Antisemitic Incidents Reach Record High In U.S., Massachusetts: Report

Haley Cornell
·4 min read

MASSACHUSETTS — Antisemitic incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism, including 109 in Massachusetts, reached an all-time high in 2021, according to an Anti-Defamation League report from earlier this week.

The ADL's annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents describes 2,717 attacks on Jewish people last year, a 34 percent year-over-year increase, according to the ADL, which began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979.

That amounts to an increase of more than seven antisemitic incidents a day.

In Massachusetts, there have been 109 antisemitic incidents from 2021 to 2022. The most recent documented case was in Boston of vandalism by a neo-Nazi group in March, according to the ADL's H.E.A.T. map.

In February, Curry College in Milton offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to a suspect who had been terrorizing the campus with swastikas for weeks.

Also in early February, Salem Board of Health members who were perceived to be Jewish based on their last names say they were targeted with messages of hate online, by email, and over voicemail to those opposed to the city's COVID-19 mitigation measures. Nearly four dozen Salem officials signed a statement calling the hate messages "unacceptable, repugnant and worthy of condemnation by everyone."

Antisemitic incidents "reached a high watermark across virtually every category" in the audit, the ADL said, including at:

  • Jewish institutions such as synagogues and community centers, up 61 percent.

  • K-12 schools, up 106 percent.

  • College campuses, up 21 percent.

Physical assaults increased 167 percent, incidents of harassment increased 43 percent, and acts of antisemitic violence rose 14 percent, according to the audit.

The ADL reported a surge in violence during the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas. Antisemitic incidents, including violent attacks on Jewish people, increased 148 percent from the previous May as hundreds of anti-Israel protests took place in dozens of U.S. cities on May 10, the date marking the official start of military action.

"While we have always seen a rise in antisemitic activity during periods of increased hostilities between Israel and terrorist groups, the violence we witnessed in America during the conflict last May was shocking," ADL chief executive and national director Jonathan A. Greenblatt said in a news release.

"Jews were being attacked in the streets for no other reason than the fact that they were Jewish, and it seemed as if the working assumption was that if you were Jewish, you were blameworthy for what was happening half a world away."

Anti-Israel protests accounted for only a portion of the violent attacks on Jews in 2021, and not the largest portion, according to the ADL. Physical assaults also spiked in November and December, when there were no contributing geopolitical events.

Nearly 18 percent of the incidents last year — at least 484 — were attributable to actions by domestic extremists, the ADL said.

"When it comes to antisemitic activity in America, you cannot point to any single ideology or belief system, and in many cases, we simply don’t know the motivation," Greenblatt said in the release. "But we do know that Jews are experiencing more antisemitic incidents than we have in this country in at least 40 years, and that’s a deeply troubling indicator of larger societal fissures."

2021 Findings: By The Numbers

Total antisemitic incidents: 2,717, up 34 percent

Assaults: 88, up 167 percent

  • Victims: 131

  • Use of deadly weapons: 11

  • Fatalities: 0

Harassment: 1,776 incidents, up 43 percent

Vandalism: 853 incidents, up 14 percent

  • Swastikas used in 578 incidents

States reporting incidents: 50 and the District of Columbia, with the following states accounting for 58 percent of total incidents:

  • New York: 416

  • New Jersey: 370

  • California: 367

  • Florida: 190

  • Michigan: 112

  • Texas: 112

Antisemitic incidents at Jewish Institutions: 525

  • Harassment: 413

  • Vandalism: 101

  • Assaults: 11

About 25 percent, or 111 incidents, were linked to anti-Zionist or anti-Israel sentiments. Domestic extremist groups or individuals inspired by extremist ideology were responsible for 484 antisemitic incidents, 18 percent of the total, the ADL said.

  • White supremacist groups and extremists were responsible for 422 antisemitic propaganda distributions, a 52 percent increase from the year before.

  • A total of 345 antisemitic incidents in 2021 involved references to Israel or Zionism; of them, 68 appeared in the form of white supremacist propaganda efforts, which the ADL said attempt to strengthen anti-Israel and antisemitic beliefs.


Antisemitic Incidents Reach Record High In U.S., Massachusetts: Report originally appeared on the Across Massachusetts Patch