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Antisemitic incidents have ‘skyrocketed’ in the United States post-Oct. 7, ADL reports
(JTA) — Antisemitism in the United States has “skyrocketed” in the three months since Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel, according to data tallied by the Anti-Defamation League.
There were 3,283 antisemitic incidents in the United States between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7, according to the ADL’s report — including 60 physical assaults. It also counted 553 incidents of vandalism and 1,353 incidents of harassment.
The total number of incidents during the past three months is more than four times the number that occurred during the same period last year. The figure is higher than the total the group has recorded over the course of any full calendar year aside from 2022. By comparison, the ADL counted 2,717 antisemitic incidents during the entirety of 2021. In the whole of 2014, the year of Israel’s last ground invasion of Gaza, the ADL recorded just 912 antisemitic incidents.
The main driver of antisemitism over the past three months, according to the group, is the Israel-Hamas war that began with the Oct. 7 invasion: The ADL said two-thirds of the incidents “included verbal, written, or contextual references to Israel or Zionism.” Forty percent of the incidents tallied in Wednesday’s report — a total of 1,317 — were pro-Palestinian rallies that included “expressions of support for terrorism against the state of Israel and/or anti-Zionism.”
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt has repeatedly stressed, both before and after Oct. 7, that the group views anti-Zionism as tantamount to antisemitism. Surveys have shown that majorities of American Jews feel attached to Israel and say that opposition to its right to exist is antisemitic. Greenblatt said in a statement Wednesday that “In this difficult moment, antisemitism is spreading and mutating in alarming ways.”
The ADL’s equation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism, however, has put the organization at odds with groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, which are anti- or non-Zionist and which have focused their criticism on Israel since Oct. 7. Greenblatt has referred to those organizations as “hate groups.” The ADL’s stances have also reportedly led to dissent and resignations, as Jewish Currents reported that four staffers quit the group in protest of the group’s policies following Oct. 7.
Hundreds more of the incidents involved fake bomb threats mailed or called into synagogues or other Jewish institutions — a practice known as “swatting” that had occurred prior to Oct. 7, aiming to prompt a law enforcement response, and has continued at a large scale since. During one December weekend, hundreds of synagogues across the country received false bomb threats.
Wednesday’s report also said that since Oct. 7, there have been 505 antisemitic incidents at college campuses — an arena that has been a major focus of antisemitism watchdogs as well as elected officials during the Israel-Gaza war. Another 246 incidents occurred at K-12 schools, the report said. A string of universities and school districts have been subject to federal civil rights investigations over their handling of antisemitism post-Oct 7.
The 60 assaults – 20 per month – are more than double the monthly average of around 11 the ADL recorded in 2022. In the most severe incident since Oct. 7, a Jewish man died after being struck on the head at dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies in southern California. At Columbia University, an Israeli student was allegedly assaulted during a dispute over hanging posters with pictures of hostages held by Hamas. A man has also been arrested for an alleged hate crime assault of an Israeli in Times Square.
The ADL could not say what portion of the assaults, nor how many of the campus incidents, took place during demonstrations related to the war.
The ADL’s surveys compile data from law enforcement, media reports and incidents reported directly to the organization.
The report did not break incidents down by location or date, though a previous ADL report, released last month, suggests that the pace of antisemitism has remained steady since Oct. 7. In December, the ADL reported that it had tallied 2,031 antisemitic incidents including 40 assaults over the first two months of the war. Taken together with this report, that means there have been a little over 1,000 incidents, and 20 assaults, per month.
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It’s 2025 — and Palestinian Authority Sermons Call for the Genocide of Jews
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, Sept. 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
The year 
Official PA TV’s message of genocide is that the Jews should be killed to the last one:
Official PA TV sermon: “O Allah, count them one by one and kill them one by one, and do not leave even one.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Jan. 10, 2025]
Official PA TV sermon: “O Allah, count them one by one and kill them one by one, and do not leave even one.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Jan. 10, 2025]
Another top PA religious official, a PA Shariah judge, also demonized Jews, teaching that they “defile and Judaize” the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza when they visit the Temple Mount:
PA Shari’ah Judge Nasser Al-Qirem: “We will not forget the commitment to the pure Martyrs, and the groans of the prisoners in the Nazi occupation’s [i.e., Israel’s] prison cells.
Out of loyalty to these Martyrs and these prisoners, and out of loyalty to the Al-Aqsa Mosque which is being desecrated by the Zionist crime gangs throughout the day, under the protection of the occupation and its soldiers, in order to defile it and Judaize it … For all of this, we must return to our unity.”
[Official PA TV, Jan. 3, 2025]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented the PA’s antisemitic ideology for decades, exposing that Jews are seen as “Satan in human form,” “humanoids, apes and pigs,” and that Jews are “barbaric and bloodthirsty.”
This antisemitic ideology is promoted and endorsed by the top leadership of the PA and by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas himself, who has explained that “Even Hitler… fought the Jews because they worked based on usury and money, in other words, they caused ruin in his opinion, and therefore he hated them.” [emphasis added]
Official PA TV, Speech at 11th conference of the Fatah Revolutionary Council at the PA headquarters on Aug. 24, 2023
In another PA TV broadcast, a West Bank resident expressed his faith in Allah on the subject of genocide of the Jews:
West Bank resident Jaafar Al-Qadi: “Everyone has been harmed, and Allah willing things will turn out for our benefit. Allah willing the Jews will cease to exist. We know that the Master of the Universe promised us that the Jews will cease to exist.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Resolve and Confrontation, Dec. 7, 2024]
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post It’s 2025 — and Palestinian Authority Sermons Call for the Genocide of Jews first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Insists US Will ‘Take’ Gaza, Jordan’s King Stays Mum on Palestinian Relocation During White House Visit
US President Donald Trump meets with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House in Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump insisted that America will “take” Gaza and that other countries in the Middle East will absorb the Palestinians currently residing in the enclave while meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan in the White House on Tuesday.
