State sees drop in anti-Semitic incidents

Numbers still higher in Connecticut than in 2015 or 2016

The latest statistics from the AntiDefamation League show anti-Semitic incidents were down in Connecticut last year, similar to what was seen nationally, but the numbers remain higher than in recent years.

The numbers released Tuesday show total incidents dropped from 49 in 2017 to 39 in 2018, but that number remains higher than the total numbers in 2016 and 2015. Nationally, the number of incidents also dropped from 2017 to 2018, but was higher than 2016 and 2015.

“While the number of incidents reported to our offices declined slightly in 2018, the level of reported antiSemitic incidents over the last three years is the highest we have seen in over a decade,” said ADL Connecticut Regional Director Steve Ginsburg. “Here in Connecticut, we are redoubling our efforts to educate students, communities, law enforcement and leaders on this pernicious age-old hatred.”

The release of the report comes days after a shooting outside a synagogue in a suburb of San Diego where one woman was killed and a rabbi was shot in the hand.

“We’ve worked hard to push back against anti-Semitism, and succeeded in improving hate crime laws, and yet we continue to experience an alarmingly high number of anti-Semitic acts,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and national director. “We unfortunately saw this trend continue into 2019 with the tragic shooting at the Chabad synagogue in Poway. It’s clear we must remain vigilant in working to counter the threat of violent anti-Semitism and denounce it in all forms, wherever the source and regardless of the political affiliation of its proponents.”

Ginsburg said the audit is just a snapshot of what is going on, but members of the organization continue

to question what is not being reported, or what actions people are afraid to report.

“The three-year average is still very high which is scary,” said Michael Bloom, executive director of the Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut “The rise in anti-Semitism and hate is real. It’s in Connecticut. It’s across the country and across the world.”

Notably in 2018, a campaign mailer sent by Republican Ed Charamut showed his Jewish opponent, Democrat Matt Lesser, with a fistful of money drew quick condemnation as being anti-Semitic. The mailer, in a state Senate race for a district that includes Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Newington, Cromwell and Middletown, was sent just two days after a deadly shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, which ADL officials said was the deadliest attack against Jewish people in the United States.

The incident made national headlines. Lesser described the mailer as an offensive use of derogatory imagery that has been used against Jewish people for centuries.

“It’s mainstreaming right now,” Ginsburg said of anti-Semitism in politics and other areas. “We are reading a lot more about it. We are hearing a lot more about it. I think none of that is good for America or good for Jewish people or the fight against hate in general.”

Across Connecticut throughout 2018 there were 19 reports of vandalism, down from 20 in 2018, according to the ADL. In Ridgefield, carvings of Swastikas and anti-Semitic comments were found in July. Late last year, Hartford police reported that Swastikas were painted on a downtown restaurant and another building.

“All folks need to come together to have a conversation stand up against this,” Bloom said. “It has to be all communities who are opposed to the rise in hate and Islamophobia and anti-Semitism and racism. All communities need to come together and stand up and say enough.”

Last year, a bill proposed by thenstate Sen. Toni Boucher calling for mandatory Holocaust and genocide education for school children was passed by the legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Those who publicly supported the bill said education on the Holocaust could help stymie increases in anti-Semitic incidents.

Ginsburg said efforts continue to bring the incidents down including educating people onanti-Semitism and other forms of hate.

“We work with law enforcement to keep communities safe, we work in cyber space and with big tech companies to do more to stop the spread of these things,” he said.

Nicholas Rondinone can be reached at nrondinone@courant.com.