BOSTON (AP) - There were 114 reported anti-Semitic incidents in Massachusetts last year, about a 20% decrease from the previous year, but in line with a surge in cases seen every year since 2015, the Anti-Defamation League said in a report released Tuesday.
The statewide count includes arson attempts at Chabad houses in Arlington and Needham, the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in Fall River, and 40 cases of online anti-Semitism in middle and high schools.
Sixty-one cities and towns in Massachusetts recorded at least one anti-Semitic incident last year, and the state had the fourth highest number of incidents in the country behind New York, New Jersey and California, according to the ADL.
“The data tells the story that anti-Semitism continues to permeate American society,” said Robert Trestan, the ADL’s New England director. “People are feeling increasingly emboldened to let their hate come out of the shadows and display their anti-Semitism in public.”
The 114 reported incidents in 2019 - mostly harassment and vandalism - was down from 144 in 2018. But there have been more than 100 every year since 2015 when there were 50.
The organization is responding to anti-Semitism through partnerships with law enforcement and education programs in schools and colleges.
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