Following the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, there has been a concerning surge in antisemitic incidents in the United States. Preliminary data released this week by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) indicates that these incidents have hit the highest number for any two months since they began tracking in 1979.

Nationwide antisemitism by the numbers

Between Oct. 7 and Dec. 7, the ADL recorded a total of 2,031 antisemitic incidents, up from 465 incidents during the same period in 2022, representing a 337% increase year-over-year. This includes 40 incidents of physical assault, 337 incidents of vandalism, 749 incidents of verbal or written harassment and 905 rallies, including antisemitic rhetoric, expressions of support for terrorism against the state of Israel. On average, over the last 61 days, Jews in America experienced nearly 34 antisemitic incidents per day.

“This terrifying pattern of antisemitic attacks has been relentless since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, with no signs of diminishing,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO, in a statement. “The lid to the sewers is off, and Jewish communities all across the country are being inundated with hate. Public officials and college leaders must turn down the temperature and take clear action to show this behavior is unacceptable to prevent more violence.”

What we are seeing here at home

In St. Louis, the ADL is seeing increased numbers of incidents of harassment and vandalism, mainly in schools.

“People who are being called names. People who are having their kids see other students give Hitler salutes in school. We’re seeing vandalism like swastikas on walls in a growing number and we’re seeing anti-Israel sentiment crossover into antisemitism,” said ADL Heartland Regional Director Jordan Kadosh.

Our area has seen multiple rallies, marches and public protests, both by pro and anti-Israel groups, but what the local Jewish community is not seeing are increasing numbers of physical assaults. Kadosh credits local public officials and law enforcement for this fact.

“I think that we’ve had a really good public safety response to everyone’s First Amendment rights to demonstrate, regardless of which side has been rallying. Our public officials have been proactive in keeping everyone separated,” said Kadosh.

On college campuses, a third of Jewish college students say they have personally experienced antisemitism since Oct. 7.  Locally, incidents have been considered minor in scope, but are still problematic in that they create a hostile living environment for Jewish students.

“Posters of hostages torn down every day. Posters accusing Israel of genocide going up every day even though they’re in violation of posting policies on the campus and they’re immediately removed, it doesn’t matter, they still go up every morning,” said Kadosh. “This atmosphere makes students scared of being overtly and proudly Jewish on campus and living a Jewish life.”

Vandalism at Mizzou

A recent incident on the University of Missouri Columbia campus resulted in the arrest of a female student. Campus police were called on Nov. 29 when the student angrily confronted Jewish students from the MU Chabad House who had set up an empty Shabbat table to raise awareness about Israeli hostages. The display was erected on Speaker’s Circle, a very public part of the main campus.

Witnesses told police the female student flipped the table, breaking dishes and destroying the display. Police soon arrived and arrested the student on charges of second-degree property damage.

“This and other incidents are small but significant,” said Kadosh. “These less violent incidents are occurring more and more and the sheer volume of them is what is creating an environment where it’s becoming OK to act on your antisemitic beliefs and holding Jews, who have nothing to do with Israel, accountable for Israeli government actions you disagree with.”

What’s next?

With no signs that the war in Israel will end anytime soon, the ADL says it will continue to monitor antisemitism reports nationally and locally. Meanwhile, Kadosh says he and other Jewish leaders will continue to communicate regularly with local and law enforcement officials, reviewing incidents that come in and making sure all are aware of the ongoing changes in the current climate.

“We’re communicating to our lawmakers that these heightened tensions are going to require extra resources to continue to keep the community safe. We will be supporting a bill to make a supplemental nonprofit security grant fund for the state of Missouri in addition to a task force to make recommendations on domestic terrorism and other security issues for nonprofits.

For more information about tracking acts of antisemitism both nationally and locally, the ADL has created an interactive “heat map” plotting where incidents occurred since Oct. 7 can be found.