New Jersey ranks third highest in nation in antisemitic incidents last year
Antisemitism in America has continued to rise, shattering national records for the fourth-consecutive year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League.
At the same time, hate incidents against Jews are also soaring at college campuses around New Jersey. In all, the Garden State reported 719 antisemitic incidents last year, and though that represents a 13% decline over the previous year, the state still remains the third highest in the nation in antisemitic activity after New York and California.
The audit found that there were antisemitic incidents in all 21 New Jersey counties, with the highest number in Bergen (162), Middlesex (93) and Essex (78).
'We are entering an alarming new normal, in New Jersey and across the nation of reported antisemitic incidents at triple the rate of where they were just a few years ago. We cannot allow this level of antisemitic incidents to become normalized,' said Scott Richman, ADL New York/New Jersey regional director.
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Among the Garden State's most alarming incidents were 17 reported assaults, seven directed toward Orthodox Jews and seven of which were related to Israel. Bergen County had the highest number of assaults, with six reported, the audit stated.
Other disturbing incidents included a Maywood man who was arrested on multiple charges after police said he used an antisemitic slur and pointed a handgun at a customer outside a Paramus supermarket and a rapper from Hackensack who entered a Teaneck yeshiva on the Jewish holiday of Purim and assaulted a security officer.
Bergen County led for the second year in a row with the highest number of reported antisemitic incidents. In 2024, Teaneck and Bergenfield, which both are home to a large Orthodox population, accounted for 56 incidents alone.
The ADL also recorded 482 incidents of harassment and 220 incidents of vandalism in New Jersey last year.
There was an increase of reports of antisemitism on college campus, with 78 reports, representing a 53% increase over last year, the audit stated. Most of them occurred on the Rutgers, New Brunswick campus. There were several encampments at Princeton and Rutgers in the spring of 2024, which caused the finals to be postponed and relocated.
The 9,354 antisemitic incidents recorded nationally last year, represent an increase of 5% over the previous year and marks the highest number since the antisemitism watchdog group began tracking incidents in 1979.
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The audit calculated that there were more than 25 "targeted anti-Jewish incidents" every day in 2024, more than one each hour.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the ADL said in a written statement that the report shows a "horrifying level of antisemitism" that has become "a persistent and grim reality for American Jewish communities."
The Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, sparked a rise in antisemitic activity in America and throughout the world, said the report. For the first time, the majority of the antisemitic incidents reported last year - 5,452 cases - were related to Israel or Zionism, according to the report. Many of these incidents occurred at rallies in the form of speeches, chants, signs and slogans.
The ADL noted that it only tabulated antisemitic activity specifically targeting Jews, such as classic antisemitic tropes, blood libels, signage equating Zionism with Nazism, celebration of the Hamas attack and support for terrorism against Jews.
"ADL is careful to not conflate general criticism of Israel or anti-Isreal activism with antisemitism. Legitimate political protest, support for Palestinian rights or expression of opposition to Israeli policies is not included in the audit."
The report also found a 21% increase in assaults which targeted 250 individuals.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Antisemitism in NJ report shows latest date for state
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