The ADL has been tracking such incidents since 1979 — and its previous reports have found that anti-Semitism in America has been on the rise for years. Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO and national director, said Jews in the US are experiencing the most anti-Semitism they have seen in the past 40 years and it’s a “deeply troubling indicator of larger societal fissures.”
Most of the incidents included in the report — 1,776 — were described as harassment, meaning one or more Jews or those perceived to be Jewish were the target of anti-Semitic slurs, stereotypes or conspiracy theories, the report states.
A total of 853 incidents were acts of vandalism, and 88 were assaults. There were no deaths linked to anti-Semitic violence, the report said.
There were 387 incidents in May 2021 and the majority took place after the “official start of the military action,” the ADL says.
In Los Angeles, witnesses said people got out of a car outside a sushi restaurant and began asking indiscriminately who was Jewish. The words “Dirty Jew” were heard. Glass bottles were thrown at the table.
“Jews were being attacked in the streets for no other reason than the fact that they were Jewish, and it seemed as if the working assumption was that if you were Jewish, you were blameworthy for what was happening half a world away,” said Greenblatt.
Among the places where incidents were reported were Jewish institutions, including community centers, synagogues, grade schools and college campuses. There were 525 incidents at Jewish institutions; 331 were reported at non-Jewish K-12 schools and 155 at colleges and universities, the report found.
Every state and the District of Columbia reported incidents, with the highest numbers in New York, New Jersey, California, Florida, Michigan, and Texas, the ADL audit found. Nearly 60% of the total incidents were in those six states.