Reported anti-Semitic acts declined in 1995, Jewish group reports

c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Last year saw the largest one-year decrease in reported acts of anti-Semitism that the nation has witnessed in a decade, a Jewish defense organization said Tuesday. A total of 1,843 acts of violence, threats, harassment or vandalism directed against Jews or Jewish institutions were reported during 1995, according to the […]

c. 1996 Religion News Service

(RNS)-Last year saw the largest one-year decrease in reported acts of anti-Semitism that the nation has witnessed in a decade, a Jewish defense organization said Tuesday.

A total of 1,843 acts of violence, threats, harassment or vandalism directed against Jews or Jewish institutions were reported during 1995, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States. The total represents an 11 percent drop in such acts compared to 1994.”The overall decline of anti-Semitic incidents, the first in three years and the largest in 10 years, is encouraging,”ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman said in a statement.”Through the intensified efforts of law enforcement and continued educational outreach, we hope this is the beginning of a trend away from anti-Semitic acts. But we must remain vigilant.” New York, with 370 reported anti-Semitic acts, California (264), New Jersey (228) and Florida (152)-all states with large Jewish populations-accounted for 55 percent of all the incidents reported to the ADL or local police.


Other states with a relatively high number of anti-Semitic acts reported were Massachusetts (85), Connecticut (76), Ohio (67), Pennsylvania (59), Maryland (44), Illinois (43), Georgia (39) and Texas (35). Thirty-four incidents were reported in the District of Columbia.

Foxman noted that last year’s decrease in anti-Semitic incidents mirrored a drop in the national crime rate reported for 1995.

Despite the decrease in anti-Semitic acts, the ADL survey said that”personalized attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions … continue to be significantly more common than incidents of vandalism.”About 61 percent of the reported anti-Semitic acts-1,116 incidents-fell into the category of personalized attacks.

Among the most serious such incidents listed by the ADL were:

-The arson fire at a Jewish-owned business in New York’s Harlem area following days of protests in which anti-Semitic rhetoric was used. Seven people died in the blaze.

-The beating of a New York man after he was accosted leaving a dance hall and asked if he was Jewish.

-The beating of a rabbi’s son outside his father’s synagogue in Cincinnati.

-The mounting of a pig’s head on the front door of a synagogue in York, Pa.

Of the 727 acts of anti-Semitic vandalism reported, 145 incidents were directed against synagogues and other Jewish targets, while 220 took place on private property, such as homes or businesses. The rest occurred on public property and included such acts as the writing of anti-Semitic symbols or language.


The ADL audit noted that 108 individuals in 14 states were arrested during 1995 in connection with anti-Semitic acts. Neo-Nazi skinheads were associated with 17 incidents.

Alan Schwartz, ADL research director, defined an anti-Semitic act as one in which”there was any expression of anti-Semitic animosity or sentiment having nothing to do with the matter at hand.” For example, a burglary at a synagogue in which objects were taken would not be considered anti-Semitic unless swastikas or anti-Jewish words were also painted on walls.

Schwartz also noted that not all anti-Semitic acts are considered crimes. An example would be the uttering of an ethnic slur.

MJP END RIFKIN

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