Group Reports Record Tally of Antisemitic Incidents in U.S. in 2021

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — A Jewish civil rights organization’s annual tally of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. reached a record high last year, with a surge that coincided with an 11-day war last May between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group, according to a report released Tuesday.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) counted 2,717 antisemitic incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism in 2021, a 34% increase over the past year and the highest number since the New York City-based group began tracking such incidents in 1979.

ADL counted 297 antisemitic incidents that occurred between the start of military action and the end of the month, a 141% increase from the 123 incidents that it counted during the same period in 2020.

“The perpetrators of many of these incidents explicitly referred to the conflict between Israel and Hamas,” the report says.

ADL said its tally of antisemitic incidents still increased by 46% during the last 20 days of May 2021, compared to the same period in 2020, even when incidents with explicit references to Israel or Zionism are excluded.

“It’s alarming because the vitriol against the Jewish community is coming from all angles,” said Oren Segal, vice president of the ADL’s Center on Extremism.

ADL counted 15 antisemitic assaults between May 10 and May 30 of last year after counting none during the same period in 2020. The group said there is evidence that at least eight of those assaults were motivated by “anti-Israel/anti-Zionism sentiment.”

For example, it cited a May 18 incident in which people in a caravan of cars and flying Palestinian flags attacked Jewish diners outside a Los Angeles restaurant.

“The Palestinian supporters pushed one of the victims to the ground and kicked him. Soon after, a brawl erupted, and subsequent news reports indicated the attackers also hurled anti-Jewish slurs during the melee,” the ADL report says.

ADL also cited a May 20 incident in New York City, where a Jewish man wearing a yarmulke was attacked on his way to a pro-Israel rally. His attackers yelled anti-Jewish and anti-Israel slurs while they punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed him, the report says.

ADL says its audit includes incidents of harassment, vandalism or assault that incorporated “anti-Israel and/or anti-Zionism themes” if they also express “classic anti-Jewish animus” or “demonize Jews as a group for real or perceived support of Israel.”

The audit found that extremists groups or individuals, including white supremacists, were responsible for 484 incidents last year, up from 332 in 2020. The distribution of antisemitic fliers, banners, stickers or written messages accounted for most of those incidents. They also included acts of vandalism and bomb threats to Jewish institutions.

The group’s tally of total 2,717 incidents last year included 1,776 cases of harassment, a 43% increase from 1,242 in 2020. ADL also counted a 14% increase in vandalism cases (from 751 in 2020 to 853 last year) and a 167% increase in assault incidents (from 33 in 2020 to 88 last year). The 88 assault incidents involved 131 victims, none of whom were killed, the report says.