Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2022

Executive Summary

Each year, ADL (Anti-Defamation League) tracks incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault in the United States. Since 1979 we have published this information in an annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents.

In 2022, ADL tabulated 3,697 antisemitic incidents throughout the United States. This is a 36% increase from the 2,717 incidents tabulated in 2021 and the highest number on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979. This is the third time in the past five years that the year-end total has been the highest number ever recorded.

Incidents increased in each of the major Audit categories: antisemitic harassment increased 29% to 2,298; antisemitic vandalism increased 51% to 1,288 and antisemitic assaults increased 26% to 111. The vast majority of antisemitic assaults (107 out of 111) were perpetrated without the use of a deadly weapon. There was one fatality. Notably, visibly Orthodox Jews were targeted in 53% of the assault incidents nationally. This year, no assaults perpetrated against the Jewish community resulted in mass causalities.

The dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents in 2022 in almost all categories cannot be attributed to any one cause or ideology. Significant surges in incidents include high volume increases in organized white supremacist propaganda activity (102% increase to 852 incidents), K-12 schools (49% increase to 494 incidents) and college campuses (41% increase to 219 incidents), as well as deeply troubling percentage increases in attacks on Orthodox Jews (69% increase to 59 Incidents) and bomb threats toward Jewish institutions (an increase from eight to 91 incidents).

In 2022, 241 incidents involved references to Israel or Zionism. This is a decline from 345 such incidents in 2021, which was an unusually high year due to antisemitic reactions to the May 2021 military conflict between Israel and Hamas.  This number is still 35% higher than the number of Israel/Zionism-related incidents in 2020. Of 2022’s 241 anti-Zionist/anti-Israel-related incidents, 70 incidents could be identified as having been perpetrated by individuals associated with hostile anti-Zionist activist groups, most commonly Witness for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine and its affiliates. Forty-six incidents took the form of white supremacist groups’ efforts to foment anti-Israel and antisemitic beliefs. For more on how ADL determines which Israel-related incidents to include, please see our Methodology section.

In 2022, there were 589 incidents logged at Jewish institutions such as synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish schools, an increase of 12% from 2021. The vast majority of those incidents took the form of harassment, but there were 86 incidents of vandalism and nine assaults. Bomb threats towards Jewish institutions were unusually high, with a total of 91. This is the highest number of bomb threats since 2017.  

In 2022, 494 incidents took place at non-Jewish K-12 schools, an increase of 49% from 2021. Incidents on college campuses also increased, by 41%, with 219 incidents.

This escalation in antisemitic incidents comes just as ADL has reported on Americans’ highest level of antisemitic attitudes in decades. According to ADL’s 2023 report Antisemitic Attitudes in America, 20% of Americans believe six or more antisemitic tropes, which is significantly more than the 11% that ADL found in 2019. Although a causal link between antisemitic attitudes and antisemitic activity has not been proven, it would not be surprising if some antisemites have become emboldened to act on their hatred in the current environment. This dramatic increase also occurs just as the FBI released its 2021 hate crime data (a year behind this report) showing that Jews remain the single most targeted religious minority in America. 

The complete dataset for antisemitic incidents for 2016-2022 is available on ADL’s H.E.A.T. Map, an interactive online tool that allows users to geographically chart antisemitic incidents and extremist activity nationally and regionally. Some details have been removed from the incident listings to protect victims’ privacy.

ADL acknowledges our Jewish partner organizations who shared data for the Audit. Those organizations include Community Security Initiative (CSI), Community Security Service (CSS), Hillel International, Secure Community Network (SCN), Union of Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. We thank these organizations for their ongoing efforts to help encourage reporting of antisemitic incidents.

Major Findings

In 2022, ADL tabulated 3,697 antisemitic incidents across the United States. This represents a 36% increase from the 2,717 incidents recorded in 2021 and is the highest number on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979.

Harassment: Of the total, 2,298 incidents were categorized as harassment, defined as cases where one or more Jewish people (or people perceived to be Jewish) were harassed verbally or in writing with antisemitic slurs, stereotypes or conspiracy theories. Acts of harassment increased 29% from 1,776 in 2021.

Vandalism: Another 1,288 incidents were categorized as vandalism, defined as cases where property was damaged in a manner that incorporated evidence of antisemitic intent or which had an antisemitic impact on Jews. Swastikas, which are generally interpreted by Jews to be symbols of antisemitic hatred, were present in 792 of these incidents, up 37% from last year. Acts of antisemitic vandalism increased 51% from 853 in 2021.

Assault: A total of 111 incidents were categorized as assault, defined as cases where Jewish people (or people perceived to be Jewish) were targeted with physical violence accompanied by evidence of antisemitic animus. Antisemitic assaults increased 26% from 88 in 2021. The vast majority of antisemitic assaults (107 of 111) were perpetrated without the use of a deadly weapon and there were no assaults perpetrated against the Jewish community that resulted in mass causalities. Visibly Orthodox Jews were targeted in 59 of the assault incidents nationally (53%). Overall, the 111 assaults impacted 139 victims and resulted in one death.

2022 Incidents by State: Incidents occurred in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. The states with the highest number of incidents are New York (580), California (518), New Jersey (408), Florida (269) and Texas (211). Combined, these five states account for 54 % of the total incidents.

Monthly Comparisons: Incidents in 2022 were highest in November (394), October (347) and May (345) and were lowest in August (223), April (255) and September (260).  The previous highest month on record was May 2021 (387) which coincided with the military conflict between Israel and Hamas. This is the first year on record in which multiple months saw over 300 incidents. There were eight such months in 2022.

The dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents in 2022 in almost all categories cannot be attributed to any one cause or ideology. Significant surges in incidents include high volume increases in organized white supremacist propaganda activity (102% increase to 852 incidents), K-12 schools (49% increase to 494 incidents) and college campuses (41% increase to 219 incidents), as well as deeply troubling percentage increases in attacks on Orthodox Jews (69% increase to 59 Incidents) and bomb threats toward Jewish institutions (an increase from eight to 91 incidents).

