There was a 67 percent increase in antisemitic incidents across the United States from January 1 to September 30, 2017 in comparison with the same period in 2016, according to the Anti Defamation League’s annual report on an antisemitism.
1,299 antisemitic incidents were reported during this period, including physical assaults, vandalism and attacks on Jewish institutions.
Presenting the ADL’s annual report on an antisemitism to the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Committee on Monday, ADL’s Israel director Carol Nuriel stressed that the recorded surge in antisemitism does not present the whole picture, as many incidents are not reported. The underreporting of incidents is often due to the fact that victims are frightened of reporting them, or because of the problematic nature of identifying the attack as antisemitic.
Nuriel noted that of the incidents reported, there has been a disturbingly high number of antisemitic bullying and vandalism incidents in schools and college campuses across the US. Incidents in K-12 grade schools in 2017 more than doubled over the same period in 2016 (269, up from 130). On college campuses, a total of 118 antisemitic incidents were reported in the first three quarters of 2017, compared to 74 in the same period of 2016 – an increase of 59 percent.
MK Nachman Shai (Zionist Union), Chairman of the Knesset Caucus to strengthen Israel-Diaspora ties, described the figures presented by Nuriel as “inconceivable.”
“These figures testify to demons emerging from the bottle and are now threatening to blacken the attitude toward Jews throughout the world,” he said.
“This situation demands a great political effort from us,” Shai said. “We must strengthen cooperation between the government of Israel and non-governmental organizations, and between the government of Israel and other governments and intensify the struggle against this grave phenomenon.”
According to Yaakov Hagoel, vice-chairman of the World Zionist Organization, a recent survey conducted by his organization among American Jews revealed that 70 percent of American Jews experienced an antisemitic event in the past year, and only 12 percent had not experienced any antisemitic incidents in their lives.
Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Jewish Agency, emphasized the rise of political antisemitism, pointing at the antisemitism crisis in the UK’s Labour party, as well as antisemitism among the Muslim immigrant populations.
The Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ rally in August was also highlighted in the ADL report as a factor which contributed to a significant bump in antisemitic incidents. The report noted that the rally was one of at least 33 public white supremacist events in the US last year, which were supplemented by 188 incidents where white supremacists used fliers to spread their message to new audiences, especially on college campuses.
Ran Yaakobi, a representative of the Foreign Ministry, noted that a delegation from the United States, including members of Congress and Senators, Republicans and Democrats, as well as the mayor of Charlottesville, will attend an international conference about antisemitism which will take place in Jerusalem in three months time.