OPINION: Anti-Semitism's Rise in the U.S. Deserves More Attention

People outside the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh mourn the deaths of eleven Jews after a mass shooting at the synagogue in October, 2018 (Wikimedia Commons).

Members of Congress attended the fifth annual World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem on January 23. This event marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, according to the Hill. Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) both attended the event, and Pence was one of five leaders to address the forum. The conference discussed, among other things, the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. The conference had a Eurocentric emphasis, but the concerns presented can also be applied to the United States. 

According to the Anti Defamation League, 1,879 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in the U.S. in 2018, including more than 1,000 incidents of harassment. In 2017, anti-Semitic incidents experienced a record single year rise of 57 percent. They report that about one in four Europeans. “harbor pernicious and pervasive attitudes toward Jews.” as of November 2019. Infamous incidents in recent years include the synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh and San Diego, a shooting in Jersey City, and a knife attack in New York City, according to the Wall Street Journal. The rise is particularly evident in New York City, where anti-Semitic crimes rose by 21 percent in 2019, according to the Washington Post. These events paint a stark picture of modern society, both in action and public reaction. 

The rise in anti-Semitism in the U.S. is not only a part of the broader trend of actions against Jewish populations around the world, but it is also a part of the increase in incidents against minority populations in the U.S. A third of France’s population believes that a new Holocaust could happen in the U.S., according to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Although this is unlikely to happen due the expansion of media and surveillance since the Holocaust, the rise in anti-Semitism in the U.S. should be prevented from developing any further. The fast rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S. incidents is definitely concerning for many, especially for a country that European Jews saw as a safe haven from persecution in Europe 75 years ago.