Why Is Anti-Semitism Still With Us? (2711)

Is anti-Semitism still an issue in the U.S. and elsewhere? Our experts, Holly Huffnagle: The American Jewish Committee’s, U.S. Director, for Combating Antisemitism and Sara Abosch Jacobson, Ph.D., Senior Director for Education in the Dallas Holocaust Museum, say absolutely.

They define anti-Semitism as a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities (adopted 2016, by the IHRA Plenary).

Jews were the recipients of 60.2% of all anti-religious bias crimes in 2019, up from 56.9% in 2018. There has also been a 150% increase in antisemitism from 2013 to 2020.

American Jews between the ages of 18 and 29 and between 30 and 49—claim they are/were likely than older respondents to have been targets of antisemitism, with four out of ten (41%) saying they’ve been victims of an antisemitic incident, compared to 31% of those over 50.

Nearly nine out of ten American Jews (85%) believe antisemitism is a problem in the United States today and more than four out of five (82%) believe it has increased over the past five years, with a plurality (43%) saying it has increased a lot.

Join our hosts Dennis McCuistion and Jim Falk to learn more about the origins of anti-Semitism, why it still exists and what can be done about eliminating the bias.