Known white supremacist networks engaged in coordinated efforts to spread antisemitic propaganda, which accounted for 852 incidents in 2022, more than double the 422 incidents in 2021. If white supremacist activity had remained the same in 2022 as in 2021, the Audit total would have been 3,267 – an increase of 20%, rather than the actual increase of 36%.

This dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents comes as ADL has recorded Americans’ highest level of antisemitic attitudes in decades. According to ADL’s 2023 report Antisemitic Attitudes in America, 20% of Americans believe six or more antisemitic tropes, which is significantly more than the 11% that ADL found in 2019. Although the link between antisemitic attitudes and antisemitic activity has not been proven, it would not be surprising if some antisemites have become emboldened to act on their hatred in the current environment.

Themes and Trends

Jewish Institutions

Jewish institutions, including Jewish schools, community centers and synagogues, were targeted by 589 antisemitic incidents in 2022. In total, this represents a 12% increase from the 525 incidents recorded in 2021 that targeted Jewish institutions. Synagogues were the most targeted Jewish institution and experienced 50% (296 out of 589 incidents) of all incidents impacting Jewish institutions in 2022.

Of the 589 incidents targeting Jewish institutions, 494 were incidents of harassment, 86 were incidents of vandalism and nine were incidents of assault. Of the 494 incidents of harassment, 92 were anti-Zionism/Israel-related and 91 were bomb threats. Vandalism incidents at Jewish institutions decreased by 15% in 2022 from 101 in 2021 to 86 in 2022. Most acts of vandalism took the form of graffiti, usually with a swastika or other antisemitic message. Other cases involved religious artifacts being tampered with, including menorahs being stolen or vandalized and Sukkahs being destroyed. Of the 86 vandalism cases, 25 had swastikas present and five were anti-Zionism/anti-Israel-related. Ten of the 589 incidents targeting Jewish institutions were perpetrated by white supremacists; six of those were fliering incidents. Assaults at Jewish institutions decreased from 11 incidents in 2021 to nine in 2022. Six of the nine assaults (67%) occurred at synagogues. The nine assaults took place in four states; five in New York, two in New Jersey, one in Oregon and one in Texas:

• A gunman took several hostages in Congregation Beth Israel (see below). (January 2022; Colleyville, TX)
• As Jewish students were getting off a school bus in front of their religious school, an individual grabbed the kippah (skullcap) off the head of one of the children. (April 2022; Brooklyn, NY)
• A Hassidic Jewish school bus driver was shot with a BB gun by a group of teens while the door to his bus was open. (May 2022; Brooklyn, NY)
• A Jewish individual was shot with a BB gun by a person driving by in a car while he was walking in front of a synagogue. (May 2022; Brooklyn, NY)
• An assailant threw a rock at a Jewish person standing in front of a synagogue. (August 2022; Union City, NJ)
• A congregant who was leaving a synagogue in Portland was approached by two individuals in the parking lot, one of whom punched him several times. (September 2022; Portland, OR)
• The same assailant who threw a rock at a Jewish person in front of a synagogue in August 2022 did the same thing two weeks later. The suspect was apprehended. (September 2022; Union City, NJ)
• A security guard at a synagogue as well as the synagogue’s superintendent were assaulted by an individual after they asked him to leave the premises. (September 2022; Manhattan, NY)
• A Jewish teenager who was standing in front of the Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn was approached by a woman and slapped in an unprovoked attack. (October 2022, Brooklyn, NY)

Colleyville

On Saturday, January 15, 2022, a gunman entered Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, during services, taking three congregants and Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker as hostages. The standoff ended more than ten hours later with all hostages released physically unharmed, and the perpetrator, identified as 44-year-old British national Malik Faisal Akram, dead.

The attacker, an Islamist extremist, demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year prison sentence at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, roughly 20 miles from the synagogue. During the hostage incident, Akram expressed conspiratorial antisemitic beliefs about Jewish power in the United States, believing that taking members of the Jewish community hostage would lend leverage to his demand for Siddiqui’s release.

Members of Akram and Siddiqui’s families as well as local Muslim leaders, immediately denounced Akram’s actions. 

2022 Bomb Threats

In 2022, 91 bomb threats, which often included hateful, antisemitic language, were called into or emailed to Jewish institutions or schools. Three other non-Jewish institutions received bomb threats that included antisemitic language. The majority of the antisemitic bomb threats occurred in the spring of 2022, with another wave in late fall. It is unknown if these threats originated from the same perpetrators. Twenty-five states plus Washington D.C. experienced antisemitic bomb threats impacting Jewish communities across the country. The states with the highest number of bomb threats were New York (12), New Jersey (11), Pennsylvania (10) and Maryland (6).

The last year in which we documented more than 20 bomb threats directed at Jewish institutions was 2017, when a single individual was likely responsible for more than 100 such threats.

Contact Form Harassment

In what appeared to be a coordinated campaign, Jewish institutions received twenty threatening messages through the contact form on their websites. The threatening and harassing messages were all sent between September and November and featured similar language, including references to Zyklon B tablets (the name of the poison used by Nazi Germany to murder more than one million people, most of them Jews, in the death camps during the Holocaust). Another similarity is that in most of the cases, the sender(s) completed the contact forms using the names of various so-called First Amendment auditors — individuals who film themselves “testing” the constitutional knowledge of government employees. It is believed that these individuals’ names were used to misdirect attention away from the responsible parties. Although some First Amendment auditors have been known to harass synagogues, antisemitism is not a routine part of most auditors’ activity. Jewish institutions in eight states received these threats; Arizona (2), California (1), Florida (7), Minnesota (1), New Jersey (1), New York (5), Ohio (1) and Texas (2).

K-12 Non-Jewish Schools

In 2022 there were 494 antisemitic incidents tabulated in non-Jewish schools (mostly public schools). This is a 49% increase from the 331 incidents in 2021. Of the 494 K-12 school incidents, 257 were incidents of harassment, 232 were incidents of vandalism and five were assaults.

