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Simply Existing in Public as a Jewish Person Is Increasingly Dangerous

(New York Times) Ruth Graham - The attack on demonstrators in Boulder, Colo., marching in support of hostages being held in Gaza, came less than two weeks after two Israeli Embassy employees were shot and killed as they left a reception at a Jewish museum in Washington. A month earlier, an arsonist set fire to the Pennsylvania governor's mansion on the first night of Passover while Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, slept upstairs with his family. The violence erupting across the country has deepened anxieties among many American Jews, and contributed to a sense that simply existing in public as a Jewish person is increasingly dangerous. The number of antisemitic episodes in the United States in 2023, in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel, was the highest ever recorded in a one-year period, according to the Anti-Defamation League. "What we've seen these last few months is a shocking pattern of anti-Israel sentiment manifesting itself in antisemitic violence," said Halie Soifer, chief executive of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. "With each incident, there's a further shattering of our sense of security." "Make no mistake: If and when Jews are targeted to protest Israel's actions, it should clearly and unequivocally be understood and condemned as antisemitism," said the chief executive of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Amy Spitalnick.
2025-06-03 00:00:00
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