment, incidents, and violence in San Diego and nationwide. ADL works tirelessly to offer anti-bias education in schools, train law enforcement partners on hate crimes, and advocate for communities targeted by hateful rhetoric.” She added, “It is everybody’s responsibility to do more to ensure that our neighbors feel safe and that our students can learn without fear of being bullied. Our upcoming Walk Against Hate on April 15, 2018 in Liberty Station is one of many opportunities to demonstrate our commitment to being allies.”

INCIDENTS

Incidents took place in every state across the country, but consistent with prior reports, the states with the highest number of incidents tend to be those with the largest Jewish populations. These include New York (380 incidents); California (268); New Jersey (208); Massachusetts (177); Florida (98); and Pennsylvania (96). From 2016 to 2017, San Diego incidents of harassment increased 19 percent and incidents of vandalism increased 122 percent.

According to the audit, there are myriad reasons why the numbers are rising.  These include the fact that more people are reporting incidents to ADL than ever before. Anti-Semitic incidents took place in a wide variety of locations, including places of business, private homes, public areas such as parks and streets, Jewish institutions and schools and colleges/universities.

HOW ADL IS RESPONDING

ADL has a comprehensive approach to address anti-Semitic incidents and behavior, including educating youth to prevent these behaviors and working with law enforcement to apprehend the perpetrators. ADL trains 15,000 law enforcement officials per year including to every new FBI agent and provides anti-bias and anti-bullying training reaching 1.5 million kids in schools. The No Place for Hate program builds allyship and inclusion, and other programs specifically address anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias.

ADL has also recently announced expansions in its work to counter cyber hate with a new center in Silicon Valley in recognition of the close connection between the rise in hate online and the rise of hate incidents in our communities.

Source: The Anti-Defamation League

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