Almost two-thirds of American Jews really feel much less safe in the USA than they did a 12 months in the past, based on a brand new nationwide survey.
The American Jewish Committee (AJC), a outstanding advocacy organisation, carried out the survey simply as Israel’s struggle on Gaza started on October 7. The variety of American Jews who say they really feel much less safe within the US jumped 22 % since final 12 months’s survey.
“This year’s study shows us very clearly that anti-Semitism that was really just a simmering flame is now, especially since October 7, a five-alarm fire,” Ted Deutch, CEO of AJC, instructed The Related Press information company.
The survey launched on Tuesday discovered one-quarter of American Jews mentioned they’ve been the goal of anti-Semitism prior to now 12 months. Virtually half of American Jews responding to the survey mentioned they’d altered their behaviour through the previous 12 months to keep away from anti-Semitism – altering what they wore, what they posted on-line or the place they went so different folks wouldn’t know they have been Jewish.
“I live in a rural area and my home is most likely the only Jewish home in a 30-mile radius,” a 62-year-old lady was quoted as saying within the survey report. “We don’t tell people and outside the home do not show that we are Jewish.”
That reticence is “an enormous challenge for the Jewish community,” Deutch mentioned. “But it really represents a challenge for all of our society.”
The survey comes as Jewish and Muslim civil rights and advocacy teams have reported giant will increase in harassment, bias and bodily assaults towards their members within the wake of the Israel-Hamas struggle.
Brian Levin, founding director of the Heart for the Examine of Hate and Extremism at California State College, San Bernardino, mentioned he has seen a surge in anti-Jewish and Islamophobic web searches since final 12 months, together with “eliminationist” and homicidal language.
Levin, who will not be affiliated with the AJC survey, mentioned anti-Jewish hate crimes hit a document excessive final 12 months in a number of massive cities. “As Jews are understandably feeling more insecure, police and social science data back up why,” he mentioned.
The AJC started its survey 5 years in the past, after the Tree of Life synagogue bloodbath in Pittsburgh, the deadliest anti-Semitic assault on American soil. Since then, most Jews and greater than half of Individuals say they assume anti-Semitism has elevated, based on the AJC.
This 12 months’s main survey collected information from 1,528 Jewish adults within the US, whereas its companion survey collected information from 1,223 American adults. The surveys, carried out by the polling agency SSRS, had margins of error of three.5 % and three.6 %, respectively.
Jews aged between 18 and 29 have been extra prone to report being the sufferer of anti-Semitism. As universities grapple with anti-Semitism, a few quarter of Jewish school college students or current graduates reported hiding their Jewish identification or refraining from talking about Israel on campus.
Most American Jews (85 %) say the assertion “Israel has no right to exist” is anti-Semitic. A 52-year-old male respondent is cited within the report as saying, “Criticising Israel’s political policies [ex: treatment of non-Jews in the country, Palestinians for example] is not anti-Semitic. Saying that Israel should not exist, as a result of these practices, is anti-Semitic.”
Most Individuals who witnessed anti-Semitism noticed it on-line or on social media, however solely 5 % mentioned they reported it. Multiple in 5 American Jews mentioned an internet incident made them really feel bodily threatened.
“So it’s not just some of the memes or jokes,” mentioned Holly Huffnagle, the AJC’s US director for combatting anti-Semitism. “This is real, vitriolic anti-Semitism that’s affecting them, that’s making them feel physically unsafe.”
There’s a rising consciousness of anti-Semitism. Most American Jews and three-fourths of most people now consider anti-Semitism is an issue within the US, based on the AJC. That quantity will increase for non-Jews who know somebody who’s Jewish. About 90 % of Individuals mentioned everyone seems to be answerable for combating anti-Semitism.
“That’s a good news piece,” Huffnagle mentioned. “I think the question is, ‘How do we empower the general public who sees the problem now in ways they hadn’t four years ago?’”
Final 12 months, the Biden administration launched a nationwide technique to fight anti-Semitism, and the AJC is encouraging additional motion on these suggestions. Deutch, a former Democratic member of Congress, mentioned they may preserve working with the federal government to implement the nationwide technique.
“But ultimately,” Deutch mentioned, “we’re really looking to our friends, our allies in other faith communities, in our places of work, in our schools, to stand with us, to understand how we feel and to work together to fight anti-Semitism and in turn to fight hatred of all kinds.”