The 257 incidents of harassment in K-12 schools represents a 44% increase from the 178 incidents of harassment in 2021. Of the 257 incidents of harassment, 102 incidents included an image of a swastika (such as a child drawing a swastika on a piece of paper and handing it to a Jewish classmate) and nine incidents incorporated references to Israel/Zionism.

School-based harassment incidents in 2022 included one-off incidents such as when one student told another, “Ew Jew. Why don’t you kill yourself,” or when a student shouted in the middle of a math class, “If anyone celebrates Yom Kippur today, you can die!” Harassment incidents included recurrent antisemitic bullying, such as classmates taunting Jewish students with Holocaust jokes and references.

The 232 incidents of antisemitic vandalism in K-12 schools in 2022 represent a 53% increase from the 152 incidents tabulated in 2021. Of the 232 vandalism cases recorded, swastikas were present in 88% of K-12 school vandalism cases (205 incidents). Vandalism incidents included messages such as “Kill all Jews,” “6M Oven,” “Hitler was right” and “Jews not welcome.”

Given the insidious nature of bullying, compounded by the fact that many children may not feel empowered to report their experiences, it is likely that the actual number of school-based antisemitic incidents was significantly higher than the data reported in the Audit.

College and University Campuses

In 2022 there were 219 antisemitic incidents at colleges and universities at more than 130 campuses across the country. This is an increase of 41% from the 155 incidents in 2021. Of the 219 campus incidents, 127 were incidents of harassment, 90 were incidents of vandalism and two were assaults. Some 33% of the campus incidents included swastikas.

References to Israel or Zionism were part of 19% of the 219 campus incidents. More information on the nature of those incidents can be found in the anti-Israel/anti-Zionism section of this report.

The 90 incidents of vandalism on campus represent a 41% increase from the 64 incidents recorded in 2021. Acts of vandalism on campus included the desecration of mezuzot (small ritual items that some Jews affix to the doorframe of their homes) in residence halls, as well as antisemitic messages such as “Jews did 9/11,” “Kanye was right,” “Hitler” and “Fuck Israel” in academic and residential halls. Swastikas were used in more than 60% (57) of the 90 incidents of vandalism on campus.

In addition to the 219 incidents that took place on college campuses, 25 incidents occurred at Hillels. Hillels are centers of campus Jewish life, and while they are counted as Jewish institutions for the purpose of the Audit, Hillel-related antisemitic incidents add to an environment of fear for Jewish students on campus.

NOTE ON BDS:  ADL has not counted incidents of BDS resolutions on or off campus as antisemitic incidents in our audit, because they do not target individuals.  However, these are antisemitic and contribute to the pressures faced by Jews on campus.

Assaults

In 2022, there were 111 reported antisemitic assaults in the U.S. Four of the 111 assaults were perpetrated with the use of a deadly weapon such as a gun, knife or vehicle. Orthodox Jews were targeted in 53% of the incidents nationally. In 2022, there were no assaults perpetrated against the Jewish community that resulted in mass causalities. An antisemitic assault is defined in the Audit as an attempt to inflict physical harm on one or more people who are Jewish or perceived to be Jewish, accompanied by evidence of antisemitic animus.

Sixty-six of the assaults (59% of the total) took place in the five boroughs of New York City. Brooklyn was the epicenter of assaults, accounting for 52. There were seven assaults in Manhattan, four assaults in Queens and three assaults on Staten Island. Visibly Orthodox Jews were targeted in 64% (46 out of 72) of the assault incidents in New York State. Thirteen antisemitic assaults occurred in California, nine in New Jersey, four in Massachusetts, three in Maryland, two in Oregon, two in Texas and one each in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and North Carolina.

There was one fatality stemming from an antisemitic assault in 2022. On October 5, 2022, a University of Arizona professor, Thomas Meixner, was shot and killed on campus by a former student named Murad Dervish. Dervish allegedly targeted Professor Meixner in part because he believed the professor was Jewish. The former student expressed conspiratorial antisemitic beliefs online.

A total of 139 victims were directly targeted during the assaults in 2022, including one fatality. This does not include bystanders or passersby who were not directly targeted or in danger. This is a 6% increase over the 131 victims of antisemitic assault in 2021. There were 41 victims in 2020 and 95 victims in 2019. Assaults were highest in May (15) and in November (15). Examples of antisemitic assaults recorded in 2022 include:

• Individuals associated with the National Socialist Movement, a Florida based neo-Nazi group, made antisemitic comments while they assaulted a Jewish person who walked past one of their rallies. (January 2022; Orlando, FL)          
• While yelling "Hey Jew," an individual shot a BB gun at a person in a highly populated Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. (March 2022; Brooklyn, NY)
• An individual committed a spree of violent assaults over the course of several hours, causing serious injuries to four Orthodox Jewish individuals. (April 2022; Lakewood, NJ)              
• An individual approached their Jewish neighbor, stated, "You fuckers should have burned a long time ago," and pushed the victim. (July 2022; Los Angeles, CA)
• A 13-year-old Jewish boy was chased by two teenagers who grabbed the boy's yarmulke off his head. (August 2022; Staten Island, NY)
• An individual made antisemitic remarks and yelled "Kanye 2024" before striking a Jewish person from behind, causing him to fall. (December 2022; Manhattan, NY)

Five physical assaults took place at K-12 schools. These incidents include a high school student yelling “Fucking Jew,” “Dirty Jew” and “F*****” at a Jewish classmate and pushing the victim against a fence. In another incident, a middle school student jabbed a Jewish classmate with a calligraphy pen after making antisemitic comments. In a third assault, also at a middle school, a student repeatedly directed antisemitic and anti-Israel comments at a Jewish student and then punched them.

Anti-Zionism /Israel-Related

In 2022, 241 antisemitic incidents referenced Israel or Zionism. Seventy of these incidents were perpetrated by individuals associated with anti-Zionist activist groups, most commonly Witness to Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and its affiliates.

Although forms of anti-Israel political protest and expressions of opposition to Israeli policies are not included in the Audit, the Audit may include cases where Jewish individuals or identifiable entities, including Jewish religious or cultural institutions, are targeted for harassment, vandalism or assault by anti-Israel activists. Public statements of opposition to Zionism, which are often antisemitic, are included in the Audit when it can be determined that they had a negative impact on one or more Jewish individuals or identifiable, localized groups of Jews. This is most commonly the case on college campuses, where studies have shown that vociferous opposition to Israel and Zionism can have a chilling effect on Jewish student life and compound on pressures felt by Jewish students added to the incidents accounted for in this Audit. A full assessment of the scope of anti-Israel activism and its impact on American Jewish college students, including the scope and impact of BDS campaigns, of which there were twenty in the 2021-22 academic year, may be found here:

• Anti-Israel Activism on U.S. Campuses, 2021-2022 | ADL
• The ADL-Hillel Campus Antisemitism Survey: 2021 | ADL

The 241 total incidents for 2022 is a decrease of 30% from 345 in 2021, but it is an increase of 35% from 178 reported in 2020. The decrease from 2021 to 2022 is likely a result of the spike in incidents in May 2021 due to the Israel-Hamas conflict that month, during which 128 anti-Israel incidents were recorded.

 In 2022, Jewish students on college and university campuses were subjected to radical anti-Israel sentiment that sometimes veered into antisemitism, often by anti-Zionist groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). For example, in April at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an SJP rally attendee threw a rock at the Hillel building (no injuries or damage were reported). In March, following the release of a statement by an anti-Israel organization at CUNY calling for protest, a CUNY Law SJP speaker declared at an off-campus rally: “Demand that Zionist Professors are not welcome on your campus, demand that Zionist students are not in spaces where Palestinian students are, because Zionism is a threat, Zionism is a genocidal threat to us." The crowd chanted “we don’t want no Zionists here.” Expelling Zionists from campus would likely result in the removal of a large percentage of Jewish students and calls like this have a deleterious effect on Jewish campus life. At an off-campus rally in Philadelphia in August, promoted by Temple University SJP, a protestor shouted “the Yahudi [Jews] must go.”

In April, the New York University Law Students for Justice in Palestine sent an email to the university’s law students, including many Jewish recipients, that read: “The Zionist grip on the media is omnipresent.” In August at University of California at Berkeley, Law Students for Justice in Palestine announced that they and nine allied student groups had adopted a bylaw stating they “will not invite speakers that have expressed and continue to hold views or host/sponsor/promote events in support of Zionism.” As Zionism is a fundamental component of many Jews’ identities, overtly excluding Zionists from campus or communal spaces has a disproportionately large and negative effect on the Jewish community.

Other campus incidents included:

• At SUNY New Paltz, two Jewish students were expelled from a sexual assault survivors support group, New Paltz Accountability, due to their identification with Zionism. (February 2022; New Paltz, NY)
• In April 2022, at American University, the words "Fuck Israel Free Palestine" were written on a white board hanging on the door of a Jewish student's dorm room at American University. (April 2022; Washington D.C.)
• In an online class chat at Baruch College, a student wrote: “death to Israel,” “Heil Hitler” and “you will be with God soon.” (December 2022; Manhattan, NY)
• At the University of Texas, Austin stickers bearing the message “Free Palestine. End the occupation” were found on public property surrounding the Hillel building. (April 2022; Austin, TX)
• At George Washington University, SJP members hung fliers near and on Hillel property. Messages included "Free Palestine" and "Zionists Fuck Off."   (October 2022; Washington D.C.)

Forty percent of the Israel/Zionism-related incidents tabulated in 2022 occurred at Jewish institutions or schools. It is antisemitic to direct anti-Israel messaging at Jewish institutions or schools because such activity holds Jewish people collectively responsible for the alleged actions of the state of Israel. Such incidents occurred both on campus and in the broader community.

Witness for Peace (WFP), an antisemitic and anti-Israel group, continued its activities in 2022, holding weekly protests outside an Ann Arbor, Michigan synagogue. WFP members, who have protested outside the synagogue since 2003, typically hold signs with slogans like “Resist Jewish Power,” “Israeli citizens in OUR Congress??” and “AMERICA First, NOT Israel.” WFP’s leader and founder Henry Herskovitz is a Holocaust denier. He has explained that he convenes these protests because the synagogue’s support for Israel makes it complicit in Israel’s “brutal and illegal military occupation of Palestinian lands and the suffering of the Palestinian people.”

Other incidents included:

• Graffiti that read, "Kill Israel and the Jews" and an image of a Star of David was found on the campus of a middle school. (January 2022; Brooklyn, NY)
• Two individuals entered a synagogue's Zoom study session, drew swastikas on a shared Jewish text page, and wrote in the chat: "Stop bombing Palestine.” (March 2022; Bethel, NY)
• Graffiti that read, "ANTI-ZIONIST JEWS 4A FREE PALESTINE" was spray-painted on a "We Stand with Israel" sign and an exterior wall of a synagogue. (April 2022; St. Paul, MN)
• An individual with a history of antisemitic bias assaulted a counter-protestor who was carrying an Israeli flag near a pro-Palestinian demonstration. The assailant pled guilty to hate crime charges. (April 2022; Manhattan, NY)
• An individual threatened to assault their Jewish neighbor while making antisemitic statements including, "Go back to Israel." (June 2022; Navarre, FL)              
• A group of Jewish children were physically assaulted by a group of individuals who shouted, "Free Palestine." (October 2022; Albany, NY)
• An individual harassed members of the Jewish community at a synagogue's preschool, yelling, "Fuck the Jews," "Fuck Israel," "Kanye was right" and other obscenities. (December 2022; Bloomfield Hills, MI)

A particularly noteworthy incident was the creation of the Boston “Mapping Project” in June 2022, when anti-Zionist activists published a website with the goal of “dismantling” organizations in Massachusetts that are “complicit” in Zionism. Among the approximately 500 entities listed were dozens of Jewish organizations which make up the essential infrastructure of the Jewish community, including JCRC and Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Also included were the Jewish high school Gann Academy, the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts and the Jewish Teen Foundation of Greater Boston. The site listed the street addresses of these institutions and stated: “These entities exist in the physical world and can be disrupted in the physical world.” This provoked widespread fear in the Jewish community and concerns that Jewish organizations would be subjected to physical attack. Law enforcement, including the FBI, were put on high alert. After its U.S.-based hosting company deplatformed it, the site moved to an Iceland-based hosting company.

