For the third year in a row, the American Jewish Committee has released a survey about antisemitism in the United States and found large discrepancies in results between Jewish and non-Jewish respondents.
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According to the survey, 60% of non-Jews say antisemitism is a very serious problem or somewhat of a problem in the United States today. By contrast, 90% of Jewish respondents said antisemitism is a very serious problem or somewhat of a problem.
Some 17% of Jews say they were the target of an antisemitic remark in person over the last 12 months. Of those who were targeted, 23% were in the West, 29% in the South, 12% in the Midwest and 14% in the Northeast, according to Holly Huffnagle, AJC's US director for combating antisemitism.
Antisemitic remarks were also found online with 12% of Jewish respondents reporting that they were the target of online remarks. (The report did not ask about seeing antisemitism online in general, but was specific to individual targeting.)
While the majority of Jews haven't changed their habits when it comes to going out as wearing or displaying items that would peg them as Jews out of fear of antisemitism, a significant number, 22%, said they had, and a full 17% said they avoided going to certain places for the same reason.
That, said the American Jewish Committee, is cause for concern.
"That one in four American Jews has been the target of antisemitism over the past year alone, and that four out of 10 have taken steps to conceal their Jewishness or curtail their activities, as a result, should alarm Americans," AJC CEO David Harris said in a statement. "Now is the time for American society to stand up and say 'enough is enough.'"
One of the major changes this year was reworking many of the questions so they reflect a very current time frame. The past studies have asked participants to look back over five years; but this time, said Huffnagle, people were asked to consider events over the "past 12 months."
That, she said, gives a more immediate look and "speaks to what American Jews are feeling now."
One of the more surprising findings was a 10% jump in the number of Jews who perceive the extreme political left as a challenge from previous surveys with 38% saying it is a very serious or moderately serious threat. Meanwhile, when asked about the extreme political right, 73% of Jews said it was a very serious or moderately serious threat.
Campus incidents, Holocaust knowledge, dual loyalty
While much has been written in recent years about the growing threat facing college students on campuses nationwide, the survey found that only 20% of Jews said they or someone they knew has "experienced antisemitism in a college setting."
That number needs to be put in context, noted Huffnagle; the results are based on a national representative sample size that is quite small with 1,400 Jews participating, many of whom may have no connection to college campuses or students. When examining the 18- to 29-year-old group, she explained, the response rises with 30% saying they or someone they knew experienced antisemitism on campus.
Among the reports other findings:
Most American Jews, more than 70%, were either "a lot or somewhat" aware of the numerous attacks against Jews after Israel's 11-day conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip in May. However, that number dropped to less than 50% of the general US population.
When asked if antisemitism has increased or decreased in the last five years, 82% of Jews said it increased a lot or somewhat while only 3% said it decreased (the remaining felt levels were the same.) Among the US population overall, 44% said it increased either somewhat or a lot while 15% said it decreased, and 22% said it remained the same and 19% said they weren't sure.
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Some 41% of general respondents have seen antisemitic incidents over the last 12 months that include negative remarks or online content about Jewish people or physical attacks on Jewish people or their religious facilities.
While 64% of general respondents say they know someone who is Jewish, another 36% say they personally don't know any Jews.
Jews and the general population overwhelmingly believe that the statement "The Holocaust has been exaggerated" is antisemitic, and both groups also believe that saying "Israel has no right to exist" is antisemitic. However, when asked if the statement "American Jews are loyal to Israel and disloyal to America" is antisemitic, 27% of the general population surveyed and 14% of Jewish respondents said it is not.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
