New data published by the Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday showed that during the recent Gaza flare-up antisemitic incidents saw a sharp increase..
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"New analysis from ADL's Center on Extremism reveals that antisemitic incidents in the US more than doubled during the May 2021 military conflict between Israel and Hamas and its immediate aftermath compared to the same time period in 2020," the organization said in a statement. "After peaking between May 20-22, 2021, incident levels have gradually returned to a baseline level. These numbers should still be considered preliminary and are likely to change as additional information becomes available."
From that data, it transpires that at least 251 cases of antisemitic incidents were documented between the start of the fighting until the end of May, representing a 115% increase relative to the same period in 2020, when only 117 such occurrences were reported in the United States. A total of 305 incidents were noted in the entire month of May this year.
The ADL said these incidents can be described using three general categories of "harassment, vandalism, and assault."
Under these criteria, "from May 11-21, 2021, there were 190 cases of harassment, 50 cases of vandalism and 11 assaults. Forty-seven percent of the incidents (118 in total) included explicit references to Israel and Zionism, as explained in detail below." The organization further added that "the most dramatic year-over-year increase was in the category of assault, which rose from zero in May 11-31, 2020, to 11 in the same period in May 2021," potentially because of the fighting. "There is evidence that at least seven of the antisemitic assaults were motivated by anger over the conflict in the Middle East," it said.
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