United States
AP
Nearly two-thirds of American Jews feel less secure in the US than they did a year ago, according to a new national survey.
The American Jewish Committee, a prominent advocacy organisation, conducted the survey last fall just as the Israel-Hamas war began on 7th October. The number of American Jews who say they feel less secure in the US jumped 22 per cent from last year’s survey.
“This year’s study shows us very clearly that antisemitism that was really just a simmering flame is now, especially since Oct 7, a five-alarm fire,” Ted Deutch, CEO of AJC, told The Associated Press.
American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch is seen during an interview on 8th Friday, February, 2024, in Boca Raton, Florida. PICTURE: AP Photo/Cody Jackson.
UK RECORDS WORST YEAR FOR ANTISEMITISM AFTER OUTBREAK OF ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Britain recorded thousands of antisemitic incidents after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October, making 2023 the worst year for UK antisemitism since 1984, when Jewish advisory body CST began recording such data, it said on Thursday.
The number of antisemitic incidents across the country reached 4,103, more than twice the figure in 2022, amid a surge of threats, hate speech, violence and damage to Jewish institutions and property, the Community Security Trust said.
People hold Israeli and British flags during a march against antisemitism, after an increase in the UK, during a temporary truce between the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israel, in London, Britain on 26th November, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Susannah Ireland/File Photo
The CST, which advises Britain’s estimated 280,000 Jews on security matters, said two-thirds of those incidents occurred on or after 7th October, when Hamas militants rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage.
That rise appeared, at least initially, to reflect a celebration of Hamas’ attacks rather than anger at Israel’s military reprisals in Gaza, the CST said its data suggested. The conflict has left at least 28,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which does not provide a breakdown for combatant deaths.
The surge recorded after 7th October alone exceeded all previous annual totals, said the CST, which has been recording antisemitic incidents in Britain for 40 years.
“Stony silence”
“British Jews are strong and resilient, but the explosion in hatred against our community is an absolute disgrace,” CST Chief Executive Mark Gardner said in a statement.
“Our community is being harassed, intimidated, threatened and attacked by extremists who also oppose society as whole…we condemn the stony silence from those sections of society that eagerly call out racism in every other case, except when it comes to Jew hate,” he said.
The CST recorded 266 cases of violent assaults last year, another all-time high, with half occurring in areas with significant Jewish communities, including north London and Manchester in northern England.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last year granted an extra £3 million in funding for the CST, which provides security at Jewish institutions.
London’s Metropolitan Police have also pledged stronger action against hate crime linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict and have made over 400 related arrests as of last month.
The previous record for antisemitic incidents in Britain was in 2021, fueled by a rise in violence in Israel and Gaza.
Although 31 per cent of the antisemitic incidents recorded last year were online, the CST said the figure was only indicative and the actual amount of anti-Jewish content on online platforms was much higher.
– SACHIN RAVIKUMAR, London, UK/Reuters
The survey released Tuesday found one quarter of American Jews said they have been the target of antisemitism in the past year. Almost half of American Jews responding to the survey said they had altered their behavior during the past year to avoid antisemitism – changing what they wore, what they posted online or where they went so other people wouldn’t know they were Jewish.
“I live in a rural area and my home is most likely the only Jewish home in a 30-mile radius,” a 62-year-old woman is quoted as saying in the survey report. “We don’t tell people and outside the home do not show that we are Jewish.”
That reticence is “an enormous challenge for the Jewish community,” Deutch said. “But it really represents a challenge for all of our society.”
The survey comes as Jewish and Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups have reported large increases in harassment, bias and physical attacks against their members in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
Brian Levin, founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said he has seen a surge in anti-Jewish and Islamophobic internet searches since last fall, including “eliminationist” and homicidal language.
Levin, who is not affiliated with the AJC survey, said anti-Jewish hate crimes hit a record high last year in several major cities. “As Jews are understandably feeling more insecure, police and social science data back up why,” he said.
The AJC began its survey five years ago, after the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh, the deadliest antisemitic attack on American soil. Since then, most Jews and more than half of Americans say they think antisemitism has increased, according to the AJC.
This year’s primary survey collected data from 1,528 Jewish adults in the US, while its companion survey collected data from 1,223 US adults. The surveys, conducted by the polling firm SSRS, had margins of error of 3.5 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively.
Jews between 18 and 29 were more likely to report being the victim of antisemitism. As universities grapple with antisemitism, around a quarter of Jewish college students or recent graduates reported hiding their Jewish identity or refraining from speaking about Israel on campus.
Most American Jews (85 per cent) say the statement “Israel has no right to exist” is antisemitic. A 52-year-old male respondent is cited in the report as saying, “Criticising Israel’s political policies (ex: treatment of non-Jews in the country, Palestinians for example) is not antisemitic. Saying that Israel should not exist, as a result of these practices, IS antisemitic.”
Most Americans who witnessed antisemitism saw it online or on social media, but only five per cent said they reported it. More than one in five American Jews said an online incident made them feel physically threatened.
“So it’s not just some of the memes or jokes,” said Holly Huffnagle, the AJC’s US director for combating antisemitism. “This is real, vitriolic antisemitism that’s affecting them, that’s making them feel physically unsafe.”
There is a growing awareness of antisemitism. Most American Jews and three-fourths of the general public now believe antisemitism is a problem in the US, according to the AJC. That number increases for non-Jews who know someone who is Jewish. About 90 per cent of Americans said everyone is responsible for fighting antisemitism.
“That’s a good news piece,” Huffnagle said. “I think the question is, ‘How do we empower the general public who sees the problem now in ways they hadn’t four years ago?’”
Last year, the Biden administration released a national strategy to combat antisemitism, and the AJC is encouraging further action on those recommendations. Deutch, a former Democratic member of Congress, said they will keep working with the government to implement the national strategy.
“But ultimately,” Deutch said, “we’re really looking to our friends, our allies in other faith communities, in our places of work, in our schools, to stand with us, to understand how we feel and to work together to fight antisemitism and in turn to fight hatred of all kinds.”
