NEW YORK — American Jews gathered Thursday to wrestle with how they should confront an election-year surge in anti-Semitism, a level of bias not seen in the United States for decades.
At a national meeting of the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish civil rights group, about 1,000 people listened to talks expressing shock at the hatred expressed during the presidential campaign and questioned what they thought was a high level of acceptance by other Americans.
‘‘I’m struggling right now in this American moment,’’ said Yehuda Kurtzer, president of Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, an education and research organization, in his talk at the event. ‘‘I wonder whether I have been — and I think the answer is probably yes — a little bit naive.’’
During this past year, anti-Semitic imagery proliferated on social media, Jewish journalists were targeted, and longstanding anti-Jewish conspiracy theories got a fresh airing. Much of the bias originated with the alt-right, or alternative right, a loose group espousing a provocative and reactionary strain of conservatism. It’s often associated with far right efforts to preserve ‘‘white identity,’’ oppose multiculturalism, and defend so-called ‘‘Western values.’’
In addition to the online intimidation, reports of anti-Semitic vandalism and other attacks have risen. Last week, the day after the election, a Philadelphia storefront was sprayed with a swastika and the words ‘‘Sieg Heil 2016,’’ which means ‘‘Hail Victory,’’ a common Nazi chant, and the word ‘‘Trump,’’ with a swastika replacing the ‘‘T.’’
These developments have stunned US Jewish leaders, who in recent years had been more focused on anti-Semitism in Europe and on addressing complaints of anti-Jewish bias on college campuses amid the debate over the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
In a sign of the depth of Jewish anxiety about anti-Semitism, ADL officials said donations to their organization increased fifty-fold in the days after the election.
Associated Press
