By Fabienne Perlov
SAN DIEGO — Antisemitism is nothing short of a national emergency, a five-alarm fire that is raging across the country, in our local communities, on campuses and online.
ADL has released our annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in the United States since the 1970s, and we’ve never seen numbers like this — a total of 8,873 incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism across the country. The total represents a 140-percent increase from 2022 — already a record-setting year — and the highest level recorded since ADL started tracking this data.
All of that hate in 2023 added up to an average of about 24 anti-Jewish incidents in the U.S. per day. This means that on average, someone was harassed every hour. Or a synagogue was vandalized. Or someone faced physical violence fueled by anti-Jewish hate.
In the San Diego region, ADL recorded an unprecedented total of 108 local incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism in 2023, a 200% increase from 2022. This dramatic spike in antisemitic acts includes 58 incidents occurring after October 7th, comprising 54% of total incidents. This reflects a global trend as Jewish communities worldwide face heightened tensions and hatred in response to the Oct 7 massacre and ongoing conflict – on campuses, in the public square and at anti-Israel demonstrations.
ADL San Diego, joined by a panel of local law enforcement, will be hosting a live webinar this Friday, April 19th, at 9:00 am to discuss the audit findings. To register, click here
We need your support today. In response to the new findings of incidents of hate in every state last year, the response needs to be similarly widespread. ADL today called on governors’ offices across the country to create their own state-level versions of the White House’s landmark National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. We need every governor to develop and put in place a comprehensive strategy. Click here to tell your governor to join the ADL community in fighting antisemitism.
Bomb threats toward Jewish institutions increased dramatically by over 1,000 percent from 2022. Additionally, swatting was increasingly used as a tactic to put Jewish institutions at risk, with over a hundred swatting incidents targeting synagogues, community centers, Jewish schools and more.
Both bomb threats and swatting campaigns are aimed at terrorizing the community by disrupting religious services and other activities across the country. Watch the video above to learn more about this threat and how to respond.
Each year, ADL’s annual Audit is an important benchmark that provides a sense of the dangers that the Jewish community confronts. This data becomes part of the national discussion, used by government leaders and the media to react to the threat level across the country. And this year, the message is that we are facing a tsunami of hate that presents a clear and present danger to Jews and Jewish life in America. It is clear from the shocking numbers ADL is tracking that extraordinary steps must be taken to fight back against this wave of hate.
These statistics are not just numbers. There is an innocent person behind each and every one of them; from a college student harassed for wearing a Star of David necklace, to Jewish residents finding antisemitic flyers in their driveways, or a rabbi being assaulted at a grocery store. This must stop.
Together, you and I and the rest of the ADL community will not waver. Together, we will be bold, resolved and innovative in monitoring and disrupting antisemitism every hour of every day.
With your help, we will not and cannot rest in Fighting Hate for Good.
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Fabienne Perlov is the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)