Antisemitic incidents in the US decreased 4% in 2020 compared with 2019, but they were still the third-highest annual number ever recorded, the Anti-Defamation League reported this week.
In 2020, incidents of antisemitic physical assault and vandalism were significantly down compared with 2019, but antisemitic harassment increased.
The drop in antisemitic incidents, particularly at educational institutions, was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the general decrease in physical interaction across the county, the report said. There was also a surge of antisemitic conspiracy theories in which Jews were blamed for the spread of the coronavirus, it added.
“While any decline in the data is encouraging, we still experienced a year in which antisemitic acts remained at a disturbingly high level, despite lockdowns and other significant changes in our daily lives and interactions with others,” ADL CEO and national director Jonathan A. Greenblatt said in the report.
“We can’t let our guard down,” he said. “As communities begin to open up and people spend more time in person with others, we must remain vigilant.”
The number of antisemitic incidents was impacted by coronavirus stay-at-home measures, including closure of schools and university campuses, lack of daily commutes and closure of synagogues, the report said.
There were a total of 2,024 antisemitic incidents across the US in 2020, compared with 2,107 in 2019, a 4% decrease, it said.
Antisemitic vandalism incidents decreased 18%, and antisemitic assault declined 49%, compared with 2019, although harassment cases increased 10%, the report said.
There were 31 incidents of assault, about half of which took place in the five boroughs of New York City, including 11 in Brooklyn. In one incident there, a Jewish man was assaulted by a passerby on the street who, after hitting him, said, “I got a chance to slap a Jew.”
Antisemitic incidents in schools, as well as colleges and universities, decreased 61% and 32%, respectively, compared with 2019, most likely due to the closure of educational institutions due to COVID-19.
In January and February last year, antisemitic incidents in educational institutions were higher than in the same months in 2019, but they decreased significantly in the following months when schools, colleges and universities shut down, the report said.
There were 327 reported antisemitic incidents at Jewish institutions, such as synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish schools, compared with 234 in 2019, an increase of 40%. Of those, 264 were incidents of harassment, 61 were incidents of vandalism, and three were incidents of assault. Some 114 of the 264 harassment incidents were “Zoom bombings,” the disruption of a videoconference.
There were some 331 antisemitic incidents attributed to known extremist groups or individuals inspired by extremist ideology during the course of 2020, comprising 16% of all incidents, the report said.
White supremacist groups were responsible for 277 distributions of antisemitic propaganda. The most frequent perpetrators were members of the New Jersey European Heritage Association, who were responsible for 110 incidents. Folks Front carried out 44 such distributions, and Hundred Handers did 25, the report said.