California: Leader of Anti-Jew Harassment, Vandalism & Assault
California, with its tail tucked between its legs, leads the nation for the second year in a row in anti-Semitic incidents. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) 2010 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, anti-Jewish vandalism, harassment and physical assault reports rose 8% in the Golden State. From 2009 to 2010, reports increased from 275 to 297. Incidents also rose across the nation during said time frame from 1,211 to 1,239.
“I think we are not watching closely enough at the lowest level where this is happening, so it’s starting to bubble up in other areas,” said Amanda Susskind, ADL’s Pacific Southwest regional director, according to Jewish Journal. “It feels to me that there is a lot of stuff going on in schools, where Jewish students and teachers are being assaulted or vandalized or harassed. I think we are seeing a higher threshold of tolerance for disrespecting the Jewish people... and it’s infiltrating the mainstream sensitivity.”
Susskind also noted that while hate crimes as a whole are down in California, crimes against Jews are up. In L.A. alone, anti-Jewish hate crimes accounted for one of five total hate crimes and 88% of hate crimes targeting religious groups, per the most recently available Hate Crime Report of the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations.
One notable incident that occurred in the ADL Pacific Southwest Region transpired at La Quinta High School in May 2010. Students played Beat the Jew, a game where students dubbed "Nazis" chased one student - the "Jew" - while he ran on foot. Other L.A. County episodes include anti-Semitic graffiti discovered in Northridge in July 2011 as well as in Pasadena in August 2011.
California's anti-Semitic incidents involve frequent name-calling, using such derogatory slurs as "kike," "dirty Jew" and "f-ing Jew." These verbal assaults often escalate to physical threats and assaults. Susskind notices a “correlation of acceptability” in anti-Jew remarks online and real world cases, though the study did not cover Internet anti-Semitism.
ADL's Pacific Southwest Region hopes "that parents will talk to their kids about these things," says Susskind. "It is important for parents to discuss hatred and bigotry with kids, just like they discuss sex and drugs - they’re facts of life and we need to impart a strong sense of values to children."
