Antisemitism On The Rise Worldwide

Security network: 199 threats against Jewish institutions - in just 24 hours

Philissa Cramer, JTA

Hundreds of synagogues and Jewish institutions across the United States received bomb threats by email this weekend, in a substantial acceleration of a months-long spree of hoax threats.

The Secure Community Network, which coordinates security for Jewish institutions nationwide, said early Sunday that it had tracked 199 threats over the past 24 hours, with nearly 100 in California and 62 in Arizona. Synagogues in at least 17 states plus Washington, D.C., were affected, according to local media reports.

None of the threats were deemed credible after local investigations. But some of them caused significant disruption: A Boulder, Colorado, synagogue evacuated its Shabbat morning services on Saturday, for example, while a congregation in western Massachusetts canceled its Sunday religious school.

In Alabama, the state’s only Jewish lawmaker, Philip Ensler, posted a video to social media showing the moment that the Torah reading at his synagogue was interrupted and everyone in attendance was ushered outside.

“This is exhausting,” he tweeted. “I pray for the day that we can worship and live in peace.”

Ensler, who is also executive director of the Jewish Federation of Central Alabama, later said in a federation statement that six of seven Jewish institutions in his area had received the threats.

The surge in threats comes at a time of high anxiety for American Jews amid a spike in reports of antisemitic incidents amid the Israel-Hamas war. It also follows multiple arrests of people who have been charged with sending bomb threats targeting Jewish and other institutions, including a minor in California last week and a man in Peru in September.

Hundreds of synagogues have received bomb threats since the latest spree began over the summer, including during the High Holidays. The arrests do not appear to be blunting the threats.

“Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that this nationwide trend will continue in the foreseeable future,” the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey told community members in an email on Sunday afternoon sharing news of at least five threats in the area.

Antisemitism surges 337% since October 7; highest level ever recorded

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz

The Anti Defamation League reported that since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, antisemitism has increased dramatically around the world but most markedly in the US.

“Since October 7, 2023, ADL has recorded a surge of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. and tracked a spike in antisemitism around the world,” the ADL wrote. “At anti-Israel October and November rallies, ADL Center on Extremism reported antisemitic rhetoric and tropes, implicit support for Hamas terror and the denigration of “Zionists.” As implied and sometimes explicit support for violence against Israelis and Zionists and the use of language playing into historic tropes become more normalized, it is likely that antisemitic incidents will continue to increase.”

The ADL reported 2,031 antisemitic incidents, including 40 incidents of physical violence, 749 of verbal attacks, 337 cases of vandalism and 905 rallies that featured antisemitic speech. That’s up from 465 incidents during the same period in 2022 and represents the highest ever two-month number since the ADL began tracking antisemitism in the country in 1979. It also represented a 337 percent increase over the same period in 2022.

The data also showed 250 incidents that targeted Jewish institutions including synagogues. The ADL says it recorded a total of 400 antisemitic incidents at university campuses, compared to 33 incidents during the same period last year.

Included in the ADL’s statistics is the death of a Jewish pro-Israel supporter, Paul Kessler, 69, who was killed during a clash with a pro-Palestinian protester in California last month. While a suspect was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter, he is not facing hate-crime charges.

According to the ADL’s calculations, on average, Jews in America “experienced nearly 34 antisemitic incidents per day.”

This disturbing trend is worldwide. According to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry there has been a 591% increase in antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7. At a Sydney rally held two days after the Hamas massacre of Israelis, “pro-Palestinian protesters chanted “gas the Jews”.

According to the Jewish community’s security organization, CST, from since October 7, there have been 2093 antisemitic incidents across the UK, the highest ever total reported to CST across a 68-day period.

Below are even more disturbing findings.

According to the Dutch NGO antisemitism monitor, CIDI, from October 7-November 6, there has been an increase of 818%, compared to the average 1 month period of the prior 3 years.

According to RIAS, the NGO which records antisemitic incidents in Germany, from October 7 to November 9, there were 994 incidents, which is an average of 29 per day. This is a 320% increase, compared to the rate of incidents in 2022.  

According to the CONIB, which tracks antisemitism in Brazil, there have been 467 antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7, a 961% increase in comparison to the previous year.