ADL Audit:
Anti-Semitism in PA Up 22%
in 2019
Jesse Bernstein and Ben Sales
P ennsylvania saw a 22% rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2019,
according to the Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit compiled
by its Center on Extremism.

The 109 incidents recorded in Pennsylvania represented the
second-highest total ever, according to data the ADL has compiled since
1979. The rise in Pennsylvania tracked with trends across the country. Last
year saw 2,107 recorded anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, the
most tallied by the ADL since at least 1979, according to the audit.

“We’re really concerned,” said Shira Goodman, regional director
of ADL Philadelphia, which covers seven counties in eastern
Pennsylvania, seven in southern New Jersey and the entire state of
Delaware. “The numbers are really not good in our region.”
In 2019, ADL recorded 150 regional incidents, marking a 159%
A graph shows the historic number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded in
Pennsylvania. COURTESY OF THE ADL
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increase over the past five years. New Jersey had
73% more recorded anti-Semitic incidents in 2019
than in 2018, counting 345 incidents. Pennsylvania
was fifth nationally in total incidents, with 109.

Pennsylvania’s historic average is around 64
incidents per year; in the past five years, the state
has seen a 150% increase in recorded incidents.

Many of the incidents in Pennsylvania were
related to vandalism: anti-Semitic flyering and all
manner of swastikas. In fact, 80% of all vandalism
incidents included the use of a swastika.

Of the 109 anti-Semitic incidents across the
state, 96% took place in 19 counties in eastern
Pennsylvania, according to the report. Nearly half
occurred in Philadelphia (52), Montgomery (17)
and Delaware (8) counties.

“You can’t just say, ‘Oh, it’s people who don’t
live around Jews, who don’t know Jews and it’s
stemming from ignorance and lack of knowledge
In 2019, ADL recorded 150 regional
incidents, marking a 159% increase over
the past five years. New Jersey had 73%
more recorded anti-Semitic incidents in
2019 than in 2018, counting 345
incidents. and fear.’ It’s coming from places where people do
interact with Jews,” Goodman explained.

Sixty-nine incidents took place within
Philadelphia, many of them tied to extremist
groups. The report provides a small selection of those
incidents. Last April, the Muslim American Society Islamic
Center’s “Ummah Day” celebration in Philadelphia
featured young children singing violently anti-
Semitic songs. In June, a man carved “SS” bolts into
the pillars at the Philadelphia Holocaust Memorial.

And in October, a synagogue in Northeast
Philadelphia was defaced with an Iron Cross.

The 2,107 incidents nationwide in 2019 indicate
a 12% increase from 2018 and are more than double
the 942 recorded in 2015.

The ADL’s report shows that though 2018 saw a
small dip the story of the last decade has been a con-
sistent rise in recorded incidents. Last year, there
were several high-profile anti-Semitic incidents that
made national headlines.

In April 2019, one person was killed and three
were wounded when a gunman fired shots inside a
synagogue in Poway, California. In December 2019,
two gunmen killed four people, including two Jews,
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