The Reporter (Vacaville)

Violence, hate against Jewish community at all-time high

- By Rick Hurd

Acts of violence and hate against the Jewish community rose to an all-time high in 2021, and the problem continued to plague the Bay Area as well, according to an Audit of Antisemiti­c Incidents released Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League.

California saw a 27% increase in total incidents from the previous year, with the number rising to 367 in 2021. The number of assaults in the state also rose from four to 15, the audit said.

Northern California recorded 70 antisemiti­c incidents during the year, according to the audit, with more than half of those being targeted online and inperson harassment.

Those statistics mirrored the national trend, with a record 2,717 total incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism reported nationally. The ADL said it has been tracking antisemiti­c incidents since 1979, and that the 2021 figure was a 34% increase from 2020.

“It's the highest mark we've ever seen,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said during a Zoom call Tuesday morning. “It marked a new high, or one could say a new low.”

According to the audit, attacks against Jewish institutio­ns — including community centers and synagogues — went up 61% and incidents at K-12 schools went up 106%,

Assaults nationally also jumped from 33 incidents nationally in 2020 to 88 a year ago. Many of the assaults happened during the Israel-Hamas conflict in May 2021, according to the ADL.

According to Oren Segal, the ADL's vice president of the Center on Extremism, the ADL made concerted efforts to connect with more Jewish organizati­ons this year as part of its audit and that there was greater reporting as a result.

“However, even when you remove the number reported by the extra partnershi­ps — 18% — there still would be a marked increase overall,” he said.

Greenblatt said it's the significan­ce of the trend as much as what the numbers found that stood out to him.

“None of this is normal,” he said. “None of it is acceptable.”

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