Antisemitic Incidents In Wisconsin, U.S. Remain At Record Highs

WISCONSIN— Harassment, vandalism and other violence targeting American Jews in Wisconsin and other states remained at historically high levels in 2020, the Anti-Defamation League confirmed in a new report released this week.

Nationwide, the ADL reported 2,024 incidents in its annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, released this week. The final tally marks a 4 percent decline from 2019, when antisemitic incidents in the United States hit a record-high number.

Of these incidents, six were recorded in Wisconsin, according to the report.

“While any decline in the data is encouraging, we still experienced a year in which antisemitic acts remained at a disturbingly high level despite lockdowns and other significant changes in our daily lives and interactions with others,” Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and national director, said in a news release. “We can’t let our guard down. As communities begin to open up and people spend more time in person with others, we must remain vigilant.”

Vigilance could prevent further incidents like one reported in:

• In October 2020, the University of Wisconsin at Madison reported that antisemitic and neo-Nazi graffiti was found on the Gard Storytellers Circle Monument on campus.
• In August 2020, “Free Palestine” was spray painted in the driveway of the Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha amidst protests of police brutality.
• In July 2020, the Whitewater School Board meeting on Zoom was disrupted by unknown participants who drew swastikas and other offensive imagery on the shared screen.
• In July 2020, road signs in the Town of Scott and the Town of Birch were vandalized with swastika graffiti.
• In June 2020, in West Allis, dozens of antisemitic flyers were distributed to homes in a residential neighborhood. The flyers read, in part, "Jews will not replace us! The destruction of the White Race is engendered in Judaic world control."
• In March 2020, swastika graffiti and a racial slur found written on a car in Holmen, WI.

Last year marked the third-highest year for incidents against American Jews since ADL started tracking such data in 1979.

When it broke down the number of incidents, the report confirmed a total of 1,242 incidents of harassment, a 10 percent increase from 2019.

At the same time, acts of vandalism and assault declined by 18 percent and 49 percent, respectively. No anti-Semitic fatalities were reported in 2020.

The report mainly attributed the overall drop in reported cases to the shift to online learning; reported incidents at U.S. schools and colleges plummeted during the pandemic, according to the report.

Antisemitic incidents were reported in 47 states and the District of Columbia, the report says.

The states with the highest numbers of incidents were New York with 336 incidents, New Jersey with 295, California with 289, Florida with 127 and Pennsylvania with 101.

Combined, these states accounted for nearly 57 percent of total incidents.

See the full 2020 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents.