hate crime

It's Not Just New York: Anti-Jewish Attacks Are Part of a Wave of ‘More Violent' Hate Crimes

Anti-Semitic violence is growing across the country, experts say

Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Five people stabbed during a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey, New York. Four killed in a shooting at a Jersey City grocery store. A Brooklyn woman hit in the head as she walked with her child.

The rash of anti-Semitic attacks gripping the New York-New Jersey area may feel like chilling coincidences, but statistics show they’re part of a wave of anti-Semitic violence that has risen across the country over the past half-decade, NBC News reports.

In 2014, 609 anti-Jewish hate crime incidents were reported to the FBI. By 2018, the most recent year for which statistics are publicly available, that number had increased nearly 40%, to 835 incidents.

Anti-Semitic hate crimes hit a seven-year high in 2017, fueled in part by an Israeli American man who called in waves of bomb threats against Jewish community centers across the country.

And while 2018’s total was actually lower than the year before, felony assaults, arson and murders — including the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that left 11 dead — were all up.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com.

Contact Us