Antisemitism concerns on the rise in America

(The Center Square) – Concerns about antisemitism are growing across the United States, according to recent data reported by Gallup.

“Nearly half of Americans now rate it ‘very serious,’ sharply higher than the 9% when Gallup previously measured this in 2003,” the article said. “A combined 81%, up from 57%, now see antisemitism as either a very or somewhat serious problem.”

More than one-third of Jewish Americans said that they have experienced antisemitism either “frequently” or “occasionally” according to data from the article.

The article also mentions how there has been growing crimes associated with antisemitism in the past few years, citing examples such as a shooting at a California synagogue in 2019 as well as a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.

“In a separate survey, Gallup asked respondents how their experiences of mistreatment compared with ‘prior years,’” Justin McCarthy of Gallup told The Center Square. “Forty-six percent of Jewish Americans say they have experienced more poor treatment or harassment in the past year than in prior years, contrasting with just 10% of all U.S. adults saying this about their faith-related experiences.”

This steady rise in antisemitic incidents in America come following Hamas attack on Israel which occurred on Oct. 7 2023, as well as the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

“Jewish Americans are far more likely than Americans, generally, to say they were treated poorly or harassed in the past year — the period including the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and subsequent military action,” according to the article.

Antisemitism has not only been affecting Jewish Americans on an individual level, but has also been affecting entire college communities.

Growing antisemitism concerns have been on the rise recently in colleges across the nation. In particular, many pro-Palestine protests on college campuses have resulted in harassment against Jewish students and other forms of antisemitic incidents, as The Center Square previously reported.

The article from Gallup also references how many Jewish Americans have become increasingly worried about sharing their religious beliefs with others due to “fear of harassment or poor treatment.”

“Seventy-two percent of Jewish people who have experienced poor treatment, versus 40% of Jewish people who have not, have felt reluctant to disclose their religious affiliation,” according to Gallup.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) releases an annual audit of antisemitic assaults and harassment data, which they call Audit of Antisemitic Incidents. ADL’s 2023 audit included 8,873 antisemitic incidents in the U.S., according to data on their website.

“First, as the number of Americans who believe antisemitic conspiracy theories increase so too does the number who think antisemitism is a serious problem and are willing to ally to improve it,” Vice President of the ADL Center for Antisemitism Research Matt Williams, told The Center Square. “That’s a hopeful and critical finding. Second, extreme anti-Israel sentiment is highly correlated with anti-Jewish attitudes and, in several studies, has been shown to have a causal/predictive effect on anti-Jewish attitudes. Third is that beyond the assessment of attitudes, none of the macro-indicators, such as a general disposition toward conspiracy theory belief, are good.”