New survey shows more Americans believing antisemitic conspiracy theories at 30-year-high
HOUSTON - New research conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has found that the number of Americans who believe in antisemitic conspiracy theories has reached a 30-year-high.
The number has nearly doubled since the survey was last conducted four years ago in 2019.
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According to a release from the ADL, the survey asked a representative sample of American adults the extent to which they agreed with anti-Jewish tropes. The survey found that as many as 66 million people agreed with six or more of the 11 anti-Jewish statements used since 1964.
The ADL says this survey on antisemitic attitudes is put together every few years. It was previously done in 2019 and 2014.
Additional findings of that survey revealed that 39% of respondents believe that Jews are more loyal to Israel than the United States; 21% agree that Jews "don’t care about anyone but themselves"; 53% say that Jews will go out of their way to hire other Jews; and that younger adults (under 30 years of age) hold significantly more negative sentiment toward Israel and its supporters than older adults.
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The findings reveal a substantial belief in anti-Jewish tropes – such as Jews are too powerful, selfish, foreign, and clannish, according to the ADL.
"Those of us on the front lines have expected such results for a while now – and yet the data are still stunning and sobering: there is an alarming increase in antisemitic views and hatred across nearly every metric — at levels unseen for decades," said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. "From Pittsburgh to Charlottesville to the near-daily harassment of Jews in our greatest cities, antisemitic beliefs lead to violence. I hope this survey is a wake-up call to the entire country."
According to data on the ADL’s website, antisemitic and white supremacy flyers have been circulating Houston neighborhoods for months, from Atascocita, Cypress and the Heights. Most recently, on December 22nd, the hateful flyers were discovered in the Museum District.
In a tweet Tuesday, Dr. Peter Hotez shared a picture of a disturbing letter he received in the mail at his home in Houston this week.
The renowned scientist and vaccine expert at Baylor College of Medicine said it’s the second swastika image he’s been sent this month.
"From 2021 to 2022, we saw an almost 100% increase in the reports of hate incidents, so it’s growing rapidly," said Dena Marks, a Senior Associate Director with the ADL Southwest Region.
Marks has worked with the ADL for the last 23 years. She says the dangerous and hateful rhetoric is the highest it’s been since 1992. While local law enforcement and the ADL are often notified for tracking purposes, Marks said actually holding offenders accountable is a lot more complicated.
"They’re not exactly crimes because freedom of speech is protected in the United States and some of the incidents involved, let’s say flyers that are thrown in yards, or somebody yelling something a slur at someone, that’s an incident. That’s not an actionable crime that law enforcement can investigate and prosecute," Marks said.
The ADL suggests people be careful about sharing the hate on social media platforms, even if sharing is intended to raise awareness, as some groups have actually been able to make money from the flyers.
"Don’t show the hateful message, don’t show the hateful images, definitely don’t show whatever website they direct people to because people will go to that website and see their messages," Marks said.
Experts says anyone who experiences a hate incident should report it to law enforcement and the ADL so authorities can keep track of the areas where these incidents are happening.