ADL: Anti-Semitic acts rise slightly in U.S., Bay Area

Vandalism and harassment directed at Jews rose slightly in 1998, ending a three-year decline in reported incidents, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Some 1,611 anti-Semitic acts were reported across the nation -- 40 more than in 1997 -- in the ADL's annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents, released this week. This represents a 2 percent increase.

The ADL's S.F.-based regional office also recorded a slim increase, registering 47 anti-Semitic incidents in 1998, up from 45 the previous year.

More foreboding, ADL officials said the higher notch does not reveal a general rise in local hate crime in early 1999.

"I wouldn't say things are improving. Northern California is in a unique situation because we've had a lot of horrible incidents recently," said Eden Mendel, the regional office's assistant director.

Some of the Bay Area's gravest anti-Semitic acts and hate crimes took place in schools and among kids, Mendel added.

"We need to focus especially on healing the tension that has risen for whatever reason in our schools," she said.

Among the region's 47 anti-Semitic attacks in 1998:

*A young boy at a San Francisco playground was confronted by three kids who bragged about stealing cars from Jews. When the boy said he was Jewish, the kids beat him up. All three have been caught.

*In Loomis, a town in Placer County, a Jewish resident found swastikas painted on trees in front of his home. He also received threats over the phone.

*Russ Weiner, a candidate for state Assembly, found 30 of his campaign posters in Marin defaced with swastikas, horns and scrawls of "I hate Jews."

*The director of a play on the Holocaust at a San Anselmo school received a swastika in the mail and phone messages stating "the Holocaust never happened" and that she was "poisoning the minds of our youth."

*At a care facility for the elderly in San Francisco, a woman who had a mezuzah in her doorway found "KKK" written twice on the door.

*Anti-Semitic graffiti was repeatedly spray-painted on the exterior of Berkeley's Cody's Books, which has a Jewish owner.

In California, reported incidents totaled 223, up from 180 in 1997. California ranked third in the nation in anti-Semitic cases. New York had 324 incidents, New Jersey 229.

In a statement released with the audit, ADL National Director Abraham Foxman expressed concern over the prevalence of vandalism because "an attack on a synagogue is an attack on an entire community."

Still, ADL officials said the minimal change in numbers does not indicate a major trend in national attitudes toward Jews.

"Any increase is disturbing," said Kenneth Jacobson, ADL's assistant national director. "But it's too early to make some definitive judgment that we're heading into a period of constant increase."

Jacobson said there was no specific explanation for why attacks against Jews increased slightly this year and he noted that the decline during the past few years paralleled a national drop in crime.

Some of the nation's most serious anti-Semitic incidents include:

*A Molotov cocktail hurled into the parking lot of a Jewish Community Center in Allentown, Pa. Firefighters extinguished the flames before the bomb exploded.

*Vandals trashed an Iowa synagogue, stole honorary plaques and silver crowns on top of Torah scrolls and scratched "Burn Jew" into the wall.

*A bouncer at a bar in New York asked those waiting in line for entrance if they were Jewish. He told the Jews to leave and, seeing that some re-entered the line, asked, "Would you cut in line for the gas chamber?"

*Copies of obituaries of Jews were left on several car windshields with the heading "Angry Aryan" in Michigan.

In a more hopeful sign, the report noted a nearly 20 percent decline in anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses, from 104 in 1997 to 86 in 1998.

One exception to the brighter campus picture was Bradley Smith's Committee for Open Debate. The group placed Holocaust denials in advertisements and opinion pieces in 26 college newspapers nationwide, six more than in 1997.

According to Jacobson, the ADL has worked to educate college newspaper editors about their rights to refuse to print advertisements and articles that they deem to be "hateful."

Overall, the findings of anti-Semitic incidents for 1998 are well below the 10-year average of 1,741.

Citing statistics from the FBI's annual report on hate crimes, the ADL reported that in 1998, Jews and Jewish institutions were the targets of nearly 80 percent of all such acts perpetrated on the basis of religion.