Articles by Holly Huffnagle

The American public is waking up to antisemitism here at home with nearly three-quarters (74%) now saying antisemitism is a problem in the U.S., up from 68% in 2022, and 60% in 2021.

The October 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel was the worst single day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. And yet, Hamas’ torture, indiscriminate murder, and kidnapping of innocent people has unleashed staggering antisemitism around the world.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) initiated in 2019 a survey of American Jews focused exclusively on antisemitism in the United States and, in 2020, began a parallel survey of the general U.S. adult population. Although AJC, the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people, had polled Jews in the U.S. for decades, the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh in October 2018, the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history, prompted a new approach and the launch of what has become AJC’s State of Antisemitism in America report.

Antisemitism in the United States is rising. American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) newest annual report on antisemitism revealed that, in the last 12 months, 24% of American Jews were personally targeted by antisemitism and 41% of U.S. adults have witnessed an antisemitic incident. Yet we also must see the data from the 2021 report as a beacon. It illuminates the problem so we can work toward solutions. In the spirit of Hanukkah, dedication and hope are required to counter antisemitism.

If California educational leaders are serious about combating antisemitism and hate, they should include the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism in the ESMC. Governor Gavin Newsom should endorse the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism.

Parallel surveys of American Jews and the general public form the basis of the first-ever AJC report on the state of antisemitism in America. The state, simply put, is poor. To the traditional sources of antisemitism — the far right, hard left, and extremists in the name of Islam — we can now add a fourth: ignorance. The lack of awareness and refusal to enable Jews to define hatred against them create a dangerous breeding ground for anti-Jewish hostility.

The IHRA Working Definition is an essential, effective tool in the fight against antisemitism.

Those who defend Farrakhan on the grounds that NOI helps underserved black communities across America and empowers African-Americans should know that one cannot empower one group by denigrating another.