The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a report on Wednesday finding that there has been a 388% increase in antisemitic incidents in October 7-23 from the same timeframe in 2022.
The ADL counted 312 antisemitic incidents in that timeframe, compared to 64 in 2022. One-hundred and ninety of the antisemitic incidents record from October 7-23 in that 2023 were related to the Israel-Hamas war, while only four in 2022 were anti-Israel incidents.
Some of the incidents recorded by the ADL included someone shouting, “I am Hamas!” and issuing death threats to Jewish individuals in front of a Los Angeles kosher restaurant. Another incident involved a Jewish student at Wayne State University and called a “f—ing Zionist,” and in New Jersey, a car adorned Palestinian flags nearly swerved into a visibly Jewish family.
Additionally, the ADL recorded 400 anti-Israel rallies since the start of the war, with 109 of those rallies expressing “explicit or strong implicit support for Hamas and/or violence against Jews in Israel,” per a press release.
Worldwide, the number of antisemitic incidents increased 13-fold in London from October 1-13 2022 to the same timeframe in 2023, and a 240% increase in Germany since October 7 over the same time period in 2022.
The ADL is urging leaders worldwide to condemn antisemitism, prosecute those behind antisemitic incidents to the fullest extent of the law and ensure that the Jewish community is secure.
“When conflict erupts in Israel, antisemitic incidents soon follow in the U.S. and globally,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “From white supremacists in California displaying antisemitic banners on highway overpasses to radical anti-Zionists harassing Jewish people because of their real or perceived support for the Jewish state, we are witnessing a disturbing rise in antisemitic activity here while the war rages overseas.” He added: “It is incumbent on all leaders, from political leaders to CEOs to university presidents, to forcefully and unequivocally condemn antisemitism and terrorism. This isn’t hard. Words matter, and while the war in Gaza escalates, we encourage all those in positions of power to use their platforms to condemn hate and terrorism, wherever it occurs.”
