Director of Rutgers Hillel told House members that “for the first time in recent memory, Jewish students feel unsafe and unwelcome at their own schools.” By Bridget Johnson October 4, 2022 Share Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email House Homeland Security Committee lawmakers held a field hearing Monday in New Jersey to examine domestic extremist threats as the state experienced a 25 percent jump in antisemitic incidents last year. “In a gruesome antisemitic attack last year here in Teaneck, a man wielding a hammer broke the windows of a pediatrician’s office and dry cleaners,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said in the council chamber at the Teaneck Municipal Building. “The bloodied man confronted a mother and daughter asking if they were Jewish. This is just one of 70 reported antisemitic incidents here in Bergen County last year – the highest in all of New Jersey.” Anti-Defamation League Regional Director for New York and New Jersey Scott Richman told the committee in prepared remarks that “New Jersey has been a hotbed for extremist activity and antisemitic incidents over the past few years, as white supremacist and extremist groups have continued to maintain an active presence in the state, using propaganda to communicate their hateful messages more broadly and to recruit new members.” Nationwide, ADL has recorded a 37 percent increase in antisemitic incidents over the past five years, he noted. Antisemitic incidents rose by 25 percent in New Jersey in 2021, reaching 370 total incidents — the highest number of antisemitic incidents ever recorded by ADL in New Jersey and the second-highest number recorded in any state across the country last year, with New Jersey second only to New York. “According to the data, New Jersey experienced increases in antisemitic incidents across all three main categories compiled by ADL: harassment (252 incidents; 34% increase from 2020), vandalism (112 incidents; 7% increase from 2020) and assault (6 incidents; 150% increase from 2020),” Richman said. “Incidents took place in public areas (123), in non-Jewish K-12 schools (82), at Jewish institutions (44), at private residences (4), at business establishments (35), and online (29).” Along with the 70 reported incidents in Bergen County, Ocean County had 44 incidents, Mercer County had 39 incidents, Middlesex County had 31 incidents, and Union County had 30 incidents. “Antisemitic attacks have continued in 2022, and the Jewish community in Lakewood, New Jersey, has been particularly vulnerable,” Richman continued. “In January 2022, for example, a snowplow driver posted a video to his Facebook page appearing to show his plow intentionally targeting two Orthodox Jewish men. Alongside his video post, the driver wrote, ‘This one’s for you JC.’ A few months later, in April 2022, multiple victims were hospitalized following a violent crime spree in nearby Jackson, New Jersey, involving a carjacking, stabbing, and two pedestrians being struck by the stolen vehicle. Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin approved a terrorism charge in this case as prosecutor Bradley Billhimer stated these attacks were ‘intended to terrorize the Jewish community in Lakewood and Jackson.’”
via hstoday: In New Jersey ‘Hotbed’ for Extremists, Lawmakers Examine Spike in Antisemitic Incidents