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Surveys take temperature on anti-Semitism

By Faygie Holt

For the third year in a row, the American Jewish Committee has released a survey about anti-Semitism in the US and found large discrepancies in results between Jewish and non-Jewish respondents.

According to the survey, 60% of non-Jews say anti-Semitism is a very serious problem or somewhat of a problem in the US today. By contrast, 90% of Jewish respondents said anti-Semitism is a very serious problem or somewhat of a problem.

Some 17% of Jews say they were the target of an anti-Semitic 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 anti-Semitism.

Anti-Semitic 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 anti-Semitism online in general, but was specific to individual targeting.)

While the majority of Jews have not changed their habits when it comes to going out as wearing or displaying items that would peg them as Jews out of fear of anti-Semitism, a significant number, 22%, said they had, and 17% said they avoided going to certain places for the same reason.

That, said the AJC, is cause for concern.

“That one in four American Jews has been the target of anti-Semitism 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. “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 to reflect a very current time frame. Past studies have asked participants to look back over five years, but this time, said Huffnagle, people were asked to consider events over the 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 anti-Semitism 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 anti-Semitism 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 anti-Semitism 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 a somewhat or a lot, while 15% said it decreased, and 22% said it remained the same and 19% said they weren’t sure.

• Some 41% of general respondents have seen anti-Semitic 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 anti-Semitic, and both groups also believe that saying “Israel has no right to exist” is anti-Semitic. However, when asked if the statement “American Jews are loyal to Israel and disloyal to America” is anti-Semitic, 27% of the general population surveyed and 14% of Jewish respondents said it is not.

Meanwhile, Hillel and the ADL published the results of a joint survey that showed that a third of Jewish college students say they have personally experienced anti-Semitism in the last year.

Hillel and ADL recently announced a partnership aimed at combating anti-Semitism on college campuses.

The survey offers a “strong validation of the reality that Jewish students are facing, which is a significant and unacceptable level of anti-Semitism and other anti-Jewish bias,” said Hillel International CEO Adam Lehman.

Fifteen percent of students who responded said they had “felt the need to hide” their Jewish identity and 6% said they had felt unwelcome in a campus organization because they were Jewish.

Often, students reported being or feeling excluded because of their actual or perceived support for Israel. Conducted in July and August, the survey captured sentiment shortly after the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in May contributed to a spike in pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses and beyond.

The survey included 756 self-identified Jewish college students on 220 campuses and had a margin of error of 4%. It drew from a national sample of college students, meaning that students surveyed were not all engaged with Hillel or other aspects of Jewish life on their campuses.

Those who engaged with activities were more likely to say they have experienced anti-Semitism, the survey found, but they were also more likely to report feeling safe on campus as Jews.

JTA contributed to this report.



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