oints of view
Editorial
Be Vigilant Of
Festering U.S.
Anti-Semitism
F
lII or the first time in six years,
the number of anti-Semitic
incidents reported in the U.S.
rose in 2010, a statistic we hope doesn't
spur a trend. The Anti-Defamation
League's latest annual audit, released
Oct. 4, showed 1,239 incidents last year,
up from the 1,211 in 2009. The rise was
slight, 2.3 percent, with most incidents
isolated, but still on the wrong side of
the scale of tolerance.
The audit tracks assaults, vandalism
and harassment. The 2004 total of 1,821
incidents set a dubious record. Last
year saw 22 physical assaults on Jews,
900 cases of anti-Semitic harassment,
threats and events, and 317 instances of
anti-Semitic vandalism. Kansas-based
Westboro Baptist Church instigated
fewer anti-Semitic activities.
The audit doesn't consider expres-
sions opposing Zionism or Israel unless
accompanied by the invoking of classic
anti-Semitic stereotypes or references
that delegitimize, demonize or reflect a
double standard toward Israel.
The majority of 2010 incidents were
concentrated in states with large Jewish
populations: California (297 incidents),
New York (205), New Jersey (130),
Florida (116), Massachusetts (64).
Michigan ranked 12th, logging 17
incidents, up from five in 2009 — a 240
percent increase. Incidents ranged from
property destruction to horrendous
insults to people losing their jobs when
their bosses found out they were Jewish.
"The rise in Michigan,"
said ADL regional director
Betsy Kellman,"may just
be that more people knew
to report these incidents
rather than an increase in
anti-Semitic behavior."
She added, "I am sad to
report that the incidents
are of a more virulent
nature. We saw many more
reported complaints that
took on a sinister nature
last year and this year."
ADL national director
Abraham Foxman said,
"The bad news is that for
all our efforts to educate,
to raise awareness and to
legislate, anti-Jewish inci-
dents remain a disturb-
ing part of the American
Jewish experience."
So stay alert.
38
October 13 • 2011
Commentary
The Jewish Vote Is In Play
In 2012 Presidential Race
New York/JTA
tives in the hope of holding on to their
Jewish support.
,----
ill
i
the
Jewish
vote,
nor-
The just-released American Jewish
--'
malty overwhelmingly
Committee (AJC) Survey of American
Democratic, be up for grabs
Jewish Opinion indicates a definite
in 2012? That question became a sub-
falloff of Jewish support for Obama,
ject of intense debate when
although it is not clear that
a Republican was elected
the Republican candidate
recently to the House of
for president next year can
Representatives from New
count on a significant shift in
York's Ninth Congressional
the Jewish vote.
District for the first time in
90 years.
By The Numbers
The district, which encom-
Jewish support for Obama
passes parts of Brooklyn
began at a far higher thresh-
and Queens and is about
old than in the electorate at
AVI
one-third Jewish, had been
large: In 2008, he received
Law rence
predictably Democratic and
an estimated 78 percent
Gros sman
liberal. But in the blink of an
of the Jewish vote while
eye, it gave the non-Jewish
polling 53 percent nation-
Republican candidate an 8-point vic-
ally. Three years later, his national
tory over the Democrat, an Orthodox
approval rating stands at 39 percent,
Jew.
a 14-point drop, while his approval rat-
Public rabbinical endorsements
ing among Jews – according to the
in the district and extensive report-
AJC survey – is 45 percent, a decline
age in local Jewish papers indicated
of 23 percent, but still 6 points higher
substantial Jewish defections from
than among Americans as a whole.
the Democrats, particularly among
Among Orthodox Jews, who made up
Orthodox Jews, estimated to make up
9 percent of the sample, disapproval is
about a third of the Jewish electorate
much higher, 72 percent.
there. Since the election, Republican
The AJC poll indicates that the
presidential candidates have been
president has retained the support of
ramping up their pro-Israel rhetoric
American Jews on certain issues. A
on the assumption that Jews are dis-
solid 68 percent approve of the way
appointed with the administration's
he has handled national security, for
Middle East policy, while Democrats
example. Yet there has been a striking
are organizing special outreach initia-
reversal in Jewish attitudes toward the
president's handling of U.S.-
Israel relations. In the fall of
2009, toward the end of the
administration's first year, the
AJC survey showed Jewish
approval outstripping disap-
proval by 54 to 32 percent.
Now, two years later, disap-
provers outnumber approvers
by 53 to 40 percent. Among
Orthodox Jews, 81 percent
disapprove.
Further, Jews share the
broader American unhappi-
ness with recent economic
trends. In March 2010, an AJC
survey had Jewish approval
of the president's economic
policies at 55 percent as
compared to 45 percent in
the general population. Today,
the Jewish approval rating on
the economy is down to 37
percent, about the same as
1
Dry Bones
among Americans as a whole.
The latest AJC survey indicates
some falloff in Jewish identification
with the Democratic Party, which
stood at 53 percent in 2009 and is
now at 45 percent. However, this
has not translated into gains for the
Republicans, which stands steady
at 16 percent. Rather, the number of
Jewish political Independents rose
in that time period from 30 percent
to 38 percent. In the Orthodox Jews
sample, Republicans now outnumber
Democrats by 35 to 21 percent, with 41
percent identifying as independents.
Plenty Of Time
Looking forward to the 2012 election,
the AJC survey matched up Obama
with a number of potential Republican
candidates and asked respondents to
indicate for whom they would vote.
Mitt Romney did best in the hypotheti-
cal contest, garnering 32 percent to
Obama's 51; Rick Perry garnered 26
percent to Obama's 54; and Michele
Bachmann received 21 percent against
59 percent for Obama.
Since 1928, Democratic candidates
for president almost always have
received at least 60 percent of the
Jewish vote, with many doing far bet-
ter. Only Jimmy Carter in his 1980
re-election bid did worse, winning a
plurality of 45 percent in a three-can-
didate race.
Do Obama's numbers in the AJC
matchups, all in the 51-59 percent
range, portend trouble for him? Not
necessarily. Approximately 20 percent
of the respondents said they were
undecided or unsure about whether
to vote for Obama or for any of the
named Republicans. Much could hap-
pen to change the electoral calculus
both in the Jewish community and
outside it, whether on the domestic
economic front, in the Middle East
or elsewhere. Also, other candidates
could conceivably enter the race.
Clearly, the president faces chal-
lenges in attracting Jewish voters,
especially Orthodox Jews. Some are
identical to those confronting him with
regard to all voters, others specific to
the Jewish community.
It is far too early to tell if 2012 will
be the year that Republicans finally
fulfill their long-held aspiration to draw
a large chunk of the Jewish vote or if,
despite serious misgivings, the tradi-
tion of overwhelming Jewish allegiance
to the Democrats continues.
Lawrence Grossman is the American Jewish
Committee's director of publications and for-
mer editor of the American Jewish Year Book.