Anti-Semitic Incidents Jump 385 Percent In Virginia: Report

Anti-Semitic harassment, vandalism and assaults increased dramatically across the United States last year, including in Virginia — most notably in the white nationalist riot in Charlottesville that killed a woman — and Washington, D.C., and experts say that should serve as a “wake-up call” to the Jewish community. The Anti-Defamation League recently released its yearly audit and said actions considered hostile toward or prejudiced against Jews rose 57 percent in 2017 — the largest single-year increase since the group began tracking the statistic in 1979.

There were 1,986 anti-Semitic incidents in 2017, the organization said, referring to harassment, vandalism or assault. That’s the second highest number the group has ever seen. While assaults nationwide dropped by nearly half from 36 in to 19, vandalism nearly doubled from 510 to 952.

In Virginia, there were 34 anti-Semitic incidents, including 18 incidents of harassment and 17 vandalism cases, the ADL said. No assaults were recorded in the group's analysis; the cases were a 385 percent increase from 2015. In Washington, D.C., 19 reports of harassment, 13 cases of vandalism, and no assaults, for a 128 percent increase in reports.

Yael Rabin, an analyst with the ADL’s center on extremism, noted an uptick in 2017 in harassment, such as “white supremacists distributing flyers” with overt or explicit anti-Semitic content on them — “whether it’s demonizing the Jews, dehumanizing Jews, et cetera.”

Verbal harassment, such schoolyard bullying, was also prevalent, she told Patch, such as one child telling another “they should be gassed because they’re Jewish,” or that Adolf Hitler “should’ve killed them all.”

Rabin said the number of incidents reported in schools likely only scratched the surface of the real number.

Fairfax County Police investigated anti-Semitic graffiti found at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia in Annandale in April 2017; it was reported at the beginning of Passover. Anti-Christian graffiti was also found nearby at the Little River United Church of Christ.

And the nation watched in horror as violence erupted as white nationalists took to the streets of Charlottesville to protest the removal of removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee Saturday, but the deadly encounter began brewing the night before. Three people were killed in events related to the "Unite the Right" rally, including a counter-protester and two Virginia State Police troopers.

A woman was killed and dozens others were injured when a car plowed into a group of people believe to be counter-protesters. Police have arrested and charged 20-year-old Alex Fields Jr., of Maumee, Ohio, in relation to the fatal crash.

There was at least one anti-Semitic incident such as these in every state last year, the group said in its Feb. 26 report. But just six states accounted for more than three-fifths of the country’s total. New York had 380 incidents, California had 268 and New Jersey had 208. Massachusetts saw 177 anti-Semitic incidents, Florida had 98 and Pennsylvania saw 96.

Alaska, Minnesota and South Dakota each saw one such incident.

The Anti-Defamation League’s audit showed 952 instances of anti-Semitic vandalism last year — an 86 percent increase over 2016 and the largest of the three categories.

“The dramatic increase in anti-Semitic acts of vandalism is particularly concerning, because it indicates that the perpetrators feel emboldened enough to break the law,” the audit said.

Anti-Semitic incidents happened at businesses, in private homes and at public places like parks and streets, the organization said. They also occurred at Jewish institutions and schools, as well as colleges and universities.

The audit looked at both criminal and non-criminal incidents against individuals and groups that were reported to the group by victims, law enforcement agencies and media outlets.

Incidents are defined as vandalism, or harassment or assault if the circumstances indicated anti-Jewish animus on the part of the perpetrator or Jews perceived themselves as the victim due to their Jewish identity. Vandalism against Jewish religious institutions and cemeteries was also included.

Rabin said the ADL sees a lot of vandalism accompanied by the word “Jew” or the Swastika symbol. She says some acts of vandalism also incorporate the number 1488, a white supremacist slogan that refers to Hitler, and the 14 words coined by white supremacist leader David Lane that say: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."

The spike in anti-Semitic incidents could be due to several factors, Rabin said. Better technologies make it easier to find and report such incidents, she said.

Both the media and constituents alert the ADL and law enforcement agencies when anti-Semitic incidents happen, she said, and people are starting to use social media to spread the word about hateful messages.

Rabin said one of her own Facebook friend’s posted an image of a swastika over a celebrity’s face — possibly Sarah Silverman or Jon Stewart — and the word “Jewed.” That image was then reported to the appropriate person in that ADL region, she said.

To curb the climb in anti-Semitic incidents this year, Rabin said schools must be diligent about teaching tolerance and fighting hatred. It’s also imperative, she said, that Jewish leaders continue speaking out nationally and locally about anti-Semitism.

But even as anti-Semitic incidents rose in 2017, Rabin said Jewish people in America shouldn’t necessarily worry more this year.

“If anything, these numbers are a wake-up call for the Jewish community that there is still anti-Semitism,” she said.

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Written by Dan Hampton of Patch’s national staff.

Photo of Silver Spring vandalism in December 2016 provided by Montgomery County Police