Anti-Semitic incidents persist even as U.S. Jews find greater acceptance
Recent surveys show that “the vast majority of Americans do not have negative opinions of their Jewish neighbors.”
The shooting at Tree of Life–Or L’Simcha synagogue in Pittsburgh in October has brought heightened awareness of anti-Semitic violence at a time when most Americans have a positive view of Jewish people.
A shooter killed 11 people at the Pittsburgh synagogue in what is believed to be the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. In the weeks that followed, a man got up during a performance of Fiddler on the Roof in Baltimore and shouted “Heil Hitler” as the audience ran for the exits, afraid gunshots would follow. A mural honoring the 11 victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre was vandalized with a swastika spray-painted over the star of David on the campus of Duke University. A psychology professor arrived at Columbia’s Teachers College in New York City to find swastikas spray-painted red in the foyer to her office. And a fire being investigated as arson began at a Houston synagogue while members were studying inside.
For many American Jews, the incidents are a reminder of the stories told by their parents and grandparents of Europe in the days before the Holocaust. And a new survey by the Claims Conference, an organization that compensates Holocaust survivors with funds received from Germany, found that 58 percent of Americans believe something like the Holocaust could happen again.
