Are Jews Afraid of Identity?
A survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to mark the anniversary of the shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue that killed 11 people last year has revealed that nearly a third of Jewish Americans avoid wearing things that may reveal their religious identity • Full Story
A survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to mark the anniversary of the shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue that killed 11 people last year has revealed that nearly a third of Jewish Americans avoid wearing things that may reveal their religious identity.
The AJC released the results of its survey on Wednesday. It was conducted with 1,283 respondents over almost a month. The study found that nearly a third of those polled have “avoided publicly wearing, carrying or displaying things that might help people identify them as Jews.” Another 25% said that they avoid specific places, events or situations
And a quarter of respondents said they avoid places, events or situations out of concern for their safety or comfort as Jews.
The Anti-Defamation League(ADL) recently stated that the rate of anti-Semitic incidents has doubled in the U.S. since 2015, a statistic that led ADL National Director Jonathan Greenblatt to decry the “alarmingly high number of anti-Semitic acts” in the US.
Last year had the third-highest totals for assault, harassment and vandalism against Jews since the Anti-Defamation League started tracking such incidents in 1979, according to the organization. There were a total of 1,879 attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions across the country, according to a report from the ADL.
Besides the attack in the Tree of Life synagogue last year, there was another attack in a synagogue on the final day of Pesach in Poway, California in which a gunman killed one woman and wounded three others at Congregation Chabad, including an 8-year-old girl and her uncle, who was visiting from Israel. The rabbi of the congregation lost a finger in the attack.
The AJC survey suggests that Jewish Americans are feeling the impact of these attacks. Nearly nine out of 10 say that anti-Semitism is a current problem in the US, and 72% say they do not approve of the Trump administration’s handling of the threat, according to the survey.
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