White supremacist groups were responsible for 46 of the Israel/Zionism-related incidents. In March, the Folkish Resistance Movement distributed propaganda at University of Texas at Dallas that read: "Blood and soil" and featured a Star of David and read: "Resist Zionism." In Albany, Texas, individuals associated with White Lives Matter, a network of anonymous white supremacist activists, distributed white propaganda stickers. They also distributed propaganda from the antisemitic Goyim Defense League (GDL) which alleged that Jews and Israel were responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In December 2022, in Brentwood, Tennessee, individuals associated with Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, spray-painted the message "NO ZIONISTS IN GOVERNMENT" and included the link to their website on a bridge.

White Supremacists
 

Antisemitic Propaganda Distribution

Organized efforts by white supremacists to share antisemitic propaganda, mostly through distributing fliers with antisemitic messages, accounted for 852 incidents in 2022, up from 422 in 2021. This massive uptick was largely due to the growth of the Goyim Defense League (GDL) and its accelerated tempo of antisemitic propaganda campaigns. The GDL network, which has significant crossover with other white supremacist groups and movements, was responsible for at least 492 propaganda incidents in 2022, a dramatic increase from the 74 GDL antisemitic propaganda incidents recorded in 2021.

The activities of several newly formed white supremacist groups in 2022 also contributed to the rise in propaganda incidents. These new groups – the Texas-based Aryan Freedom Network, Florida-based NatSoc Florida, the Iowa-based Crew 319, the Southern California-based Clockwork Crew (aka Crew 562), Florida Nationalists and the short-lived, New York-based Aryan National Army – were responsible for seven percent (or 62 incidents) of the antisemitic propaganda distributions in 2022.

As in previous years, extremists used fliers, posters, stickers, banners and graffiti to share their antisemitic views. In Florida, NatSoc Florida and GDL used laser projectors to cast antisemitic messages on buildings on at least seven occasions. Individuals associated with GDL, Crew 562 and Crew 319 drove around in moving vans draped with antisemitic propaganda. Two such incidents occurred in California and one in Iowa.

GDL’s overarching goal is to expel Jews from America. To that end, their propaganda casts aspersions on Jews and spreads antisemitic myths and conspiracy theories in hopes of turning Americans against the Jewish people. GDL’s 2022 propaganda blames Jews for a variety of perceived social grievances, including immigration, pornography and abortion. GDL propaganda was recorded in 43 different states, with the vast majority of incidents in California (92), Florida (66), Texas (47), Georgia (44), South Carolina (25), Illinois (23) and New York (17).

Folkish Resistance Movement (FRM), formed as Folksfront in early 2019 and rebranded as FRM in late 2021, distributes white supremacist propaganda that often features explicit antisemitism.  For example, among the slogans used were an image of a swastika with the words “Smash white guilt” and “Break debt slavery” or “Resist Zionism” with a picture of a sword breaking a Star of David. Additionally, FRM’s propaganda often features crossed eiwaz runes fashioned to resemble a swastika along with white supremacy slogans such as “Our blood is our faith, our nation is our race” and “Blood and soil.” FRM was responsible for 142 or 17% of antisemitic propaganda incidents. FRM incidents were recorded in 20 states; the majority (62 incidents) were reported in Texas.

White Lives Matter (WLM), a network of white supremacists who engage in “pro-white activism” on a designated day each month, was responsible for 15% of the antisemitic propaganda incidents (128) with activity occurring in 34 states. The states with the most activity was Washington (19), Pennsylvania (11), Montana (6), Tennessee (6) and Wisconsin (6).

WLM propaganda ranges from “White Lives Matter” stickers with a QR code linking to the group’s Telegram page, to messages about the "great replacement" conspiracy theory. Some WLM propaganda promotes or shares links to the antisemitic film "Europa: The Last Battle."

Black Hebrew Israelite (BHI) extremists

Extremist Black Hebrew Israelite (BHI) groups were responsible for eight instances of targeted antisemitic harassment or propaganda distribution throughout the year, most notably surrounding the controversy involving professional basketball player Kyrie Irving. In late October, Irving shared a link to an antisemitic film rooted in extremist BHI ideology on Twitter. The incident drew significant media attention and Irving was briefly suspended from the team. When Irving returned to the court for the Brooklyn Nets on November 20, the extremist BHI group Israel United in Christ (IUIC) held a large demonstration outside of the Barclays Center during which they chanted “We are the real Jews” and distributed propaganda. Individuals associated with other extremist BHI groups also demonstrated in that same location in subsequent weeks, making antisemitic comments to passersby and referencing Adolf Hitler in at least one case.

Incidents Referencing Ye (Kanye West)

Beginning in early October 2022, Ye — the highly influential artist, record producer, and fashion designer formerly known as Kanye West — promoted antisemitism on a global scale when he made numerous harmful, conspiratorial statements about Jews in a series of social media posts and interviews. These comments drew on longstanding antisemitic tropes, including claims about supposed Jewish power and control, allegations that Jewish people exploit and intimidate others for financial gain and assertions that Jewish people today are not true Jews. Ye also praised Adolf Hitler and disputed the facts of the Holocaust.

