The number of anti-Semitic incidents in California dropped from 184 in 2014 to 175 last year, but California was still second only to New York in the total number of such incidents, the Anti-Defamation League said Wednesday.
Nationwide, the number of assaults taking place against Jews rose dramatically last year, contributing to a three-percent increase in the total number of anti-Jewish incidents reported in 2015, according to the ADL’s annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents.
“We are disturbed that violent anti-Semitic incidents are rising” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO. “And we know that for every incident reported, there’s likely another that goes unreported. So even as the total incidents have remained statistically steady from year to year, the trend toward anti-Semitic violence is very concerning.”
A total of 941 incidents were reported in the U.S. in 2015, an increase of about 3 percent from the 912 incidents recorded in 2014. Fifty-six incidents were assaults, representing a more than 50 percent rise from the 36 assaults reported in 2014.
The report claims that anti-Semitic incidents at colleges and universities nearly doubled last year to 90, compared with 47 in 2014. Campus anti-Semitic incidents accounted for 10 percent of the total incidents reported in the U.S. in 2015.
Overall, anti-Semitic incident totals in the U.S. are historically low, according to the ADL, which has been keeping track of them since 1979. During the last decade, the number of reported anti-Semitic incidents peaked at 1,554 in 2006 and has been mostly on the decline ever since.
The audit includes incidents of online anti-Semitism reported to ADL in which an individual or institution is explicitly targeted, it does not count general anti-Semitic expressions online.
The report is compiled using information provided by victims, law enforcement and community leaders, and breaks down incidents into three categories: harassment/threats, vandalism and assaults.
In California for 2015, the report cites 105 incidents of harassment or threats, 69 cases of vandalism, and one assault.
— Wire reports