Dealing with Antisemites

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A new survey by ADL found that 2022 set a record for antisemitic incidents in the United States since ADL started keeping track in 1979. The 3,697 incidents marked a 36% increase over 2021, which had set the previous record with 2,717 incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault.

The year 2022 was when the dramatic hostage taking at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, took place. And it was the year that rapper and fashion designer Kanye West erupted in a stream of antisemitic invectives on a variety of media, including an announcement that he planned to go “death con 3” on the Jews. ADL tracked about 30 copycat incidents of antisemitism that mentioned “Ye,” but we suspect the number is actually much higher.

After such a dispiriting year, what should we make of the recent finding by the Pew Research Center, that among religious groups in the United States, Jews are the most liked? According to Pew, Jews have a 35% favorability rating and a 6% unfavorability rating. By contrast, Evangelical Christians have a 28% favorability rating and a 27% unfavorability rating. Whatever those statistics mean, we continue to worry about antisemitism and the targeting of Jews. And we continue to struggle to find a way to stop it.

Our community has done impressive work. We have tracked the numbers. We have lobbied for, passed and popularized the Working Definition of Antisemitism so that people now know it when they see it. We have pushed for broad and meaningful Holocaust education to teach about hate and its consequences. And we call out antisemitism whenever we see it.

Our community has also succeeded in upgrading the sensitivity and vigilance of local, state and federal governments, along with community allies of all sorts, to the evils of antisemitism. And we have invested heavily in security and the wide-ranging fight against the corrosive impact of antisemitism. Yet, even with all of the money and energy that has been invested, antisemitic activities continue and increase. Our herculean efforts seem to be having very little effect.

In many discussions about antisemitism it is often noted that Jews are less than 3% of the U.S. population but are the religious group on the receiving end of the most hate. We wonder how such a small segment of the population can attract so much hate. But as a data point, the size of the Jewish community is not all that meaningful a number. That’s because the number of Jews is almost irrelevant. It’s the number of antisemites that matters. Jews are not the problem. Antisemites are.

The challenge to deal more effectively with antisemites is not new. It has confounded those battling Jew hatred for generations. Perhaps there is nothing more we can do at this point beyond efforts to raise awareness, defend ourselves and work to educate the haters of the wrongs of their ways. But we hope there is more. Antisemitism is a growing plague in desperate need of a better solution. We need new answers to how to deal with antisemites.

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