The impact of Ye’s comments was felt on the ground across the country. Fifty-nine antisemitic incidents from October 11 through the end of 2022 directly referenced Ye, including 44 cases of harassment, 13 cases of vandalism and two cases of assault.

In one such assault in November 2022, a visibly Jewish person in Northridge, CA, was allegedly attacked by a group of individuals who punched him in the face, told him to take off his kippah and asked him how he felt about Ye. In New York, NY, in December, a Jewish individual was allegedly assaulted by a man who made antisemitic remarks and yelled “Kanye 2024” before striking the victim. Jewish individuals faced verbal harassment in other cases, as well. In Los Angeles, CA, someone called a Jewish-owned restaurant, asked for “the Kanye special” and then said “Death to all the Jews.” In Bloomfield Hills, MI, an individual was arrested after he allegedly threatened Jewish families outside of a synagogue, making antisemitic comments that included the statement “Kanye was right.”

At least ten instances of Ye-related antisemitic harassment or vandalism occurred at K-12 schools. Jewish students across multiple schools faced bullying from classmates who referenced Ye while making antisemitic remarks. The messages “Kanye West is right” and “Kill All Jews” were written alongside three swastikas on the wall of a school bathroom in Newport Beach, CA in October. The words “Kanye was right about the Jews” with swastikas and a crossed-out Star of David were found in the bathroom of a school in Newton, MA in November.

Various Jewish institutions, non-profit organizations and cemeteries were also targeted with antisemitic messages. For example, in December, the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh received an antisemitic phone call from an unknown caller who identified themself using the name “Kanye West” and stated, “I hate all Jewish people. All of them must burn and die. I love Hitler.” In late October, the message “Ye West was right about the devil Jews!” was written in chalk outside of a Jewish cemetery in Stockton, CA. In November, headstones at a Jewish cemetery in Waukegan, IL were vandalized with swastikas and the words “Kanye was rite [sic].”

Known white supremacist groups including the Goyim Defense League (GDL), NatSoc Florida, National Justice Party (NJP) and Crew 319 all incorporated references to Ye in their antisemitic propaganda distribution and other activities in the last three months of the year. For example, members of the Goyim Defense League displayed banners over a highway overpass in Los Angeles, CA that read “Kanye is right about the jews [sic]” and “Honk if you know.” Similar banners and laser projected messages were also displayed in Florida and New York by GDL and NatSoc Florida members.

Cemetery Vandalism

Jewish graves and/or cemeteries were desecrated four times in 2022, down from six in 2021. The desecration of Jewish headstones is a long-standing act of antisemitism that has been employed by those looking to terrorize and offend Jews.

• A Holocaust memorial inside the Santa Rosa Memorial Park cemetery was toppled over, destroying the structure (January 2022, Santa Rosa, CA).
• Two juveniles damaged gravestones inside of a Jewish cemetery (March 2022, Franklin, PA)
• A swastika was drawn on the entry gate of a Jewish cemetery (November 2022, Lawrence, MA).
• Headstones at the Am Echod Jewish Cemetery were vandalized with swastikas and the words "Kanye was rite [sic]" (November 2022, Waukegan, IL)

Methodology

1. The ADL Audit of Antisemitic Incidents is comprised of both criminal and non-criminal incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault against individuals and groups as reported to ADL by victims, law enforcement, the media and partner organizations. It is not a public opinion poll or an effort to catalog every expression of antisemitism.
    
2. Incidents are defined as vandalism of property or as harassment or assault on individuals and/or groups, where either 1) circumstances indicate anti-Jewish animus on the part of the perpetrator or 2) a reasonable person could plausibly conclude they were being victimized due to their Jewish identity. Vandalism against Jewish religious institutions or cemeteries may also be included.
    
3. Swastikas: The appearance of swastikas, which are generally interpreted by Jews to be symbols of antisemitic hatred, are included in the Audit. However, swastikas are not included in circumstances when they appear to be targeting a different minority group. Additionally, swastikas used as a means of political protest are also not included. For example, in 2021, some Americans used swastikas, as well as references to Hitler and Nazi-era politics, in protests against COVID-19 public health measures and mask mandates; those incidents are not generally included in the Audit unless there was other evidence of antisemitic animus. ADL carefully examines the credibility of all incidents, including obtaining independent verification when possible.
    
4. Online Content: The Audit includes cases where individuals or groups were harassed online via antisemitic content in direct messages, on listservs or in social media settings where they would have the reasonable expectation of not being subjected to antisemitism. The Audit does not attempt to assess the total amount of antisemitism online.
    
5. Israel and Zionism:

• ADL is careful to not conflate general criticism of Israel or anti-Israel activism with antisemitism. Legitimate political protest or expressions of opposition to Israeli policies is not included in the Audit.
• The Audit includes cases where Jewish individuals or identifiable groups are subjected to harassment or demonization for their perceived or actual support for Israel or Zionism, especially when the harassment incorporated anti-Jewish references, accusations and/or conspiracy theories.
• The Audit also includes cases of picketing of Jewish religious or cultural institutions for their purported or real support for Israel. It does not include protests outside pro-Israel political activist groups or Israeli embassies/consulates unless those protests incorporate classic antisemitic tropes.
• Public statements of opposition to Zionism, which are often antisemitic, are included in the Audit when it can be determined that they had a negative impact on one or more Jewish individuals or identifiable, localized groups of Jews. This is most commonly the case on college campuses, where studies have shown that vociferous opposition to Israel and Zionism can have a chilling effect on Jewish student life.  A full assessment of the scope of anti-Israel activism and its impact on American Jewish college students may be found in:
  • Anti-Israel Activism on U.S. Campuses, 2021-2022 | ADL
  • The ADL-Hillel Campus Antisemitism Survey: 2021 | ADL

6. The Audit excludes the following types of incidents:

• Antisemitic activities or statements which take place in private venues (e.g., at a private meeting) or in a manner that requires potential victims to “opt-in” in order to access them (e.g., by going to websites where unmoderated discussion occurs, looking at specific individuals’ social media pages, etc.)
• Instances of discrimination (e.g., a Jewish employee not receiving an accommodation for Rosh Hashanah), unless the discrimination is accompanied by verbal harassment as described above.
• General expressions of white supremacy or other hateful ideologies, unless those expressions include overt antisemitic elements.

