Wednesday, February 05, 2020
Anti-Semitic Crimes in New York Fell in January – But Don’t Get Excited Yet
Anti-Semitic hate crimes in New York dropped slightly in January compared to the same time last year.
The period between Jan. 1 and Feb 2 saw 21 crimes targeting Jews according to statistics released Tuesday by the New York Police Department. The same period last year saw 25 anti-Semitic hate crimes.
While some may celebrate this slight drop, anti-Semitic incidents still remain the majority of all reported hate crimes in New York.
"These are not great trends," Evan Bernstein, vice president of the Northeast Division of the Anti-Defamation League told JTA. "It's great that there's less anti-Semitic incidents, but we want the percentage to also go down of the overall number of hate crimes, and I think there's a lot of work that needs to be done."
There was a 26% overall increase in anti-Semitic crimes in New York last year. In 2019 there were 234 reported incidents and 186 in 2018.
One of the most shocking attacks to occur last year was in Monsey, New York, when a masked man invaded the home of a Hasidic rabbi during a Hanukkah celebration and injured five people with a large knife.
"While we are sober about the challenges we faced last month, the NYPD will use data and targeted enforcement to fight crime. As we double down on our efforts, we will be building bonds with our youngest New Yorkers to make our city safer and fairer," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.
Mitchell Silber, UJA-Federation of New York's top security official said that nearly two-thirds of the anti-Semitic incidents in New York are committed by young people
ADL recently released a study revealing that a significant amount of Americans still believe anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jews.
When questioned, 44% of respondents believe the stereotype that "Jews stick together more than other Americans," 25% believe "Jews always like to be at the head of things," and 24% believe that "Jews are more loyal to Israel than to America."
Meanwhile, 11% of Americans agreed with six or more of the most common anti-Semitic stereotypes, including beliefs that Jews hold too much power in business.
"A significant share of Americans still subscribes to harmful stereotypes about Jews. While this percentage is lower than half a century ago, the share still corresponds to over 28 million American adults. The recent uptick in anti-Semitic incidents suggests that more of these individuals may be willing to act on their anti-Semitic animus. As long as these stereotypes persist in society, they create a pool of individuals who may be emboldened to act out on their hatred," the study concluded.
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