The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today released their 2023 Audit of antisemitic incidents and found that in the US, these incidences rose a staggering 140% from 2022 to 2023. South Carolina reported a 93% increase in the number of antisemitic incidents year over year.
According to the Audit’s Executive Summary, US antisemitic incidents increased in all major Audit categories. Assault incidents increased by 45% to 161 incidents, vandalism increased 69% to 2,177 incidents and harassment increased 184% to 6,535 incidents. The dramatic increase in incidents took place primarily in the period following the October 7th terrorist attacks in Israel. Between October 7th and the end of 2023, ADL tabulated 5,204 incidents -- more than the incident total for the whole of 2022. Fifty-two percent of the incidents after October 7th (2,718) included references to Israel, Zionism or Palestine.
Antisemitic incidents also increased year-over-year in all major location categories. Incidents at K-12 schools increased by 135% to 1,162 incidents. Incidents at Jewish institutions jumped by 237% to 1,987, driven mostly by massive waves of hoax threats directed at synagogues and other institutions in the summer, fall and winter. And incidents on college and university campuses spiked by a staggering 321% to 922 incidents, most of which occurred after the October 7th terrorist attacks.
"While these numbers are staggering, they are not surprising,” said Natanya Miller, CJF Director of Educational Initiatives. “We have been responding to incidents across the Charleston area, and the state as a whole, in greater numbers since October 7th. It is more important than ever that our community come together to learn not just how to confront antisemitism, but also how to stand against it. Whether it is swastikas drawn at schools, comments made to people in grocery stores, or flyers promoting conspiracy theories, our community is no stranger to hate, but we are stronger than it."
Here in South Carolina, over the past year, a series of high-profile antisemitic incidents across the state and a cross-burning in Conway have led to several South Carolina municipalities introducing hate crime ordinances, including Beaufort (proposed), Bluffton (passed), Chester (passed), Florence (passed), Hardeeville (1st reading), Mount Pleasant (passed), Myrtle Beach (passed), North Charleston (proposed), and Summerville (1st reading). South Carolina is one of two states in the US without any existing hate crime law. In 2023, the South Carolina House overwhelmingly passed H.3014, the Clementa Pinckney Hate Crimes Act, which then received a favorable report by the Senate Judiciary Committee, only for the bill to be prevented from receiving a debate or vote in the Senate. One month remains in the two-year SC General Assembly session.
