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ADL Releases Antisemitism Audit.

What Is It and Why Does it Matter to
Philadelphia Jews?
Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
T he Anti-Defamation League
revealed on March 22 that
there were 3,697 reported
incidents of antisemitism in the United
States last year, according to its Audit
of Antisemitic Incidents 2022.

That is a 36% increase from 2021’s
2,717 reported incidents, and the “highest
number on record since the organization
began tracking antisemitic incidents in
1979,” an ADL press release said.

These numbers are alarming to
Jewish leaders, but they don’t just exist
8 MARCH 30, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
for shock value. Results of the Audit
of Antisemitic Incidents, conducted
by ADL’s Center on Extremism, are a
product of a yearlong data collection
process; the lofty numbers of antise-
mitic incident reports help support
local and national efforts to gain
resources to combat hate.

It’s what prevents 3,697 from becom-
ing just another scary number.

“These reports provide vital infor-
mation because the knowledge of
the scope of the issue is the first
step to being able to address it,” ADL
Philadelphia Regional Director Andrew
Goretsky said.

What does the audit process
look like?
While other organizations rely on the
ADL for data, the ADL relies on reports
from law enforcement, Jewish organi-
zations and people to collect data.

“Our audit is made up of both crimi-
nal and non-criminal incidents that
get directly reported to us,” ADL
Philadelphia Associate Regional
Director Andrea Heymann said.

On the ADL website, users can submit
a report of a hate or bias incident and
provide details such as screenshots or
video recordings. Most commonly, a
reported incident will look like vandalism
or harassment but can sometimes be a
physical attack or threat.

Regional ADLs sift through the data
for duplicates, of which there are
many. According to Heymann, ADL
Philadelphia received 514 reports in
2022, but many described the same
white supremacist flyering incident in
a local neighborhood. The incident is
only counted once for the report.

ADL pulls and aggregates the data
from its regional offices to create
its annual report. They use regional
data to create Hate, Extremism,
Antisemitism, Terrorism (H.E.A.T.) maps
of bias incidents based on state.




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Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt speaks at the group’s
2018 National Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C.

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What is the data from the ADL
audit used for?
Reported increases in antisemitism are
important for organizations, such as
JCCs and synagogues, who need data
to support grant applications for hard-
ened security or additional resources,
such as the Nonprofi t Security Grant
Program. “The way in which we see a lot of this
work pay off is when things like hate
crimes laws are passed or expanded,
so that we can include more people
under protections” Heymann said.

The Siegel JCC in Wilmington,
Delaware, a benefi ciary agency of
the Jewish Federation of Delaware,
received multiple bomb threats in 2017,
and ADL reports helped corroborate
concerns about increasing hate.

The Jewish Federation of Delaware
has applied for security grants in the
past. It is working with the Jewish
Federations of North America and
Secure Community Network to create
a regional security director role to
oversee the safety of Jewish organiza-
tions statewide.

“The ADL report validates what we’re
all seeing and experiencing on a daily
basis,” Jewish Federation of Delaware
CEO and President Seth Katzen said.

“We don’t have the resources to
conduct that kind of research, so we
rely on ADL to provide that data.”
The information also helps non-Jew-
ish organizations. ADL partners with
local law enforcement to help hone
their education of community members
and police offi cers to raise awareness
of antisemitism.

“We teach local police offi cers how
to investigate a crime, what type of
symbol to look for or specifi c wording,”
Pennsylvania State Police Heritage
Aff airs Section Commander Lt. William
Slaton said. “ADL has been instru-
mental to us in bringing issues to our
attention and even [bringing] training
recommendations to our attention.”
Why report?
Despite the importance of the ADL’s
annual audit, hate and bias incidents
remain underreported, Goretsky said.

Many people simply don’t know how
to report incidents. When Goretsky’s
son encountered antisemitism while
gaming online, he logged off but didn’t
report the antisemitism because he
didn’t know how, Goretsky said. The
two searched the website for a way to
report the incident.

But others see instances of antisem-
itism and choose not to report.

Large organizations, such as JCCs or
synagogues, may not want to report a
threat or breach of security because it
puts an unwanted spotlight on them,
making them further vulnerable to
off enders looking for their next target.

For individuals, the desire not to
report can come from uncertainty. If
someone sees something that may
be antisemitic or hateful, they can
sometimes waffl e on reporting or deem
it too small an issue to report.

Goretsky said that because of the
importance of reporting, it’s best to err
on the side of caution.

“Let the experts decide whether it’s
an antisemitic incident, whether it’s a
hate crime,” he said. “If it doesn’t feel
right and if in doubt, report it.” ■
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