H eadlines
Antisemitism Continued from Page 1
with a drawing of a swastika
and the messages “Long live
Hitler” and “Jews are scum.”
While the 101 incidents
in 2020 represents a slight
decrease, it is still the third-
highest number of antisemitic
incidents in Pennsylvania
reported to the ADL since the
organization began tracking
them in 1979.

“The main takeaway is that
the news is still not good,”
said Shira Goodman, regional
director of ADL Philadelphia.

“We still seem to have this
climate where hate is embold-
ened, where people who harbor
antisemitic attitude seem
emboldened to take action.”
And Yael Rabin, a data
analyst with the ADL’s Center
on Extremism, said the rate
at which antisemitic incidents
were being recorded prior to
the pandemic suggests that
the imposed isolation seems
to have leveled off what was
shaping up to be a year where
many more incidents would
have been recorded.

“If it weren’t for the pandemic,
or stay-at-home measures, it
probably would have continued
to increase,” Rabin said. “Not just
with the harassment, but with
16 MAY 6, 2021
Antisemitic incidents in the ADL Philadelphia region since 2016
vandalism as well.”
For the second straight year,
Pennsylvania had the nation’s
fifth-highest number of antise-
mitic incidents, according to the
audit. The Keystone State trailed
only New York (336), New Jersey
(295), California (289) and
Florida (127) in total incidents.

Within Pennsylvania, the
greatest number of incidents took
place in Philadelphia County
(39), followed by Montgomery
(17), Delaware (eight), Lehigh
(five) and Allegheny (five).

The national findings were
released at an April 27 Zoom
webinar, during which the
ADL reported 2,024 incidents
against American Jews during
2020, down 4% from 2019.

That was still the third-highest
year for incidents against Jews
nationwide since 1979, said
Deb Leipzig, ADL’s vice presi-
dent of leadership.

“The pandemic changed life
as we know it, but it didn’t stop
hate,” said ADL CEO Jonathan
Greenblatt, adding that the stats
showed an average of more than
five antisemitic acts per day.

“Antisemites are elusive,”
he said. “Anti-Jewish hate is
often thought of as the oldest
hatred. It is really the most
persistent virus because it
adapts and mutates and finds
new vulnerabilities to exploit
for spreading its toxin.”
Zoombombing is a new
medium for antisemitism,
Greenblatt said, and is partly
responsible for a 40% increase
in incidents at Jewish institu-
tions compared to 2019.

In Pennsylvania, there were
10 antisemitic Zoombombing
incidents in 2020, seven of
which specifically targeted
Jewish institutions.

That number probably does
not represent the true number
of Zoombombings
that targeted Jews, as the novelty
of that form of harassment
likely prevented people from
reporting, Rabin said.

“In general, incidents do
go vastly underreported and,
while we are at historic highs
across the country over the
past few years, it’s really only
scratching the surface of likely
what’s actually happening,”
she said.

Goodman noted the same
JEWISH EXPONENT
Antisemitic incidents in Pennsylvania in 2020 broken down by county
Yael Rabin, data analyst with the ADL’s Center on Extremism
Photos courtesy of the ADL
issue with data collection.

“A lot of people don’t want
to report them; they don’t think
the police can do anything. And
sometimes they can’t,” she said.

Nationwide stay-at-home
orders, a reduced number of
daily commutes and school
closures likely
affected the number of antisemitic
incidents, said Oren Segal,
vice president of the ADL’s
Center on Extremism. There
were 161 reported antisemitic
incidents at non-Jewish K-12
schools in 2020, a 61% decrease
from 2019. Classes were Zoom
bombed 22 times with antise-
mitic language and swastikas.

U.S. colleges and universities
experienced 128 antisemitic
incidents, Segal said, a 32%
drop from the previous year.

He stressed the importance of
reporting all occurrences of hate.

“The way we can inform
policymakers and advocate for
better policies and practices
is through good reporting,”
he said. “The better the data,
the better prepared we will all
be to strategize about ways to
mitigate antisemitism and all
forms of hate.”
Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle
staff writer David Rullo contrib-
uted to this report. l
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM