NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Monday marked a year since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, just as the Anti-Defamation League reported a surge in antisemitism nationwide.
The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) saw the highest anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, adding that the numbers are the highest the organization has ever recorded in a one-year period.
Pew Research reports about 2.4% of the U.S. population are Jewish. However, according to the ADL, the Jewish community makes up the majority of anti-religious hate crimes.
Nashville nonprofit to commemorate first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel So far this year, ADL has over 10,000 anti-Semitic incidents.
“Anti-Semitism, which means the baseless hatred of Jews, is one of the world’s oldest forms of hatred,” said Rabbi Dan Horwitz with Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville.
”The October 7th massacre that Hamas committed against Israel really took the lid off a boiling pot, and we then saw an explosion of anti-Semitism,” said Eytan Davidson, ADL Regional Director for Southeast.
According to the ADL, at least 1,200 of the reported anti-Semitic incidents happened on college campuses. Data revealed more than 2,000 occurred at Jewish institutions, and over 3,000 took place during anti-Israel rallies.
This is a 200% increase to the 3,325 reported incidents from the prior year.
Experts with ADL do not expect a decrease in the rates anytime soon.
”Not a week goes by where we don’t get a report from one of the local schools of a child who’s being bullied for being Jewish,” Rabbi Horwitz expressed. “We’ve had four hate groups come through Nashville during the course of the past year.”
‘This is not welcome here’: Nashville leaders send strong message to hate groups Nashville was the site to several of these anti-Semitic acts. In fact, city leaders issued a strong message to hate groups after several neo-Nazi groups marched through the streets of Music City this year.
Since 2021, anti-Semitic incidents in Tennessee have risen from 17 assaults to 73, according to ADL.
Rabbi Horwitz said the acts of hate are a weekly reality.
In February and July, a group carrying Nazi flags marched through downtown Nashville. Also in July, more than 100 people believed to be part of the Patriot Front marched through Nashville. In September, anti-Semitic fliers were distributed door to door in Ashland City.
”We’re seeing Israel vilified by folks on all sides of the aisle, using inflammatory rhetoric, using Hamas, a terrorist group figures, as if they’re accurate,” Rabbi Horwitz explained. “It’s been incredibly frustrating for the community.”
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With the trend expected to continue, Horwitz and Davidson said support is appreciated.
“Reach out to their friends and their neighbors that are of the Jewish faith, to let them know that they hear them, that they see them, and that they support them,” Davidson said. “That means a lot, especially today, October 7th, when a lot of us are really feeling the grief, the pain, the loss.”
“Prayers are always appreciated,” Horwitz concluded. “Prayers that lead to action are always appreciated.”
The final anti-Semitic incident data for 2024 will be published in the spring of 2025.
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