7. Data Sources:

• Incidents included in the Audit are identified through numerous methods, as explained below. ADL staff verify the credibility of every incident, eliminate duplicates and weed out trolling and spam before including them in the Audit.
• The majority of the incidents included in the Audit are reported to ADL directly by Jewish victims via our online form, email or phone message.
• ADL Center on Extremism researchers also monitor media reports and other online spaces for credible reports of antisemitic incidents.
• In 2021, the Audit began incorporating reports of antisemitic incidents from other Jewish organizations with whom ADL has established partnerships. Those organizations include Community Security Initiative (CSI), Community Security Service (CSS), Hillel International, Secure Community Network (SCN), Union of Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. We thank these organizations for their ongoing efforts to help encourage reporting of antisemitic incidents.
• ADL appreciates the assistance of our many law enforcement partners who share information about antisemitic incidents and criminal activity with us. Many of those incidents are included in the Audit as well.

Policy Recommendations for Government

The 2022 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents documents alarmingly high levels of antisemitism in the United States, which requires a concerted whole-of-government, whole-of-society response. While there is no single fix to this alarming trend, ADL’s COMBAT Plan offers a comprehensive, six-part framework for elected officials and policymakers to take meaningful action to fight antisemitism. ADL urges leaders to:

Condemn Antisemitism

Oppose Hate and Extremism Driven by Antisemitism

Make Communities Safe from Antisemitism

Block Antisemitism Online

Act Against Global Antisemitism

Teach about Antisemitism

Condemn Antisemitism

Public officials and civic leaders — from the President, to governors, attorneys general, mayors, other civic leaders, and law enforcement authorities — must use their bully pulpits to speak out against antisemitism and all forms of hate and extremism. Regardless of its origins — from the far left to the far right and anywhere in between — leaders must call out antisemitism, including anti-Zionist antisemitism, and rally their communities to action.

• Condemn all forms of antisemitism, and respond to antisemitic incidents, in timely, specific, and direct ways.
• Challenge antisemitism in the United States via a whole-of-government strategy.
• Incorporate antisemitism education and training in government, as part of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) efforts and other anti-bias initiatives.
• Urge federal, state, and local elected officials to sign ADL's Pledge Against Antisemitism.
• Adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism as a legally nonbinding education tool.

Oppose Hate and Extremism Driven by Antisemitism

Fighting hate crime is a critical task, especially now that antisemitism and other forms of hate, racism, and bigotry are at all-time high levels. It is particularly alarming that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) hate crime statistics for 2021 convey the lowest participation from cities and states in two decades. At a time when communities across the country are feeling increasingly vulnerable to bias-motivated crimes and extremist-fueled attacks, the work to address them and resolve the alarming gaps in data collection and reporting becomes more important to combat hate-motivated violence.

• Support hate crime laws and improve hate crime data collection and reporting.
• Support full funding of the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act.
• Adopt wide-ranging measures to combat all forms of domestic antisemitic extremism, most notably the array of policy recommendations outlined in ADL’s PROTECT plan.

Make Institutions Safe from Antisemitism

Whether the attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the Chabad in Poway, or hate against Jewish students on college campuses, there is an acute threat of antisemitic violence and harassment. For the past decade, funding assistance from federal, state, and local governments has provided crucial support for security hardening and enhancements for our nation’s non-profit institutions, including religious institutions. This responds to the continuing targeting by violent extremists of synagogues, mosques, churches, temples, and other houses of worship and religious gathering places – a threat that was once again brought into stark reality by the horrific hostage-taking at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas on January 15, 2022. At a time of increased vulnerability to threats of hate-motivated violence by domestic extremists, the Jewish community must be protected from these threats and counter the movements that produce them.

• Protect the physical security of Jewish community institutions through full funding of the Non-Profit Security Grant Program.
• Request synagogues across the country to join ADL’s Kulanu: Synagogues in Action Against Antisemitism program.
• Safeguard Jewish students in post-secondary institutions.
• Fully enact Executive Order (EO) 13899 on Combating Anti-Semitism enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against prohibited discrimination rooted in antisemitism.
• Urge federal and state Departments of Education and post-secondary institutions to rigorously enforce existing anti-discrimination policies and ensure that appropriate disciplinary measures are employed against individuals and institutions when appropriate.

Block Antisemitism Online

Federal and state governments have an important role in reducing online hate, harassment, and extremism fueled by antisemitism, which have become all too commonplace. The proliferation of online harassment, abuse, and misogyny has resulted in the normalization of this abusive behavior and the degradation of our democracy and public safety, including through the suppression and silencing of diverse voices, and the violent expression of gender-motivated, extremist acts.

• Adopt ADL’s comprehensive approach to combating online hate, harassment, and extremism, including antisemitism, as delineated in the REPAIR plan.
• Advocate for platform accountability, transparency, and data access measures.
• Support online literacy programs, in collaboration with the private sector, to help educate the general public to identify hate speech to avoid unintentional indoctrination.

Act Against Global Antisemitism

Global antisemitism is on the rise. Cultures of violence, silence, and complacency have helped antisemitism to gain new currency around the world. Without the requisite proactivity and knowledge to recognize this evil, we are at a disadvantage to stop it. Combating antisemitism around the world is an American interest, and there is no way that we can win this fight unless America plays a leading role by pressing other countries to do more.

• Strengthen the Offices of the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism and the U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues.
• Amplify intergovernmental cooperation between the U.S. and foreign governments to fight global antisemitism and specific regional manifestations.
• Support furthering the Abraham Accords to usher in a new era of bridge-building between Israel and her neighbors and provide unprecedented opportunities to promote tolerance and fight antisemitism in the region.
• Counter state-sponsored antisemitism and related terrorism.
• Mobilize against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign and other efforts to demonize, delegitimize and isolate Israel in international fora.

