WASHINGTON.- Nearly two in three American Jews feel less safe in the United States than they did a year ago, a national survey found.
The American Jewish Committee conducted the survey last year, as the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7.
The number of American Jews who say they feel less safe in the country increased 22% from the previous year’s survey.
“This year’s study shows us very clearly that anti-Semitism that was just a budding flame is now, especially since October 7, a full-blown fire,” AJC CEO Ted Deutch told the Associated Press.
According to the report issued Tuesday, 25% of American Jews say they have been targets of anti-Semitism in the past year. Nearly half of those surveyed said they have altered their behavioral habits over the past year to avoid anti-Semitism: changing what they wear, what they post online, or where they go so that it is not known that they are Jewish.
“I live in a rural area and my home is probably the only Jewish home for 30 miles (45 kilometers) around,” a 62-year-old woman says in the report. “We don’t tell people and outside the house, we don’t show that we are Jewish.”
That reluctance is “a huge challenge for the Jewish community,” Deutch said. “But, in reality, it represents a challenge for our entire society.”
Civil rights groups and the rights of Jews and Muslims in general have reported large increases in harassment, prejudice and physical attacks in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Brian Levin, founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said he has seen a surge of internet searches for anti-Jewish and Islamophobic texts since last year, including for “eliminationist” texts. ” and murderers.
Levin, who is not affiliated with the AJC report, said anti-Jewish hate crimes hit a record high in several major cities. “Jews understandably feel more unsafe, and police and social science data tell us why,” he said.
Source: With information from AP
