YONDERBOY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.
Join Fox Run for a
Saturday Open House
Anti-Semitism
Surged In 2017
Annual ADL report shows anti-Semitic
acts have doubled since 2015.
T
Get an inside look at vibrant retirement living
in Novi. Come and tour our beautiful campus and
maintenance-free homes. Experience top-notch
amenities and learn about all Fox Run has to offer.
Plus enjoy event-day-only specials!
Saturday, March 10, 2018
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
41000 13 Mile Road, Novi, MI 48377
Call 1-800-917-8169
for more information and to RSVP.
he number of anti-Semitic
incidents in the United States
soared in 2017, according to the
annual report by the Anti-Defamation
League.
There were 1,986 acts classified as
anti-Semitic in 2017, up 57 percent
from 2016 at 1,267 and more than
double the 2015 total of 941.
“That 57 percent
increase of incidents
nationwide is the
largest single-year
increase on record
and the second-
highest number
reported since
ADL began track-
Budaj
ing incident data
in the 1970s,” said
Heidi Budaj, ADL’s
Michigan regional director. “For the
first time, incidents occurred in all 50
states.”
However, included in the figures are
the 160-plus bomb threats to Jewish
community centers and Jewish insti-
tutions in the early part of 2017, which
were discovered to be mainly carried
out by a Jewish teenager in Israel.
Even without those threats, anti-
Semitic incidents increased by 43
percent in 2017, with seven Jewish
cemeteries vandalized, 19 anti-Jewish
physical assaults and 457 non-Jewish
elementary and high schools experi-
encing anti-Semitic incidents, com-
pared to 235 in 2016 and 114 in 2015.
“A confluence of events in 2017 led
to a surge in attacks on our commu-
nity — from bomb threats, cemetery
desecrations, white supremacists
marching in Charlottesville and chil-
dren harassing children at school,”
said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO
and national director.
“These incidents came at a time
when we saw a rising climate of
incivility, the emboldening of hate
groups and widening divisions in
society. In reflecting on this time and
understanding it better with this new
data, we feel even more committed to
our century-old mission to stop the
defamation of the Jewish people and
to secure justice and fair treatment to
all,” he added.
The states reporting the most anti-
Semitic incidents were those with
large Jewish populations, including
New York, New Jersey and California.
“In Michigan, we have seen a steep
increase in incidents involving vandal-
ism and an overall increase of 13 per-
cent in anti-Semitic incidents in 2017
over 2016,” Budaj said.
“Both nationally and locally, there
has been a significant increase in inci-
dents at schools and on college cam-
puses, which nearly doubled for the
second year in a row,” Budaj added.
“Most telling and most disturbing is
a 94 percent increase at K-12 schools
in 2017.”
ADL Michigan offers anti-bias
workshops in schools and workshops,
giving students tools they need to
stand up to anti-Semitism. “We are
looking to increase resources to meet
increased demand for our programs in
Michigan schools,” Budaj said. •
To report an anti-Semitic act, contact the ADL
at adl.org/report-an-incident or call
(248) 353-7553.
Novi
12746931
FoxRunNovi.com
10
March 8 • 2018
jn
HARASSMENT VANDALISM
ANTI-SEMITISM IN MICHIGAN
2015
2016
2
3
11
2017
2015
2016
2017
4
12
17