October 23, 2019
This piece originally appeared in USA Today.
On October 27, 2018, millions across America and around the world gasped in horror at the news that a shooting during three congregations' Shabbat services inside Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life building had killed 11 Jews – the deadliest antisemitic attack in our nation’s history.
As we prepare to mark the first anniversary of that attack this weekend, my organization, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), is releasing the results of what we believe to be the largest and most comprehensive survey of American Jews ever conducted on the subject of antisemitism.
One year ago, some may have questioned the need for such a study, regarding antisemitism as largely a thing of the past or a problem confined to fringe groups or other continents. Indeed, while two comprehensive surveys of European Jews on antisemitism have been conducted in the past decade alone, our research shows no such studies of American Jews have been done for at least half a century. Today, however, after the deadly attack in Pittsburgh and another at a synagogue in Poway, California, and as anti-Jewish hate surges among both the far right and the hard left, this survey could hardly be more necessary or timely.
Its alarming findings should serve as a wakeup call—and a call to action.
Please read the rest of the analysis in USA Today
Avi Mayer is the American Jewish Committee’s Managing Director of Global Communications. Follow him on twitter: @AviMayer. Read full results of the AJC’s Survey of American Jews on Antisemitism in America at AJC.org/survey
