1 in 4 American Jews has experienced anti-Semitism since 2016, ADL finds

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – JANUARY 05 2020: (L_R) Chirlane Irene McCray, Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Chuck Schumer, Governor Andrew Cuomo, US Representative Jerry Nadler and members of the Jewish community take part during a No hate no fear solidarity march. As anti-Semitic incidents have increased in New York City as well as the United States, demonstrators held no hate no fear solidarity march. Representatives from various Jewish organisations as well as marchers from around the country joined the New Yorkers to call for an end to religious bigotry.

Ben Sales

(JTA) — An annual survey from the Anti-Defamation League found that a quarter of American Jews have personally experienced anti-Semitism in the past five years, and that most American Jews have witnessed anti-Semitic comments targeting others.

In that same time period, 9% of Jewish respondents said they have been the victim of an anti-Semitic physical attack.

In total, 63% of Jewish respondents reported that they had either witnessed or experienced anti-Semitism in the years since 2016, an increase from 54% last year. The survey was taken in early January and includes responses from 503 Jewish-American adults. The margin of error is 4.4%.

The proportion of Jews who said they have experienced anti-Semitism or been the victim of a physical attack are slightly higher than they were last year but are within the margin of error. Last year, 20% of Jews said they had experienced anti-Semitism over the past five years, while 5% reported being the victim of a physical attack.

In addition, 40% of respondents said they heard anti-Semitic comments directed at someone else over the past year. Some 59% of respondents said they feel Jews are less safe in the United States than they were a decade ago, similar to the figure from last year’s survey.