More than half of the nongovernmental organizations monitoring hate crimes in the European Union have no working definition for what constitutes a hate crime, according to a new survey.
The Anti-Defamation League expressed dismay at the low number of law enforcement agencies reporting hate crimes.\n
First, the good news: Hate crimes committed in Los Angeles County dropped for the second year in a row, according to numbers for 2009 released on Dec. 21 by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations. The bad news: Hate crimes against Jews reported in Los Angeles County during the same period increased by a whopping 49 percent from the previous year.
Hate acts against Jews rose substantially in California last year. Actually, they dropped significantly. Or, they stayed at the same level.
Hate crimes in Canada jumped by 35 percent in one year, with Jews and blacks the leading targets.\n
A large ultra-Orthodox community in New York State suffered a number of apparent anti-Semitic attacks on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day.\n\nThree youths were charged with hate crimes after allegedly throwing stones on Monday night at Jews in Monsey, an ultra-Orthodox enclave in Rockland County, just north of New York City. A fourth youth was charged as a juvenile.
Violent hate crimes are on the rise, reflecting an overall increase in xenophobic attitudes across Europe and North America, a revival of anti-Semitism and a continuation of prejudice against Muslims, Roma and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons.
The Anti-Defamation League assisted in the investigation into white supremacists arrested in an alleged plot to assassinate Barack Obama
Spray-painted swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti over a wide area in upscale neighborhoods of Encino and Tarzana are being investigated as possible hate crimes by Los Angeles police.
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved $200 million in aid to the Palestinians.
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