As Israel and peace-loving people around the world are remembering the horrific attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023, the increase in antisemitic activity has increased worldwide. No place is immune, and sadly, that means the one place that was founded on the freedom of its citizens, America, is also seeing an increase in attacks on Jewish citizens. The numbers are eye-opening and very disturbing. 

Happening right now outside @UCL.

Even on the first anniversary of 7th October 2023 – the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust – anti-Israel protesters still can’t help themselves from calling for intifada and chanting “From the river to the sea”.

We are hearing… pic.twitter.com/s15YXbuPnn

— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) October 7, 2024

Antisemitism in America has become a real problem, and the numbers are bearing that out. What is being called "preliminary data" gathered between October 7, 2023, and September 24, 2024, show a shocking 200 percent increase in the number of antisemitic attacks in the U.S. That increase represents around 10,000 antisemitic attacks during that time. That data is compared to the same time the year before when there were 3,325 attacks. 

The data goes on to paint a dangerous time for Jewish Americans. Those 10,000 attacks took on many forms, including around 8,015 instances of verbal or written harassment, roughly 1,840 incidents of vandalism, and 150 instances of physical assault. There is some even more interesting data. Around 2,000 of these incidents occurred at Jewish establishments like synagogues and Jewish centers. More than half of the incidents occurring at these places of worship came in the form of bomb threats. The data compiled by the Antidefamation League (ADL) has also taught us never to underestimate the power of a crowd. Nearly 3,000 of all the incidents occurred during anti-Israel rallies, where there was overt and explicit support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. 

Is there something that could be fueling and encouraging all of this? Since the October 2023 attack on Israel, the U.S. has seen massive anti-Israel protests on college campuses and universities. The data says that 1,200 incidents occurred on campuses, but those protests were some of the most virulent and hate-filled that have been seen in some time. Anti-Israel encampments were set up on Ivy League campuses like Yale, Columbia University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

On the one-year anniversary of the devastating Hamas attack on innocent Israeli citizens, let us not forget how antisemitism has risen more than 200%. The Biden-Harris administration has slow-walked arms to our ally Israel, called on Israel to cease-fire, eliminated sanctions…

— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) October 7, 2024

The campus protests seemed to spawn the most outrageous anti-Jewish behavior. Some protesters called for the outright extermination of Israel and Jews, At UCLA, there was even a "Jew-free zone," where Jewish students were being barred from areas of campus unless they disavowed Israel. However, a judge ruled in August that the university was to stop "aiding and abetting" antisemitic student activists. Initially, UCLA planned to fight the ruling but ultimately did not proceed.

But the impact of those campus protests, which were covered extensively by the media, and the uptick in antisemitism in general, have a real impact on average Americans who happen to be Jewish. Many have made their faith less visible when they are in public. A St. Louis couple says they do not allow their son to wear an Israel hat or their daughter to wear her IDF hoodie. Their father, Eric Nelson, is Jewish and says he no longer wears a kippah in public. They say, “Those are the things we have stopped doing out of fear we don’t want to start any conflict.”

On Sunday, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt issued a statement about the alarming increase in antisemitic attacks, saying:

“Today, we mourn the victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, marking one year since the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. From that day on, Jewish Americans haven’t had a single moment of respite. Instead, we’ve faced a shocking number of antisemitic threats and experienced calls for more violence against Israelis and Jews everywhere.”

The ADL expects these numbers to rise as final data is gathered for 2024, and one year later, Hamas still holds anywhere from 97 to 101 hostages that were taken that awful day.

Violent antisemitism is shameful and un-American.

The IRS needs to revoke the tax-exempt status of any 501(c)(3) group inciting violence, and Congress needs to end funding for universities allowing antisemitism to flourish.

Taxpayers should not be funding hate. https://t.co/GCO04KpwIJ

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) October 7, 2024