A surge in anti-Semitic incidents reported within the U.S. during the first nine months of 2017 suggests an increase of about 67 percent over the same period last year with respect to assaults, vandalism and other attacks targeting Jewish institutions, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said in its Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents released Thursday.
The ADL logged a total of 1,299 anti-Semitic incidents from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, according to the organization’s latest report, dwarfing the 488 incidents reported during the same period in 2016 and already surpassing last year’s 12-month tally of 1,266 recorded incidents.
Specifically the ADL reported 703 incidents involving harassment, including 62 bomb threats targeting Jewish institutions, as well as 584 instances of vandalism and a dozen physical assaults during the first nine months of 2017.
While 667 of the instances, or about 51 percent, occurred during the first quarter of 2017, the ADL said it witnessed a “distinct increase” in anti-Semitic activity following the “Unite the Right” rally held on the weekend of August 11 in Charlottesville, Virginia — one of at least 33 white supremacists events publicly held within the U.S. this year, according to the report.
A total of 306 anti-Semitic incidents were reported during the third quarter beginning July 1 and ending Sept. 30, the report said, including 221 reported on or after “Unite the Right.”
“We are astonished and horrified by the rise in anti-Semitic harassment, incidents and violence targeting our communities,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL’s CEO and director. “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.
“For over a century, ADL has worked tirelessly to protect any community targeted by hatred — and we’re not about to stand down now,” Mr. Greenblatt said. “No matter how emboldened these fringe elements of society may feel, they will never threaten our mission.”
“Unite the Right” had been billed as a protest against the city of Charlottesville’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a downtown park, but the rally descended into chaos when participants including neo-Nazis and white supremacists began clashing with counterprotesters on the morning of the event.
Police have linked the incident to the deaths of three people, including and two state troopers and a counterprotester demonstrating against white supremacists. Authorities have charged James Alex Fields of Ohio with second-degree murder in connection with the demonstrator’s death.
The states with the highest number of recorded anti-Semitic incidents so far in 2017 include New York (267), California (197) and Massachusetts (117), the report said. Eight-two of the 1,299 incidents reported nationwide during the first nine months of 2017 occurred in D.C. — nearly quadruple the 22 incidents reported during the same span last year, the report said.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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