Crimes motivated by anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli feelings increased 90% and 450%, respectively, in Los Angeles in 2023, according to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations.They were the highest levels ever for both categories, the commission said this week in its annual analysis of hate crimes. There were 242 anti-Jewish hate crimes in Los Angeles in 2023, compared with 127 in 2022.Anti-Israeli crimes spiked from 4% to 22% of hate crimes against Jews, and 50% of anti-Israel crimes were violent, the report said.
Hate crimes in general rose 45% in Los Angeles in 2023, the report said. The majority of hate crimes targeted African Americans, LGBT communities, Jews, and Hispanic groups, with antisemitic crimes representing 18% of all hate-motivated crimes in Los Angeles, the report said.At schools, Jews were the second-most targeted group after African Americans, comprising 20% of hate-motivated crimes.
Race now the most attacked identity
Race, ethnicity, and national origin were the most common motivations, constituting 45% of hate crimes, the report said. Crimes motivated by anti-religion-motivated crimes surpassed sexual orientation crimes to become the second-most-motivated crimes, representing 20% of hate-motivated crimes, the report said. Anti-religious crimes increased 90% in 2023, and anti-Jewish crimes comprised 83% of all anti-religion-motivated crimes, the report said.The report cited an incident in April 2023, when a suspect told a man, “F**k the Jewish community. You are all dirty.”When the victim fled into his car, the suspect stood in front of it, waving a knife and yelling, “Come outside. I got something for you.”Crimes with rhetoric and motivation connected to the conflict in the Middle East accounted for 5% of all hate crimes, the report said, and was the highest amount recorded since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Jews were the most targeted people in this category, representing 42% of the cases, followed by Israelis, at 27%, Palestinians, at 23%, and Muslims, at 6%.Half of the incidents motivated by the Middle East conflict were vandalism, 22% were simple assaults, and 17% were intimidation offenses, the report said. Almost half of these offenses occurred in public places, a sixth in businesses, and about a 10th at religious sites, electronic communication, or residences.In the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles in November 2023, a Mediterranean restaurant received a phone call from someone seeking to make a reservation. When informed that the restaurant did not take reservations, the caller replied: “I am from Hamas. I am gonna come shoot you all.”That same month, in Hollywood, a Middle Eastern woman was asked by a Jewish person if they supported Palestinians, and when she said she did, she was told, “You’re all terrorists. You behead babies.”There were 209 hate crimes motivated by white supremacy, accounting for 15% of all recorded crimes, the report said, 91% of which targeted Jews, and 71% involved vandalism, usually through the spray painting of swastikas.The report did not take into account that the use of Nazi iconography to attack Jews has not been unique to neo-Nazis and white supremacists; it has been used by other groups because of the symbol’s historical weight.Documented hate-motivated crimes only represent a portion of the hate crimes committed, as almost half are estimated as not being reported to law enforcement, the commission said.In response to the report, the American Jewish Committee said: “We must all work toward creating a more tolerant and just society that reflects American ideals.”