ADL: Anti-Semitic incidents in U.S. decline for third year

NEW YORK, March 10 (JTA) — The number of anti-Semitic incidents reported in the United States has declined for a third consecutive year, according to the Anti-Defamation League. In 1997, 1,571 incidents were reported by 43 states and the District of Columbia — 151 fewer than in 1996, or nearly a 9 percent decline, the ADL reported in its annual audit released this week. ADL officials say that the downward trend — the 1997 statistics are the lowest since 1989 — foretells a time when hate crimes will cease to exist. “After years of alerting the American people to the dangers of bias-related incidents, we are now reaping the benefits of making the eradication of hate crimes a national priority,” said Abraham Foxman, the ADL’s national director. Referring to federal hate crimes laws and last November’s White House conference on hate crimes, Foxman said the national initiative “must now be backed up with education, education and more education, pulling the roots of hatred out before they have a chance to grow.” The decline in anti-Semitic incidents is consistent with the drop in overall crime rates across the country during the past few years. But the audit cautions that hate groups are increasingly using the Internet to spread their message, a conclusion supported by other ADL studies and a report released last week by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The center’s report identified 163 sites on the World Wide Web used by hate groups based in the U.S.-based hate groups. According to the ADL, the number of anti-Semitic hate sites on the Internet has nearly doubled since 1996. “As a medium that is inexpensive and so far unregulated, the Internet has become an increasingly vital component in the anti-Semitic propaganda machine,” said Howard Berkowitz, national chairman of the ADL. “Due to its vastness and transient nature, the hate cannot be quantified.” Among the findings in the ADL audit, released this week, were: * Acts of vandalism decreased from 781 incidents in 1996 to 673 incidents in 1997 — a 14 percent drop. * There were 14 reported cemetery desecrations in 1997, compared with 12 in 1996 and 22 in 1995. * Acts of harassment, threat or assault against Jewish individuals or institutions declined by 4.6 percent — to 898 from 941 in 1996. * Reversing a two-year decline, anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses increased to 104 incidents, 14 more than in 1996. Contributing to this increase was a renewed campaign by a Holocaust denier to publish advertisements espousing his views in college newspapers. * States with large Jewish populations — New York, New Jersey, California, Florida and Massachusetts — accounted for 62 percent, or 970, of the 1,571 incidents reported.
The only state with a significant increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 1997 was New York. Some 380 incidents were reported there, up from 320 in 1996. The ADL credited the continuing decline in anti-Semitic incidents to increased public awareness about hate crime activity as well as federal and state statutes. Communal responses to incidents also are important in countering hate activity. One example cited in the audit occurred in September when vandals spray- painted swastikas and hate messages, including “Jew Pigs Die” and “Heil Hitler” on two Jewish institutions in an Atlanta suburb. In response, community leaders and clergy denounced the incidents at a news conference and two state assemblymen pledged to work for passage of a Georgia hate crimes law. Nine states, including Georgia and New York, do not have hate crime legislation.