The United States recorded a new record of anti-Semitic acts in 2019, with a sharp increase in physical assaults, according to the annual report published on Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
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Shootout in a kosher grocery store in the New York suburbs in early December, stabbing attack in the residence of a rabbi north of New York in late December, attack on a California synagogue in April: the American Jewish community has known last year " the highest level of anti-Semitic acts recorded since 1979 ", according to the ADL, an organization which combats anti-Semitism and racism.
A total of 2,107 anti-Semitic acts - aggression, harassment, vandalism - were recorded in 2019, according to the ADL, a new record after a peak of 1,986 in 2017 and 1,879 in 2018. The year 2018 was marked by the attack on the Pittsburgh synagogue, which killed 11 people, the deadliest attack on the American Jewish community. Physical assaults, already increasing in 2018, jumped further, to 61 from 39 a year earlier. More than half of these assaults took place in New York City.
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The shooting at the Kosher grocery store in Jersey City on December 10 left four dead, including a police officer, and the knife attack during a Jewish holiday at the home of a rabbi in the small town of Monsey, where a large Orthodox community lives, had 5 injured. One of them died last March. " This year has been unprecedented for anti-Semitic activities, a time when many Jewish communities across the country have faced hatred directly ," said ADL president Jonathan Greenblatt, who was quoted as saying in a statement.
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Harassment also increased, with 1,127 incidents (+ 6% compared to 2018), as did acts of vandalism, 919 (+ 19%). All American states, except Alaska and Hawaii, are affected. Behind New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are the most affected. Faced with this upsurge, " we must ensure that synagogues and community places have adequate security measures to prevent possible attacks, " said Jonathan Greenblatt. " We will work with members of Congress and other elected officials to secure funding and compel all states to provide education on the Holocaust, which can be effective in deterrence, " he added.
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