“There’s nothing to buy. We will have Gaza. No reason to buy. There is nothing to buy,” Trump said.
The president suggested that the damage incurred by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has corroded Gaza’s value and that the United States will simply seize the enclave. However, he did not detail how he plans to facilitate or finance the reconstruction of Gaza.
“It’s Gaza. It’s a war-torn area. We’re going to take it. We’re going to hold it. We’re going to cherish it,” Trump added.
Nonetheless, the president vowed that the US will energize Gaza’s economy and turn the territory into a “diamond” and “tremendous asset” for the Middle East. Trump maintained that Gaza possesses the potential to become a “great economic development” for the region, touting its scenic location on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
However, the president lamented that seemingly “every 10 years” Gaza erupts into explosive warfare, resulting in “death and destruction” for its civilians.
Trump added that he believes “99 percent” that the United States could strike an agreement with Egypt to relocate the residents of Gaza, where the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas ruled before the war and remains the strongest faction.
When asked what he thought of Trump’s ambitions to transfer Palestinian civilians to Egypt, Abdullah revealed that Egypt and other Arab countries are planning to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss the future of Gaza. Abdullah refused to speak extensively about Trump’s stated goal of removing Palestinians from Gaza, advising reporters to “not get ahead of ourselves” and wait for Arab countries to deliberate about the matter.
“It’s hard to make this work in a way that’s good for everybody,” Abdullah said.
Though the Jordanian king would not commit to taking in large numbers of Palestinians, he said Jordan would be willing to “take 2,000 children that are cancer children or are in [a] very ill state” while Arab countries “wait for the Egyptians to present their plan on how we can work with the president to work on Gaza challenges.”
During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House last week, Trump called on Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states in the region to take in Palestinians from Gaza after nearly 16 months of war between Israel and the Hamas. Arab leaders have adamantly rejected Trump’s proposal.
Last week, the US president expressed similar sentiments as he did on Tuesday, saying that the US would “take over” the Gaza Strip to build the war-torn Palestinian enclave back up. However, many members of the US Congress across both parties pushed back on Trump’s declaration, accusing him of endangering American troops, destabilizing the Middle East, and floating an ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza. Trump has also stated that Palestinians would not have the “right to return” to Gaza after being relocated and said no US troops would be needed for his plan without elaborating.
Following his meeting with Trump, Abdullah took to social media to call for a permanent end to the war in Gaza and the creation of a Palestinian state.
“This is the unified Arab position. Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
“Achieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability. This requires US leadership. President Trump is a man of peace. He was instrumental in securing the Gaza ceasefire. We look to US and all stakeholders in ensuring it holds,” the Jordanian king added.
The post Trump Insists US Will ‘Take’ Gaza, Jordan’s King Stays Mum on Palestinian Relocation During White House Visit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Bowdoin College Clears ‘Gaza Encampment’
Anti-Zionist Bowdoin College students storming the Smith Union administrative building on the evening of Feb. 6, 2025, to occupy it in protest of what they said are the college’s links to Israel. Photo: Screenshot
Bowdoin College in Maine has negotiated an end to an anti-Zionist group’s occupation of an administrative building without acceding to any of its demands for a boycott of Israel, The Bowdoin Orient reported on Monday.
The group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)had installed an encampment inside Smith Union on Thursday night in response to US President Donald Trump’s proposing that the US “take over” the Gaza Strip and transform it into a hub for tourism and economic dynamism. The roughly 50 students who resided inside the building vowed not to leave until the Bowdoin officials agree to adopt the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Following the action, Bowdoin officials promptly moved to deescalate the situation by counseling the students to mind the “gravity of situation” in which they placed themselves, with senior associate dean Katie Toro-Ferrari warning that their behavior “could put them on the path where they are jeopardizing their ability to remain as Bowdoin students.” No sooner had it sent this communication than it began issuing temporary suspensions to students who rejected appeals to leave Smith Union and return to normal student life.
“You will be placed on temporary suspension, effective immediately, pending a college disciplinary process,” Bowdoin vice president Jim Hoppe wrote to the protesters in a letter, copies of which were sent to their parents. “During your immediate suspension, you may not attend your Spring 2025 courses … Your family will receive a copy of this letter. This temporary status will continue until further notice.”
Facing threats of severer sanctions, SJP agreed to vacate Smith Union on Monday and shared that they had issued a plea for mercy in discussions with college officials which called for them to “understand a context of good faith for the students who have engaged in this action.” By that time, several students had already left the building, according to the Orient.
Republicans in Washington, DC have said that disruptive and extremist political activity on college campuses “will no longer be tolerated in the Trump administration.” Meanwhile, the new US president has enacted a slew of policies aimed at reining in disruptive and discriminatory behavior.
Continuing work started during his first administration — when Trump issued Executive Order 13899 to ensure that civil rights law apply equally Jews — Trump’s recent “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism” calls for “using all appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise … hold to account perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.” The order also requires each government agency to write a report explaining how it can be of help in carrying out its enforcement. Another major provision of the order calls for the deportation of extremist “alien” student activists, whose support for terrorist organizations, intellectual and material, such as Hamas contributed to fostering antisemitism, violence, and property destruction.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Bowdoin College Clears ‘Gaza Encampment’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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