WASHINGTON (RNS): A Jewish group that tracks anti-Semitism has published its annual report of more than 1,200 incidents of assaults, vandalism and harassment against Jews in 2009, saying the level of incidents remained “sustained and troubling.”
“America is not immune to anti-Semitism, and 2009 was no different in this regard than in any other year,” said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, in a news release.
In total, ADL reported 29 incidents of physical assaults on Jewish individuals, 760 cases of anti-Semitic harassments and threats, and 422 reports of anti-Semitic vandalism in 2009.
This number of cases comes to about three incidents per day, said Deborah Lauter, the ADL’s director of civil rights, in an interview.
“Generally, these things are very underreported,” she said.
Most of the cases took place in states with large Jewish populations. The top four states included California (23 percent of total cases), New York (17 percent), New Jersey (10 percent), and Florida (7 percent).
The 2009 audit employed new methodology and evaluation criteria, the first makeover ADL has made in the more than three decades of reporting on the topic.
When analyzed using the old criteria, Lauter said that the 2009 numbers represent an approximate 10 percent increase in incidents from 2008.
Overall, however, there has been no general trend to the data. “It goes up and down year to year,” she said.
Part of the new method includes a more conservative approach to categorizing incidents. The swastika, for instance, “is no longer exclusively used as a hate symbol against Jews,” the ADL report said, so it is included only if accompanied with clearly anti-Jewish markings.
Also omitted from the report were the more than 2,000 anti-Semitic faxes sent to Jewish centers nationwide by the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church.
“These faxes caused great distress among recipients and, had they been counted, the 2009 Audit’s harassment totals would have significantly increased,” the ADL report said.
The report also doesn’t contain statistics on anti-Semitism in cyberspace. Although Lauter said there has been “an explosion” of anti-Semitic sites, postings and comments, ADL is “not yet capable of quantifying the amount.”
“We try to keep track of them, but it’s just a huge number of people reporting it.”
– Alfredo Garcia
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
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posted July 27, 2010 at 5:20 pm
assaults, vandalism and harassment happen all of the time to far more people than just America’s Jewish population.
posted July 27, 2010 at 7:18 pm
But a Jewish group tracks assaults against Jews. What does the NAACP track – crimes against Asians?
Schmuck
posted July 27, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Yes, other folks are assaulted too, cknuck, but this group happens to be a group that tracks anti-Jewish indidents. Did the article say that no other groups were assaulted in 2009?
There are unfortunately still people who have to blame others who are not identical to them for all the problems in the world…and for centuries the Jews have been one of the major targets.
posted July 28, 2010 at 12:59 am
Scott racism is spouting from many sources and if you want to continue to include yourself, have at it.
Jewish groups cry more than any other group you don’t hear from the NAACP nearly as much sometimes special interest groups create special interest themselves and have a part in keeping things going.
posted July 28, 2010 at 8:31 am
You’re absolutely right about the special interest groups cknuck.
One reason there might have been more incidents in ’09 is that anti-black hate groups are having a field day, what with us having a black president for the first time. And a lot of the anti-black groups are really anti-anyone not white enough. They are full-service hate groups. They are scum.
posted July 28, 2010 at 10:39 am
You say “special interest group” like it’s a bad thing.
Maybe it’s necessary because there’s been a historical “interest” in exterminating the Jews.
posted July 28, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Interesting, but as stated before their scope is limited to one type of semite. It’s as though they’ve chosen themselves to represent all the semites in the world. Why would they do this?
In reality, there are other beings of semitic origin. They have been getting quite the bum wrap if you ask me. The truth is that these other semites have a different religion than the people who have chosen themselves.
In reality, these other semites, and the religion they espouse – is the true representative of Abraham’s God. Of course, we all know that Abraham’s God was not a man, don’t we?
I’m just a man, and I’m no god. Do you think that you are?
I believe that it is bad when anybody dies, but die we must. Get over it.
posted July 28, 2010 at 9:25 pm
SFer special interest groups are good until they become divisive to the point that they are special. history is just that, many people today are being murdered on a large scale; the Jews are killing many Palestinians. people are dying all over every 3 seconds a Africa child die India suffers from poverty deaths mass graves are being uncovered in Mexico; my hope is that one day we will be as zealous concerning the killing of any group of people.
posted July 28, 2010 at 10:08 pm
Agreed cknuck.