New Jersey Jews faced the largest number of anti-Semitic acts in America in 2008, followed by California, marking the first time since the Anti-Defamation League began keeping statistics that New York did not lead the nation in such crime.
Anti-Semitic acts across the country fell by 7 percent in the ADL’s Annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents — the fourth annual decline — with New York seeing a steep drop of more than 40 percent, from 351 to 207. That marked a decrease nearly six times greater than the national average.
There were 238 incidents in New Jersey and 226 in California.
The 10 reports of physical assault in New York are down from 14 in 2007. The 161 instances of vandalism also represent a sharp decline from the 239 cases reported in 2007.
In New York City, there were 106 incidents in 2008, compared to 193 in 2007, with a decline in all five boroughs.
“It is heartening to see such a drastic decline in the number of anti-Semitic incidents in New York,” said Kenneth Jacobson, Acting Director of ADL’s New York Regional Office. “However, as demonstrated by the recently thwarted plot to bomb two synagogues in Riverdale, Jews continue to be targeted simply because they are Jewish.”
In Westchester and upstate New York, there were 10 incidents, down from 40 in 2007, and on Long Island incidents dropped to 91 incidents, from 118, with 70 in Nassau County and 21 in Suffolk.
For the first time, this year’s audit separated physical assaults from non-violent acts, such as vandalism, reporting a figure of 37 such attacks on Jews across the nation.
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