Reports of Anti-Semitic Acts Decline 11% in 1995

Anti-Semitic acts fell 11% last year, the largest one-year drop in a decade, according to a survey by a Jewish defense organization.

A total of 1,843 acts of violence, threats, harassment or vandalism directed against Jews or Jewish institutions were reported during 1995, the Anti-Defamation League found in its annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States.

“The overall decline of anti-Semitic incidents, the first in three years and the largest in 10 years, is encouraging,” ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman said.

“We hope this is the beginning of a trend away from anti-Semitic acts. But we must remain vigilant.”

New York, with 370 reported anti-Semitic acts, California (264), New Jersey (228) and Florida (152)--all states with large Jewish populations--accounted for 55% of all the incidents reported to the ADL or local police.

Foxman noted that last year’s decrease in anti-Semitic incidents mirrored a drop in the national crime rate reported for 1995.

Despite the decrease in anti-Semitic acts, the survey said that “personalized attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions . . . continue to be significantly more common than incidents of vandalism.” About 61% of the reported anti-Semitic acts--1,116 incidents--fell into the category of personalized attacks.

Among the most serious such incidents listed by the ADL were:

* The arson fire at a Jewish-owned business in New York’s Harlem area after days of protests in which anti-Semitic rhetoric was used. Seven people died in the blaze.

* The beating of a New York man after he was accosted leaving a dance hall and asked if he was Jewish.