New report shows sharp rise in hate against Jews. Here’s what’s happened in Bellingham

Antisemitic speech, vandalism and physical attacks rose sharply in 2023, fueled by bias against Jews from both the extremist right and the political left, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League.

In Bellingham and Whatcom County, threats and intimidation aimed at Jews last year included a bomb hoax at a synagogue, antisemitic chants and social media posts at Western Washington University, and Nazi imagery at Bellingham High School.

Antisemitic incidents nationwide were at their worst since the ADL began tracking them in 1979, said Miri Cypers, head of the organization’s Seattle office.

Much of the antisemitism directed against American Jews followed the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Cypers said in an online press conference that included journalists, hate crimes experts, police and the FBI. In that attack, about 1,200 civilians were murdered, raped, and tortured and about 250 were taken hostage. Some 34,000 Gazans — about two-thirds of them civilians — have been killed in the Israeli military response.

“We know that the war in Gaza has had direct impact on the Jewish community,” Cypers said. Her own synagogue was vandalized in November with anti-Israel slogans.

Not all criticism of Israel is hate speech, but if Jews or a Jewish institution are the target, then it is antisemitism, she said. Protests that include hate speech or Jewish tropes also are antisemitic.

In its report, which was published Tuesday, the ADL found 8,873 antisemitic incidents across the United States, a 140% increase from 2022. The 2023 total was higher than the previous three years combined.

“The totality of this data is really stark, as are the individual stories as well,” Cypers said.

Incidents in Bellingham and Whatcom County included:

▪ A skeleton being used as a display at Bellingham High School that was posed on Oct. 2 giving a fascist salute and decorated with a Nazi swastika.

▪ A bomb threat against Temple Beth Israel on Dec. 16, forcing cancellation of Shabbat services. The hoax was one of hundreds across the U.S. on the Jewish holy day.

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▪ Zoom-bombing incidents of racism and antisemitism that targeted the Whatcom County Council and the Blaine City Council.

Founded in 1913 to fight bias against Jews, the ADL now works toward equal treatment for all. Its Center on Extremism tracks hate groups and its legal staff files briefs to support religious freedom, immigrants and refugees, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, gender equity and other civil rights issues, according to its website.

Only three Bellingham-area antisemitic incidents were actually reported to the ADL last year, according to the group’s interactive HEAT Map of hate, extremism, antisemitism and terrorism.

At Tuesday’s press conference, FBI Special Agent Ryan Bruett acknowledged that not every incident gets reported.

“Even before Oct. 7, we have seen an increase. The threat has worsened. If we don’t know about it, we can’t do anything about it. Please report it to law enforcement so that we can make an assessment,” he said.

FBI hate crime data for 2023 is due for release later this year. U.S. Justice Department officials collect hate crime figures from local law-enforcement agencies and don’t categorize antisemitism separately. In 2022, the latest year that data was available, Bellingham Police reported 12 hate crimes, including one by “religion.” The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office reported five total hate crimes in 2022 and WWU reported two.

A new law in Washington state, enacted during the last legislative session, created a hotline to report hate crimes and bias-related incidents.

Cypers said the new phone center will start next year and be fully operational statewide by 2027.