Anti-Semitism in the United States is on the rise again, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
In its latest report, the organization found that anti-Jewish incidents had risen by 21 percent in 2014 compared with the previous year. This follows a decline in recorded anti-Semitic acts over the past decade.
The ADL counted 912 incidents in 2014, up from 751 in 2013. “The United States still continues to be unique in history” as a safe place for Jews, said Abraham Foxman, the ADL’s outgoing national director. “It’s still different here than anywhere else, but don’t take anything for granted, and be concerned,” Foxman said.
The report includes assaults, vandalism and harassment targeting Jews, Jewish property and institutions that were reported to ADL’s 27 regional offices and to law enforcement. It shows 36 assaults, up from 31 in 2013; 363 incidents of vandalism in 2014, compared with 315 in 2013; and 513 incidents of threats and harassment in 2014, contrasted with 405 in 2013.
Those were among the 139 anti-Semitic incidents reported in July 2014 alone, more than double the 51 reported incidents for the same month a year earlier. This is primarily attributed to the Gaza conflict
The ADL also called 2014 a particularly violent year that included the fatal shootings at a Jewish community center in Overland Park, Kan.
