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Smashed glass
An audit just released by the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council shows antisemitic incidents continued to rise for the seventh consecutive year throughout the U.S. and in Wisconsin. That rise parallels the nationwide increase of hateful acts and hate speech directed at other minority groups.
What were once fringe ideas have become mainstream. Fanning the problem is the toxic atmosphere that has spread since 2016. “What we’re seeing is people saying things out loud that they used to whisper,” said Miryam Rosenzweig, president and CEO of Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
Wisconsin saw an 83% rise in antisemitic activity from 2021 to 2022, “with 11 total incidents throughout Wisconsin that can be attributed to known hate groups,” according to Allison Hayden, the Jewish Community Relations Council’s program manager. She added that in 2021, the Anti-Defamation League “recorded 484 antisemitic incidents attributed to known right-wing extremist groups or individuals inspired by right-wing extremist ideology. This is a 52% increase from 2020. Nationally, white supremacist groups, for example, were responsible for 422 antisemitic propaganda distributions. This is in line with what we saw in Wisconsin where 11 out of the 13 incidents reported related to antisemitic leaflets being distributed.”
Troubling trends in the new audit include:
- Hate group activity (83% increase)
- Conspiracy theories (40% increase)
- K-12 activity (22% increase)
- College activity (225% increase)
- Vandalism (111% increase)
Do those increases represent a growing number of antisemites or a small number of people who are acting out on their hatred more often? Both, according to Hayden. “Over the last several years we have observed a normalization of hateful rhetoric and conspiracies being believed and spread through repeated exposure,” she said, adding that the percentage of Americans who believe in antisemitic stereotypes has also increased.
She cited a 2022 national study by the Anti-Defamation League on antisemitic attitudes showing that 85% Americans believe at least one anti-Jewish trope, up from 61% in 2019. “Twenty percent of Americans believe six or more tropes, which is significantly more than the 11 percent that ADL found in 2019 and is the highest level measured in decades,” Hayden added.
Social networks have played a major role in spreading lies and hatred. “What we understand about the way hate groups operate is that they have evolved with the advent of social media,” Hayden continued. “Hate groups can reach individuals who may not be part of a local organized group but who identify with their ideology and act on initiatives/directives that they distribute. The groups that have spread antisemitic propaganda throughout Wisconsin are national or online organized groups. From our understanding, the individuals who perpetrated antisemitic acts were often radicalized by conspiracies and hateful rhetoric encountered online.”
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Lack of cultural awareness is at the problem’s roots. “Antisemitism derives its power from ignorance of the lived realities of actual Jewish people because it’s much easier to demonize and caricature a community that people do not know or understand,” Hayden explained. “Therefore, the majority of hateful incidents that we track are not done by people who would identify as a member of a hate group or even openly say antisemitic things, they are espousing hateful ideas gained thru repeated exposure, most often online.”
Quick access to information also means quick access to disinformation, “often spread,” Hayden said, “through the use of dog whistles or memes, allowing those who know the context to understand as well as an inroad to new audiences who are not always aware of the harmful antisemitic roots of the conspiracies being shared.”
