- Hate crimes overall increased by 17% in 2017, while anti-Jewish crimes increased by 37%, according to a new FBI report.
- Anti-Jewish attacks have consistently been the highest proportion of religiously-motivated hate crimes since they were first collected and reported.
- The numbers support a noted increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes reported by the Anti-Defamation League earlier this year.
Hate crimes increased by 17% in 2017, while anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 37%, according to figures released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday.
The numbers come on the heels of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue, which isbelieved to be the deadliest anti-Semitic massacre in US history. The attack highlighted anti-Semitism that appeared to be fomenting in online extremist spaces, but the new numbers provide evidence for what was a perceived increase in anti-Semitic sentiments across the country.
In 2016, anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 3%, and in 2015, they increased by 9%. Since the beginning of the FBI Hate Crime Statistics report, Anti-Jewish crimes have composed the majority of crimes that targeted a specific religion. In 2017, the 938 reported incidents composed 58.1% of hate crimes targeting a certain religion. Anti-Jewish hate incidents were 13% of all hate crimes targeting all groups.
The new data support findings from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that found a 57% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 2017. The ADL said a significant portion of the increase was due to “incidents in schools and on college campuses, which nearly doubled for the second year in a row.” The ADL has consistently recorded higher levels of anti-Semitic incidents than the FBI, but both showed a historically significant increase in 2017.
Both sources lend evidence to the theory that anti-Semitism is experiencing a resurgence in American culture, which some connect to President Donald Trump.
Read the article by Benjamin Goggin in Business Insider Australia.