Nationwide, American news media has gotten so used to antisemitic attacks across the United States that it has become numb to their existence, while most of the coverage is on local news outlets.
American Jews cannot remember when the rate of antisemitic attacks and vandalism has been so dramatic and violent. Since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, antisemitic incidents in the US reached the highest number during any two months since the Anti-Defamation League began tracking them in 1979, according to preliminary data released recently.
Between October 7 and December 7, ADL recorded a total of 2,031 antisemitic incidents, more than four times the 465 incidents recorded during the same period in 2022, representing a 337% increase.
This includes 40 incidents of physical assault, 337 of vandalism, 749 of verbal or written harassment, and 905 rallies where there was antisemitic rhetoric, expressions of support for terrorism against the State of Israel, and/or anti-Zionism. On average, over those 61 days, Jews in the US experienced nearly 34 antisemitic incidents daily.
The data showed a significant increase in antisemitic incidents, including a tragic one in Los Angeles where a Jewish man lost his life as a result of injuries received during an anti-Israel protest.
Approximately 250 incidents specifically targeted Jewish sites like synagogues and university Hillels. On college campuses, there was a noticeable rise in antisemitic activity, with 400 recorded incidents, a stark contrast to the mere 33 reported in the same time frame in 2022.
Antisemitism on campuses is a major concern
Furthermore, the safety of Jewish students on university campuses has become a major concern. Testimony at a congressional hearing revealed that leaders of three Ivy League universities did not adequately support Jewish students, exacerbating the situation.
When New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik asked them if “calling for the genocide of Jews” is against their universities’ respective codes of conduct, all three presidents said the answer depended on the context.
“It is a context-dependent decision,” University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill responded, leading Stefanik to ask: “Calling for the genocide of Jews is dependent on the context? That is not bullying or harassment? This is the easiest question to answer ‘yes,’ Ms. Magill.”
Responding to the same question, Harvard President Claudine Gay said that, “When speech crosses into conduct, we take action.” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said that such language would only be “investigated as harassment if pervasive and severe.”
Every few minutes, an additional antisemitic incident occurs in one of the 50 states. It’s become so popular that the national media actually cannot keep up with reporting it.
Back in 2017, during the first few months of Donald Trump’s presidency, American media outlets reported on every single cemetery that was desecrated with swastikas or any bomb threat against Jewish institutions.
Suddenly, six years later, a bomb threat against a synagogue isn’t breaking news anymore, and antisemitic flyers being distributed in Jewish-populated neighborhoods aren’t even mentioned nationally.
On Saturday, local Atlanta news station WSB-TV2 reported that police are looking for the person who left an antisemitic note on a woman’s car while she was at a doctor’s appointment. The note read “A dream catcher on your mirror and an Israeli flag on the back of your car during a genocide, you’re a [expletive] word idiot and the reason humans suck. Reevaluate your entire existence.”
A few years ago this may have been reported nationally, but in 2023, this has become a regular day-to-day incident. So why aren’t the main American news outlets reporting them? One of the reasons is that this has become the new normal.
The problem is that since the media has been ignoring these incidents, their perpetrators may feel like they aren’t doing anything wrong. We cannot allow a situation where only local news outlets and Jewish media cover these despicable, racist, violent acts.
The national American newspapers, news sites, and television stations should wake up and understand that a small yet successful minority is under attack. If these media outlets are truly liberal and promote a stable and democratic America, they should take these threats a lot more seriously.