Anti-Semitic Incidents Set a Record, Study Finds

The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States climbed to a record 1,685 in 1990--the fourth increase in as many years, the Anti-Defamation League said Wednesday.

The nationwide survey showed that anti-Jewish vandalism such as arson, bombings, cemetery desecrations and swastika daubings rose 72%, while personal assaults and taunts climbed 11% over the previous year.

In Orange County, complaints of anti-Semitic vandalism and harassment rose from 15 in 1989 to 20 in 1990, but none of these were cited in the national report because “there were no really serious incidents here,” said Elizabeth Gale, director of the ADL’s Santa Ana office.

Among the more troubling ones, however, according to Gale: In February, a neo-Nazi skinhead in Fullerton threatened to kill a Jewish cook; in March, Yorba Linda residents found flyers that read, “Kill every Jew” strewn on the sidewalk, and in November, an Orange couple found a swastika painted on the sidewalk in front of their apartment and drawn on the dashboard of their car.

For all that, Orange County was still “a good place to live if you’re Jewish,” Gale said. The county’s 100,000 Jewish residents “have very nice lives here. It’s not a place where anti-Semitism runs rampant.”

The nationwide survey by the Jewish organization also showed a 36% rise in hate acts at college campuses. Anti-Semitic incidents of all types totaled 95 at 57 institutions, compared with 69 at 54 campuses the year before.

“Anti-Semitic and racist attacks are particularly troubling when they occur in a university environment devoted to respect for diverse ideas, people and cultures,” said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman.

The ADL’s annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, first conducted in 1979, listed 927 incidents of anti-Jewish vandalism and 758 acts of harassment, assaults or threats against Jews or Jewish institutions. The most dramatic incident was the assassination Nov. 5 of Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York City.

The increases can be attributed partly to “the decline in civility as evidenced in pop culture,” said David A. Lehrer, ADL’s regional director in Los Angeles.

He cited the Madonna song “Justify My Love,” with lyrics that quote the phrase “synagogue of Satan” from Revelation 2:9. “The same week that her record came out, three synagogues and a high school in Ventura County were vandalized with graffiti referring to Revelation 2:9,” Lehrer said. “We can’t say definitely there was a connection to the song, but since we hadn’t seen a reference to that biblical verse in any previous incident in the last 12 years, it may be more than mere coincidence.”

Though it showed a drop in anti-Jewish incidents, New York state still had the highest number in the nation with 186. California was second with 129, up 54 from 1989.

“Over half of the incidents (in California) were in the Greater Los Angeles area,” Lehrer said. “The figures indicate we have a lot of educational work ahead to reduce hate crimes.”

The most disturbing California incidents occurred in the San Francisco area, he said. Two synagogues were firebombed in August and four similar attacks took place in November. None appeared to be related to the Persian Gulf crisis, Lehrer said.

But this week in Orange County, the ADL learned of two anti-Semitic incidents prompted by war in the Gulf, Gale said. In Fullerton, someone spray-painted “Saddam Hussein Glory” in front of a “Jewish facility,” she said. And on Tuesday in Laguna Beach, someone wrote a similar message on the sidewalk in front of another Jewish institution.

Gale declined to name the facilities, saying their staffs were afraid of further harassment.

Gale said it was too early to tell if anti-Semitism was on the rise because of the war. “It’s very early. I have no sense that it’s going to affect the climate for the worse,” she said.

But, she said, all Jewish institutions have been asked to be especially aware of security now, because of the war.

Of the 20 incidents reported in Orange County last year, 10 involved vandalism and 10 involved harassment, Gale noted. They included threatening, anti-Semitic messages placed on telephone answering machines, swastikas painted on sidewalks in Huntington Beach, Orange and Costa Mesa, and, in Fullerton last February, death threats made to a Jewish pizza cook, allegedly by a neo-Nazi skinhead who later was arrested.

Gale said that incidents here were up over those in 1989 partly because of better reporting “and also maybe it’s partly reflective of an increase in anti-Semitic incidents.”