Antisemitic Hate Incidents At U.S. Record: What's Happening In NorCal

San Francisco CA

27 April, 2022

1:55 PM

Description

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Antisemitic incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism, including 392 in California, reached an all-time high in 2021, according to an Anti-Defamation League report Tuesday. The ADL's annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents describes 2,717 attacks on Jewish people last year, a 34 percent year-over-year increase, according to the ADL, which began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979. That amounts to an increase of more than seven antisemitic incidents a day. Statewide, two "extremist murders," two terrorist plot/attacks, nine white supremacist events, 392 antisemitic incidents and 236 white supremacist propaganda incidents were reported in the last year, according to the report. In Northern California, a variety of incidents have been reported, with one extremist murder incident reported in Fresno. Antisemitic incidents were reported in higher volume in metropolitan areas with 13 incidents reported in San Francisco and 16 reported in Berkeley. As recently as April 11, graffiti that included two swastikas was found painted on a utility room at Landels Elementary School in Mountain View, according to Mountain View Voice. On Feb. 24, people associated with the antisemitic Goyim Defense League distributed propaganda in a residential neighborhood that read: "Every single aspect of the Covid agenda is Jewish," according to the report. Four days before, the same group distributed propaganda in Novato that read: "Let's Go Brandon. Every single aspect of the Biden administration is Jewish" and "Every single aspect of the Covid agenda is Jewish." Those same flyers were left around Palo Alto, Buena Park, Marin City, Tiburon and Berkeley around the same time in February. In Danville on Feb. 2, the same group distributed propaganda claiming "Blackrock is Jewish" and "the Holocaust was a lie." On March 5, antisemitic and racist graffiti was found on trees, walls, and trash containers on the UC Santa Cruz campus, according to JWeekly. Antisemitic incidents "reached a high watermark across virtually every category" in the audit, the ADL said, including at: Jewish institutions such as synagogues and community centers, up 61 percent.K-12 schools, up 106 percent. College campuses, up 21 percent. Physical assaults increased 167 percent, incidents of harassment increased 43 percent, and acts of antisemitic violence rose 14 percent, according to the audit. The ADL reported a surge in violence during the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas. Antisemitic incidents, including violent attacks on Jewish people, increased 148 percent from the previous May as hundreds of anti-Israel protests took place in dozens of U.S. cities on May 10, the date marking the official start of military action. "While we have always seen a rise in antisemitic activity during periods of increased hostilities between Israel and terrorist groups, the violence we witnessed in America during the conflict last May was shocking," ADL chief executive and national director Jonathan A. Greenblatt said in a news release. "Jews were being attacked in the streets for no other reason than the fact that they were Jewish, and it seemed as if the working assumption was that if you were Jewish, you were blameworthy for what was happening half a world away." Anti-Israel protests accounted for only a portion of the violent attacks on Jews in 2021, and not the largest portion, according to the ADL. Physical assaults also spiked in November and December, when there were no contributing geopolitical events. Nearly 18 percent of the incidents last year — at least 484 — were attributable to actions by domestic extremists, the ADL said. "When it comes to antisemitic activity in America, you cannot point to any single ideology or belief system, and in many cases, we simply don't know the motivation," Greenblatt said in the release. "But we do know that Jews are experiencing more antisemitic incidents than we have in this country in at least 40 years, and that's a deeply troubling indicator of larger societal fissures." 2021 Findings: By The Numbers Total antisemitic incidents: 2,717, up 34 percent Assaults: 88, up 167 percentVictims: 131Use of deadly weapons: 11Fatalities: 0 Harassment: 1,776 incidents, up 43 percent Vandalism: 853 incidents, up 14 percentSwastikas used in 578 incidents States reporting incidents: 50 and the District of Columbia, with the following states accounting for 58 percent of total incidents: New York: 416New Jersey: 392California: 367 Florida: 190Michigan: 112 Texas: 112 Antisemitic incidents at Jewish Institutions: 525Harassment: 413Vandalism: 101Assaults: 11 About 25 percent, or 111 incidents, were linked to anti-Zionist or anti-Israel sentiments. Domestic extremist groups or individuals inspired by extremist ideology were responsible for 484 antisemitic incidents, 18 percent of the total, the ADL said. White supremacist groups and extremists were responsible for 422 antisemitic propaganda distributions, a 52 percent increase from the year before. A total of 345 antisemitic incidents in 2021 involved references to Israel or Zionism; of them, 68 appeared in the form of white supremacist propaganda efforts, which the ADL said attempt to strengthen anti-Israel and antisemitic beliefs.