Arkansas' antisemitic incidents dip in for 2024
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The number of antisemitic incidents in Arkansas dropped from 25 in 2023 to 23 the following year, according to research from the Anti-Defamation League. But the incidents are up sharply from 2022 when just seven were reported.
Why it matters: Antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel in 2023, which became a flashpoint on college campuses and a pretext for the Trump administration to later threaten college funding and revoke visas for students.
State of play: The number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. has surged almost 900% in 10 years, and last year reached its highest level recorded in nearly half a century, the annual survey from the ADL released last week found.
The big picture: Some Jewish leaders have warned that President Trump's invocation of antisemitism to justify slashing college funds and deporting student protesters risks making Jewish people scapegoats for his policies.
- Those policies come as conservatives have urged colleges to adopt rules to combat antisemitism on the left but have largely remained silent about antisemitism on the right.
Zoom in: A law prohibiting antisemitism in Arkansas' public schools was enacted earlier this month. It followed a series of laws against antisemitism that state legislators have sponsored in recent years.
- A 2017 law prohibits state agencies from doing business with or investing in companies that boycott Israel. As a result, Jewish American writer Nathan Thrall, who supports Palestinian rights, opted to not speak at the University of Arkansas in 2023.
- In 2021, then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed Act 611, requiring educators to include Holocaust history in their curricula and other legislation in 2023 sought to mandate education about the Holocaust.
By the numbers: The annual ADL audit recorded 9,354 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism across the country in 2024.
- The total represents a 5% increase from 2023 (the last record-setting year) and an 893% jump over the past 10 years.
- It's the highest level recorded since ADL started tracking this data in 1979.
- The 12-month total for 2024 averaged more than 25 targeted anti-Jewish incidents in the U.S. per day, more than one an hour.
A majority of all incidents (58%) were related to Israel, the survey found.
- More than 6,500 incidents involved harassment language that includes antisemitic slurs, stereotypes or tropes.
- More than 2,600 incidents involved vandalism, defined as cases where property was damaged, such as graffiti of Swastikas or arson.
- The ADL also recorded 1,694 antisemitic incidents on college campuses, which is 84 percent higher than in 2023.
Caveat: The ADL said it did not count criticism of Israel as an antisemitic incident, but did count incidents as antisemitic if someone called for the destruction of Israel or used antisemitic tropes in discussing Israel.
- The ADL said it considers slogans like "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" as antisemitic.