Teach About Antisemitism

Eliminating antisemitism and other forms of bigotry requires government and civil society leaders to promote anti-hate, anti-bias, and civics education programs. As intolerance, antisemitism, bigotry, and Holocaust denialism and distortion are on the rise and continuously promoted by hate groups, Holocaust education provides a context in which to learn about the danger of what can happen when hate goes unchallenged and there is indifference in the face of the oppression of others; learning how and why the Holocaust happened is an important component of the education of members of our society. If we do not make sure our children are learning about the Holocaust and antisemitism, history will repeat itself.

• Promote understanding of Jewish people today.
• Include antisemitism in anti-bias education and related training.
• Support ADL’s #LearnToNeverForget campaign.
• Study Holocaust education efforts nationwide and properly resource them, including through the Never Again Education Act.
• Encourage state governments to institute age-appropriate Holocaust and antisemitism education as part of their curricula and provide the means for school districts and educational institutions to deliver such education.
• Advance global efforts to support Holocaust and antisemitism education and curriculum that fights violence, bigotry, and hate, particularly within the Middle East.

Policy Recommendations for Technology Platforms

These recommendations are informed by incident reports of antisemitism involving technology that the ADL received in 2022.  While the pervasive scope of these incidents touched individuals across different age ranges, professional disciplines, cultural backgrounds, and geographic locations–including everyone from teenagers to university professors to elected officials to religious leaders–all are bound by the common experience of online hate and its detrimental impacts.

As we found in our Online Hate and Harassment: The American Experience 2022 survey, hate-based harassment, which targets people because of their membership in a marginalized or minoritized identity group, remains high and significantly impacts its victims.  Further, we found that it continues to be the most prevalent on social media platforms, including Facebook (68% to date), Instagram (26% to date), and Twitter (23% to date).

As platforms can play a significant role in curbing online hate-based harassment and abuse, the following recommendations provide a range of options that platforms should pursue as they do their part to promote user safety and combat online hate, harassment, and extremism.

1. Ensure strong policies against hate.

Effective content moderation cannot exist without strong content policies that unequivocally condemn hate, harassment, and abuse.  In addition to prohibiting abusive conduct and establishing consequences for policy violations, a platform’s content policies should be clear and instructive to users, which may include examples as necessary in order to illustrate the conduct and content that are not permitted on a platform.

2. Make content policy and reporting features more accessible for users.

Strong policies against hate and robust moderation efforts can only be as helpful as they are accessible. Content policies should be  easy to find, read, and understand, and use plain language that makes sense to users of any background. It should be translated into the languages that its users read, and also consider the needs of users with disabilities: for example, including audio and alt text options.

Reporting systems for violations of content policies should be accessible to users as well.  Making reporting accessible ensures that users who spot or experience online hate can play a role in preventing its spread and preserving online safety for themselves and others.

In addition to having a centralized reporting center, platforms must also ensure that their interfaces allow for easy flagging and reporting of individual objectionable posts, comments, and users that violate their policies.

3. Using both policy and product tools, develop and implement effective, scalable, and equitable enforcement mechanisms.

Policy

It isn’t enough for platforms to have policies against hate; they must consistently and effectively enforce these policies.  Platforms must dedicate resources (technical and personnel) toward trust and safety efforts and have staff in place tasked with enforcing platform policies and addressing violations.

When engaging in content moderation efforts, platforms must be conscious of making equitable moderation decisions: ensuring that all users are held to the same standards of conduct, including (and especially) celebrities, politicians, and premium or verified users.

Product

Product-focused best practices for content moderation involve developing and implementing effective tools and features for flagging violative content.  These mechanisms may function by limiting the reach of violative content; creating barriers that delay or discourage the spread of hateful content, or determining when hateful words, symbols, or expressions are being weaponized on a platform.

We encourage technology companies to refer to our Hate Symbols Database, a helpful resource for identifying and screening out hateful and antisemitic content before it causes harm.

4. Center the experiences of victims of online harassment and abuse, and approach design decisions through an anti-hate lens.

While major technology platforms may have millions, and even billions, of users, they are still composed of networks of individuals, and individuals can suffer severe injury from online harms.  It is incumbent on platforms to engage in content moderation and product design measures that are inherently considerate of individual users and their experiences. Examples of this include reporting processes that don’t subject victims of online abuse to undue burden or hardship, automatically hiding content that is likely to be hateful in nature, and facilitating access to external resources–like law enforcement, emergency healthcare, or mental health support–for users who may urgently need them.  Tech companies should implement the anti-hate by design principles in ADL’s Social Pattern Library.

5. Commit to transparency in content moderation decisions and approaches to online hate, harassment, and abuse. 

Technology companies must produce regular transparency reports and submit to regularly scheduled external, independent audits so that the public knows the extent of hate and harassment on their platforms.

Transparency reports must be expanded to include far more data about online hate than what is generally available at present and should include data from user-generated, identity-based reporting.

Platforms should also provide transparency regarding non-removal related content moderation actions they take, and the effects of these measures. In addition to transparency reports, technology companies should allow third-party audits of their work on content moderation on their platforms. Audits would also allow the public to verify that the company followed through on its stated actions and to assess the effectiveness of company efforts across time.

Acknowledgements

The work of ADL’s Center on Extremism is made possible, in part, with generous support from:

Anonymous(4)
The ADL Lewy Family Institute for Combatting Antisemitism
David Berg Foundation
Crown Family Philanthropies
Lillian and Larry Goodman Foundations
Klarman Family Foundation
Morton H. Meyerson Family Foundation/Marlene Nathan Meyerson Family Foundation
Charles and Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation
The Nancy K. Silverman Foundation
The Tepper Foundation
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

ADL is grateful to all of the generous supporters who make our work possible.