Antisemitic incidents in the United States have surged over the past three months since the October 7 massacre in Israel, the ADL reported on Wednesday. According to preliminary data, there have been a total of 3,283 incidents reported between October 7, 2023, and January 7, 2024. This marks a staggering 360% increase compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, which recorded 712 incidents.
The initial count for the three months surpasses the annual tally of antisemitic incidents recorded in any year over the past decade, except for the year 2022, which set a historic record at 3,697 incidents. From October 7 onwards, there has been an average of almost 34 antisemitic incidents per day, indicating that 2023 is poised to become the year with the highest number of antisemitic acts against Jews since ADL began monitoring this data in the late 1970s.
According to the ADL Center on Extremism, these 3,283 antisemitic incidents break down into the following categories:
- 60 incidents of physical assault.
- 553 incidents of vandalism.
- 1,353 incidents of verbal or written harassment.
- 1,317 rallies, including antisemitic rhetoric, expressions of support for terrorism against the state of Israel, and/or anti-Zionism.
Of the overall total, a minimum of 505 incidents occurred on college campuses, with an additional 246 reported in K-12 schools. Jewish institutions, including synagogues and community centers, faced at least 628 reported incidents. Approximately two-thirds of the entire count could be directly linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Recent incidents reported to ADL include:
- Jan. 4 – A High School basketball game in Yonkers, NY, was canceled after antisemitic slurs were hurled at players from a competing team.
- Jan. 3 – Antisemitic postcards were sent to the entire Newburyport, MA city council as well as the city’s mayor. The postcards had an antisemitic caricature as well as language saying that “the Holocaust never happened.”
- Jan. 3 – Chicago Police said 40 to 50 pieces of antisemitic propaganda were found on several cars in the Andersonville neighborhood.
- Jan. 3 – At least six Jewish temples in San Diego County were threatened after someone sent a message saying a bomb was hidden in their buildings. The local synagogues were among 91 total Jewish houses of worship in California that were targeted that day.
- Jan. 1 – A teenager wearing an IDF sweatshirt was harassed at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, NJ. The assailant pushed the victim and said, “You’re a whore,” and “Free Palestine.”
- Jan. 1 – A Portland woman was arrested in Chicago on multiple felony hate crimes and criminal defacement charges after swastikas were found on a Jewish school and multiple businesses.
- Dec. 21 – Amazon suspended an employee who slipped a note into a customer’s order that read, “Death to Zionists.”
- Dec. 20 – Phoenix Police said antisemitic papers were found at the site of an arson fire that damaged multiple businesses.
- Dec. 19 – A nationwide swatting spree targeted nearly 200 Jewish institutions over one weekend in what appeared to have been a coordinated effort by an entity outside of the United States, according to the FBI.
