Anti-Semitism Rising

Jammie (a fellow finalist in the 2007 Weblog Awards for best new blog) posted that national trends on anti-Semitism aren't encouraging. A growing number of Americans hold thoughts consistent with anti-Semitism.

Nearly 35 million American adults - 15 percent - hold views consistent with making them anti-Semitic, according to a survey released yesterday.

The Anti-Defamation League survey, conducted from between Oct. 6 and 19, also showed that 31 percent of Americans believe that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to America, and just over a quarter - 27 percent - believe that Jews were responsible for the death of Christ.

The survey showed that the nearly 35 million adults Americans who held views making them "unquestionably anti-Semitic" increased the rating 1 percentage point from the 14 percent of the 2005 survey.

More people are acting on those views. The number of anti-Semitic bias crimes is up 36% over past 90 days, and overall hate crimes are up 20% over last year in New York City.

Looking for a reason to pin the increase led some to point fingers at the Jena incident (even though the media completely botched the facts of the case and few have actually figured out the factual history of the incident), while others suggest it has something to do with Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia University.