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April 8, 2005/Adar II 28 5765, Volume 57, No. 32
ADL reports increase in anti-Semitic incidents
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - Even as anti-Semitic attitudes may have waned in the United States, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the nation increased to their highest level in nine years.
"Americans have come a long way in their attitudes toward Jews, but America is not immune to anti-Semitism," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which commissioned a poll of the 50 states.
Released April 4, the poll showed that hate crimes in Arizona went from 25 reported incidents in 2003 to 34 incidents in 2004.
Reacting to Arizona's 36 percent spike, Bill Straus, regional director of the ADL, tells Jewish News the statistical jump is a "cause for concern." Straus questions whether "we can look at the statistics on hate crimes in general - or anti-Semitism specifically - and really hang our hat on the validity of that being a snapshot of what's going on in the country."
Straus insists there is under-reporting of hate crimes by the public and police agencies; he explains that "if someone is a victim of a hate crime, or anti-Semitism, and if nobody else knows about it and they didn't report it, there's almost a mindset that it didn't happen."
In 2004, there were 25 reports of harassment and nine reports of vandalism in Arizona. The numbers for 2003 were 18 and seven respectively.
In 2002, there were 13 reports of anti-Semitic incidents in the state.
The national ADL poll showed that 14 percent of Americans were deemed "anti-Semitic," a 3 percent decrease from a 2002 poll. The poll also found that one in three Americans believe American Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the United States, and 30 percent believe Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus.
The ADL's annual roundup of anti-Semitic incidents found a 17 percent increase in the number of cases in the United States in 2004. The audit found 1,821 incidents last year, compared to 1,557 incidents in 2003.
Though the numbers pale in comparison to the rise of anti-Semitic incidents in Europe, they show that a small batch of extremists believe they have more latitude to commit attacks against Jews, Foxman said.
Taken together, the results suggest a greater appreciation for American Jews in general society, but a continuing acceptance of so-called "big lies" that have dogged Jews for decades, such as the loyalty question and the Christ-killer theory.
Both issues have been in the headlines in the past year. Many American Jewish leaders were concerned that Jews would be seen as more loyal to Israel than to the United States when the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was accused of passing classified documents to the Jewish state last summer.
And many believed Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" would heighten American perceptions that Jews killed Jesus.
"Well, he certainly didn't help," Foxman said of Gibson. Considering that in 2002 one in four Americans believed Jews were responsible for Jesus' death, Foxman suggested the film solidified those views in some parts of the country and may have led to the five percentage-point increase.
Foxman said the Jewish community often has been unwilling to combat such perceptions of Jews because they do not want to give the views any legitimacy.
"I think we need to begin to deal with the loyalty issue, and not hide from it and believe it's going to go away," said Foxman, noting that the Jewish community had taken a proactive stance against Holocaust deniers.
The poll, conducted last month by the Marttila Communications Group, asked 1,600 Americans a series of questions about their views on Jews. People were considered "anti-Semitic" if they agreed with six or more of 11 statements, including "Jews have too much power in the U.S. today" and "Jews have a lot of irritating faults."
The percentage of Americans who responded positively to all 11 statements either dropped or stayed the same since the last poll was taken. Only 15 percent of Americans said Jews hold too much power in the United States, down from 20 percent in 2002, and 15 percent also said Jews were more willing to use shady practices, down from 19 percent in 2002.
New York had the highest number of reported anti-Semitic incidents last year, with 350, a decrease of 14 from the previous year.
The poll has a 2.8 percent margin of error.
Contributing Editor Hank Neyer contributed to this article.
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