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 harass-
ment 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 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 antise-
mitic incidents, said Oren Segal, vice president of the ADL’s Center on
Extremism. There were 161 reported antisemitic incidents at non-Jew-
ish K-12 schools in 2020, a 61% decrease from 2019. Classes were Zoom
bombed 22 times with antisemitic 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.” l
Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle staff writer David Rullo contributed to this report.

Antisemitic incidents in the ADL Philadelphia region since 2016
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