Are Antisemitic Attacks Soaring Due to Media Influence?

Hatred of Jews accounted for 68 percent of all hate crimes in New York City in October, and in Los Angeles nearly 85 percent of religiously motivated crimes during the month were targeted at Jews, coinciding with nationwide reports of anti-Jewish attacks almost on a daily basis.

Out of a total of 101 hate crimes in October, 69 were against Jews in the Big Apple, compared with just eight against Muslims, according to the New York Police Department’s citywide crime statistics for the month.

Similarly, in Los Angeles, out of a total of 131 religiously motivated crimes in October, as many as 111 were against Jews, compared with four against Muslims.

New York City’s anti-Jewish crimes represented a 214-percent spike over similar crimes committed in October 2022—and a 124-percent jump in overall hate crimes compared to the same period last year.

The sharp increase in antisemitism in many parts of the U.S. follows Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. In the latest incident, two Jewish students at Ohio State University were physically assaulted November 10.

The attacks are occurring against the background of what the American Jewish Committee (AJC), an international advocacy group for Jews, describes as an anti-Israel media bias.   

“Instead of focusing on Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians, Israel’s efforts to thwart terrorists, destroy terrorist headquarters or weapons sites, and prevent more civilian deaths, some major media outlet  characterize Israel’s targeted response to terror attacks as attacks on innocent and beleaguered Palestinians—feeding an unequivocally false narrative,” stated the AJC in an October 17 report titled “What to Know About Media Bias in Coverage of Hamas’ Attack on Israel.”

Allegations of an anti-Israel media bias surfaced on November 6 when NBC News reported about the death on the previous day of a 69-year-old Jewish man in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood of Ventura County, California, during an altercation with anti-Israeli protesters.

The news outlet allegedly changed the headline of its original report from “Man Dies After Hitting Head During Israel and Palestinian Rallies in California, Officials Say” to “Jewish Man Killed in Altercation at Dueling Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian Rallies in California.”

The New York Times and several other publications also appeared to downplay the incident. After initially running a story titled “Jewish Man Dies After Altercation at Dueling Protests in California,” the Times switched to another headline: “Jewish Man’s Death After California Protest Clash is Under Investigation.”

The Associated Press focused the main suspect in the homicide of the Jewish man cooperating with police. “Man Involved in Confrontation With Jewish Protester Who Died Called 911 and Cooperated With Police,” ran an AP headline.

The reporting contrasted sharply with substantial video footage of the demonstration that highlighted highly aggressive behavior on part of some pro-Palestinian protestors, coupled with vehement antisemitic slurs such as this one: “Hitler didn’t want you, Hitler didn’t want you, Hitler didn’t want you, Hitler should’ve smashed you.”

The AP’s reporting of the California protest rally, in particular, contrasted sharply with its treatment of the brutal homicide of a six-year-old boy of Palestinian origin allegedly by his landlord in a Chicago suburb in October.

The news agency blamed the boy’s killing on “escalating right-wing rhetoric” related to the conflict in Gaza. But it suggested no connection between the aggressive behavior exhibited by demonstrators supporting the Palestinian cause and the spike in hate crimes against Jews.

Photo credits: © bluecinema/iStock.