Study: Anti-Semitic incidents surge nearly 70 percent in 2017

Anti-Semitic incidents have surged 67 percent nationwide since 2016, according to new data from the Anti-Defamation League released Thursday.

The ADL said that from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30 of this year, there have been 1,299 reported anti-Semitic incidents, up from 779 during the same period in 2016.

The incidents tracked include criminal and noncriminal acts of physical assault, vandalism, attacks on Jewish institutions and distribution of “hate propaganda.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and national director, said in a statement that the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this year highlighted the trend — the data show a spike in incidents immediately after the rally.

“We are astonished and horrified by the rise in anti-Semitic harassment, incidents and violence targeting our communities,” Greenblatt said. “While the tragedy in Charlottesville highlighted this trend, it was not an aberration. Every single day, white supremacists target members of the Jewish community — holding rallies in public, recruiting on college campuses, attacking journalists on social media, and even targeting young children.”

{mosads}White supremacists chanted “Jews will not replace us” during the rally in Charlottesville, which left one woman dead when a driver plowed his vehicle into a crowd of counterprotesters.

According to the ADL, there have been 703 incidents of anti-Semitic harassment this year, including 162 bomb threats against Jewish institutions, 584 incidents of vandalism and 12 physical assaults.

A release from ADL highlights a notable increase in anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses and in K–12 grade schools, where incidents more than doubled in 2017 from 2016.

“We are deeply troubled by the rising number of anti-Semitic incidents, bullying, and hate in our nation’s schools and we don’t think the statistics paint a full picture of what is happening,” Greenblatt said. “Many school-based incidents still go unreported. As a country, we have to do more to ensure that our schools remain places where students can learn safely without fearing bullying and hate.”