Anti-Semitism Still on the Rise
Stand for Israel | April 30, 2019
This weekend’s horrific shooting at a synagogue outside of San Diego was only the latest in the troubling trend of anti-Semitic attacks, not just around the world but right here in the United States. The Jerusalem Post’s Jeremy Sharon reports that anti-Semitic assaults doubled last year, as the spread of anti-Semitism grows worldwide:
The Anti-Defamation League’s annual report on antisemitic incidents in the US has found that the number of Jews physically assaulted in America more than doubled in 2018 over the previous year’s figures.
These findings come in the wake of the antisemitic shooting by a white supremacist at a Chabad synagogue in Poway, California last week, as well as the worst ever attack against Jews in the US at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in October…
According to the report, there were 39 reported physical assaults against Jews in 2018, compared to 19 in 2017. In last year’s 39 incidents, 59 Jewish people were assaulted, including the 11 people killed and two wounded in the Pittsburgh attack, up from 21 in 2017.
In total, there were 1,879 attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions across the country in 2018, compared to 1,986 in 2017, a decrease of some five percent.
The ADL noted that despite this small decline, the number of incidents in 2018 remained at near-historic levels – 48 percent higher than the total for 2016 and 99 percent higher than in 2015.
“We’ve worked hard to push back against antisemitism – and succeeded in improving hate crime laws… yet we continue to experience an alarmingly high number of antisemitic acts,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director.
“We unfortunately saw this trend continue into 2019 with the tragic shooting at the Chabad synagogue in Poway. It’s clear we must remain vigilant in working to counter the threat of violent antisemitism and denounce it in all forms – wherever the source and regardless of the political affiliation of its proponents…”