Fear of wearing a Star of David or identifying on social networks as Jews • And fearing that a person wearing a skullcap will be attacked • A survey by the U.S. Defamation League shows serious data
Many Jews in the United States do not feel safe: Survey findings from the Anti-Defamation League show that nearly two-thirds of U.S. Jews - 63 percent - believe they are less secure today than they were a decade ago.
A stabbing event against ultra-Orthodox Jews in Monsey Township in New York State // from Twitter
The survey, which dealt with antisemitic events faced by US Jewry, found, among other things, that 54 percent of American Jews experienced an anti-Semitic incident themselves, or witnessed an incident that they believed to be anti-Semitic.
In addition, about half of the Jews - 49 percent - stated that they witnessed comments, condemnations or threats of anti-Semitic references to others.
One in five respondents in the survey, conducted in January 2020, had to deal with antisemitic comments addressed to him personally.
Global Director of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt commented on the data: "Our surveillance shows that anti-Semitic incidents, whether they have taken human lives or not, have been on the rise in recent years. In addition, we have now found that US Jews are deeply concerned about their own security and the safety of their families and communities. This is an unprecedented concern over the past decade. "
According to Greenblatt, some U.S. Jews are changing their habits and refraining from publicly portraying their Jewishness for fear of anti-Semitism - calling it a "very sad" situation.
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About half of the survey participants expressed concern that a person wearing a skullcap or religious headgear, or manifesting their Judaism in another way, would be physically or verbally attacked on the street or other public place. According to the survey, 27 percent of American Jews have taken at least one avoidance strategy so as not to turn targets into attack. Most of them avoided typical Jewish signs such as a last name, a Star of David or identification with Jews on social networks. One in ten respondents stated that they had difficulty sleeping or concentrating or had a feeling of anxiety after an incident of harassment or a hatred of networking.
As part of the survey, one in five respondents replied that he had contact with a Jewish community institution that had been damaged, vandalized, or suffering from antisemitic background. Also, 14 percent know a person who was physically assaulted for being Jewish, or harassed online for anti-Semitic reasons.
The survey was conducted before the outbreak of the Corona virus, and Greenblatt added that "they are aware that the realities of the field have changed dramatically in recent months - and as it has changed for the Jewish communities, it has changed for every other community. In fact, the survey looks at what preceded the outbreak of the virus.
"We are now assessing the level of anti-Semitism in the current state of affairs and the impact of the changes on the Jewish community."
The survey was conducted by YouGov, a leading company in the field of polling and public opinion analysis. A total of 538 responses were collected from January 17-30, 2020 and were weighted to reflect the demographic composition of US Jews. The margin of error is +/- 4 percent.
The findings of the survey are published on the backdrop of a drastic increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents over the past three years. 2018 was ranked third highest in the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the last 40 years, after more than 1,800 incidents were reported in the Anti-Semitism Anti-Semitism Report this year, all but one year after the 2017 report, which reported a 57 percent of anti-Semitism cases. The Anti-Defamation League will soon release its 2019 data.
