BEACHWOOD, Ohio — A brand-new report by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) is painting an alarming picture of antisemitism in the United States. Released Tuesday, The State of Antisemitism in America 2023 report found that more than 75% of Americans say antisemitism is a problem.
The study also revealed that the number of American Jews that feel unsafe has jumped up 22% from a year ago.
"My heart breaks for the Jewish community," said AJC's U.S. Director for Combating Antisemitism Holly Huffnagle while reflecting on their findings.
AJC found that 63% of American Jews say they feel less safe living in the U.S. than a year ago, a dramatic jump from 41% in last year’s report.
Almost half of American Jews have changed their behavior at least once in the past year out of fears about antisemitism.
The report said one-quarter of American Jews have been the target of antisemitism in the last year, with young Jews, ages 18 to 29, much more likely to report being a target.
Nearly eight in 10 American Jews who heard about the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel say they felt less safe in the U.S. since the massacre.
Also, more than nine in 10 American Jews and three-quarters of the general public say they believe antisemitism is a problem in the U.S. today, while 86% of Jews and 56% of U.S. adults say antisemitism has increased over the last five years.
Huffnagle told 3News she believes the rise of antisemitism is coming from the breakdown of the nation's social fabric.
"When you see rising anti-Semitism, it's usually a sign that there's something else amiss within a society," she said. "We're seeing anti-Semitism because it's, at its core, it's conspiracy. It's a blaming, it's an othering, it's a scapegoating, right? And that means that there's something else that isn't working when there's that lack of trust in our government, lack of trust in how things are functioning, social media feeding that distrust and that disinformation."
Jason Wuliger, chair of The Jewish Federation of Cleveland's Government Relations Committee, attributes some of the rise in antisemitism to the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
“Folks that don’t like Jews, folks that hate us, antisemites, they have used that event as a license to harass, attack, intimidate and to really do the things that perhaps were on their mind before October 7th but now they feel free to go carry out with these horrible acts,” he said.
Wuliger emphasized that being Jewish in Northeast Ohio is different than it used to be.
"I grew up here, and we used to be able to walk into synagogue, walk into the Jewish community center, and it was like going in anywhere else," he said. "Now, for me to be safe to pray, for my friends and neighbors to be safe to go use our Jewish community center, there has to be armed security at every door. There are threats all the time, mostly that people don't hear about. Post-October 7th, we held a memorial just outside this building in the parking lot, and to be safe to do that, we had to have police response that looked like we were in the middle of a war zone."
Eric Synenberg, a councilman in the majority Jewish city of Beachwood, is sharing the following message with all those harboring antisemitic feelings.
“We're all on this planet together. We live here, however many billion there are now," he began. "Life is short. Is it really worth being hateful towards others as opposed to trying to find compromise and reaching out? So that would be my message, is that life is too short to have anger and hate."
AJC said on a positive note, they found that 9 in 10 Americans say everyone is responsible for antisemitism.
"This is everyone's responsibility," Huffnagle said. "This is everyone's problem to solve."
Synenberg recommends contacting or going on the website of the American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, or Jewish Federation of Cleveland to learn more about antisemitism and how you can help lessen it. He said all three have a physical presence in Northeast Ohio. He's also encouraging people to reach out to a local synagogue or any Jew that you know to spark up a meaningful conversation on the topic.
