According to a preliminary report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Center, reports of anti-Semitic incidents in the US have reached a record high since the Hamas attack in Israel. last year.
The team detected more than 10,000 incidents from October 7, 2023 to September 24 this year, an increase of more than 200% year-on-year.
This is the highest level since the ADL began tracking such incidents in 1979.
The report comes just days after the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a joint statement warning of possible threats of violence amid ongoing chaos in the Middle East.
Since last October’s Hamas attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, “Jewish Americans have not had a moment of rest,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement .
“Instead, we face a large number of anti-Semitic threats and calls for further violence against Israelis and Jews everywhere.”
The more than 10,000 incidents of anti-Semitism reported by the ADL included approximately 8,015 incidents of verbal or written harassment, 1,840 incidents of vandalism, and 150 incidents of physical assault.
The states with the highest number of reported cases were California with 1,266 cases, New York with 1,218, New Jersey with 830 and Florida with 463.
The ADL said it expected the preliminary number to increase as more data is received. The final report for 2024 will be published in spring 2025.
The ADL said part of the overall increase came from a change in approach to include “expressions of opposition to Zionism, as well as support for protest activity against Israel or its followers.” Zionism can be considered as supporting terrorism”.
The ADL’s preliminary report counted more than 3,000 incidents during anti-Israel protests “which included frequent and clear displays of support for terrorist groups,” including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Excluding these incidents, the ADL counted 7,523 episodes of anti-Semitism, a 103% increase from 2022.
Following the October 7 attack, Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of destroying Hamas.
Since then, 41,870 Palestinians have been killed and more than 97,000 injured in Gaza, most of them women and children, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said.
The war inspired a wave of protests across America, especially on college campuses, with many demonstrating against the growing humanitarian toll.
In Lebanon, More than 1,000 people were killed while up to a million people may have been displaced since Israel launched its offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Continued violence in the region has led to an increase in anti-Muslim and Islamophobic incidents across the United States.
According to a report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released in April, anti-Muslim incidents reached 8,061 in 2023. The report marks the highest level since CAIR began examining count nearly 30 years ago, with nearly half coming after the October 7 attacks.
