(Jewish Group) The Anti-Semitism Virus Expands
As if the worldwide pandemic of the COVID-19 virus is not enough to contend with, the Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents confirms our fears that age-old Jew-hatred is on the rise in our country.
The ADL, the oldest anti-bigotry group in America, counted 2,107 anti-Semitic incidents in 2019, a 12% increase from the year before and more than double the 942 incidents recorded just four years earlier. Last year’s total includes 61 physical assault cases, 1,127 harassment incidents and 919 acts of vandalism.
The total number is the highest since ADL began tallying such incidents in 1979. Among the most egregious crimes were three separate deadly attacks — on a synagogue in Poway, Calif., a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, N.J., and the home of a rabbi during a Hanukkah party in Monsey, N.Y.
Sadly, our area was not immune. Karen Aroesty, regional director of the ADL, said last year’s national total includes eight incidents in Missouri. Seven of them were verbal — Facebook messages, text messages, emails or campaign material – and one was a case of vandalism at a Ladue synagogue in July. In the last example, though, Aroesty noted it was committed by someone who was later found to be mentally ill. So, while it may be difficult to determine what the intent was, the impact was still harmful.
more...
The groundwork has been laid, and more are adding to it.