This is a worrying report. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was alarmed this Sunday, May 5, by the “unprecedented level” of anti-Semitic acts recorded in 2023. According to the annual global publication, the war between Hamas and Israel has fueled a “fire that was already out of control”. To the point that “if current trends continue, the curtain will fall on the possibility of leading a Jewish life in the West: wearing a Star of David, attending synagogues and community centers, sending children to Jewish schools, attending a club Jewish on campus or to speak Hebrew,” writes Professor Uriya Shavit of Tel Aviv University in this document.
The report from the ADL, the main Jewish rights group, notes that anti-Semitic incidents had increased before the war broke out on October 7, after a bloody attack by Hamas in Israel, followed by a deadly military response of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. “The aftermath of Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel on October 7 was followed by a tsunami of hatred against Jewish communities around the world,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the New York-based ADL.
“This year’s report is incredibly alarming, with unprecedented levels of documented anti-Semitic acts, including in the United States, where 2023 saw the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States ever recorded by the ADL “, he added. Written jointly with Tel Aviv University, the report said anti-Semitic incidents in 2023 were far higher than 2022 figures in most countries with significant Jewish minorities, including the United States, France, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Brazil and Mexico. The publication coincides with the Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and Heroism (in Hebrew Yom HaShoah).
Harassment, vandalism and attacks
The ADL noted 7,523 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States in 2023. More than double compared to 2022 (3,697 then recorded). These acts include harassment, vandalism, and attacks against Jewish-owned businesses, Jewish institutions and organizations, and Jewish students. Adopting a contested methodology that includes anti-Zionist rhetoric, activism and calls for “resistance” in the Palestinian territories, the report documents 8,873 incidents in the United States in 2023, including 5,204 between October 7 and the end of 2023.
In France, the number of anti-Semitic attacks increased from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, with physical attacks increasing from 43 to 85, according to this report. In the United Kingdom, the number of incidents increased from 1,662 to 4,103, including 266 physical attacks, according to the report which uses figures from the Community Security Trust in the United Kingdom.
The war began on October 7, when Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza in southern Israel launched an attack which left more than 1,170 dead, mainly civilians, according to an AFP report established from official Israeli data. In retaliation, Israeli forces launched a large-scale offensive – air then land – in the Palestinian territory of Gaza which has so far left 34,654 dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health – figures difficult to confirm from an independent source.
This assessment triggered a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on American university campuses and around the world, fueling a bitter global debate on anti-Semitism, with some denouncing rhetoric of hatred against Jews.