Antisemitic incidents more than doubled in NJ last year, with Bergen County a hotbed
"Heil Hitler" salutes directed at Jewish students in class. Physical assaults by strangers on the street. Death threats online.
These kinds of hate incidents are increasingly becoming a part of life for Jews in North Jersey and the rest of America, according to a report on antisemitism released Tuesday.
With tensions rising over the Israel-Hamas war, reports of such incidents more than doubled in New Jersey last year, to 830, says the latest annual report from the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organization.
Bergen County bore the brunt of the increase, with the most antisemitic reports in the state in 2023 — at 166 — and the sharpest rise, an almost fourfold jump over the previous year. Twenty of the state's 21 counties recorded anti-Jewish activity, with only Cape May left out.
“We are alarmed by an unprecedented rise in antisemitic incidents in New Jersey, mirroring the trend we saw nationally,” said Scott Richman, regional director of the ADL’s New York/New Jersey office. "ADL is working closely with victims, schools, law enforcement, elected officials, and faith and community leaders to combat these record levels.”
New Jersey recorded the third most incidents in the ADL's audit, after California and New York, though on a per capita basis, the Garden State led the nation. New Jersey experienced significant increases in all three of the main categories the ADL tracked - harassment, vandalism and assaults.
ADL antisemitism audit
The rising harassment continued a yearslong trend in New Jersey and across the U.S. Nationally, the ADL tallied 8,873 incidents last year, a 140% jump over 2022 and the most the group has recorded since it began tracking attacks in 1979.
The Oct. 7 terror strike on Israel and Israel's subsequent campaign in Gaza were trigger points, with reports of antisemitism skyrocketing after that point, the ADL said. But the group cautioned that anti-Jewish activity, including from white supremacist groups, was on the rise even before that point, with a surge last April around the time of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's birthday.
The ADL said that for the first time, antisemitic incidents referring to Israel or Zionism constituted the majority of painful moments recorded by the group. These kinds of incidents accounted for 59% of the record in October and 60% in November, the audit found.
Among individual towns in New Jersey, the most reports came in New Brunswick, home to Rutgers University's main campus, which has been riven by debate over the war. The U.S. Education Department has opened an investigation over alleged antisemitism at the school. An Islamic center there was also reported vandalized last week.
More: How to fight rising antisemitism? Bergen yeshiva and Catholic school started by talking
Where antisemitism was highest in NJ
After Bergen County, New Jersey counties with the most antisemitic incidents included:
Middlesex (91), a 122% increase.
Monmouth (91), a 117% increase.
Essex (77), a 133% increase.
Ocean (75), a 21% increase.
Jewish enclaves including Lakewood (38 reports), Teaneck (33) and Fair Lawn and Clifton (19 apiece) were also hotbeds, the ADL's tally showed.
Surge in Bergen County
Among the incidents recorded in Bergen County, 52 occurred at K-12 schools or in public areas and 31 occurred at Jewish institutions. Bergen County also had the most antisemitic assaults, including reports of Jews being egged, shot at with a pellet gun or run off the road, the ADL found.
Another incident in the county involved an ice cream truck driver who reportedly assaulted "visibly Jewish customers" with antisemitic slurs, the group said.
"Sadly, we are not surprised by the extreme rise in antisemitism," said Jason Shames, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey in Paramus. "No community should face hate crimes. However, we are concerned that Jews will continue to be targeted at a disproportionate rate given the aggressive rhetoric and behavior aimed at our communities."
What's next?
The ADL called on governors' offices across the country to create their own state-level versions of a national strategy to fight antisemitism unveiled by the Biden administration last year.
"Despite these unprecedented challenges, American Jews must not give in to fear,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt added in a statement. “Even while we fight the scourge of antisemitism, we should be proud of our Jewish identities and confident in our place in American society.”
Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: yellin@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: ADL antisemitism report shows incidents soaring in NJ, Bergen County
