CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The drawing of swastikas on the Queens University of Charlotte campus last week appears to be part of a trend of rising antisemitic incidents across North Carolina.
The Anti-Defamation League reports that antisemitic incidents in the state more than doubled from 2020 to 2021.
There were 64 similar incidents of vandalism at colleges and universities in 2021 nationwide, according to the ADL. UNC Chapel Hill was one of these in January 2021, when it was vandalized with racial slurs and antisemitic symbols.
Antisemitic incidents reached a national high in 2021 with 2,717 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism reported to ADL, the organization said Tuesday in a release about their annual report.
This represents the highest number of antisemitic incidents since ADL began tracking them in 1979, the organization said.
North Carolina saw a 131% increase in antisemitic incidents over the past year. In 2021 there were 30 incidents, up from 13 in 2020.
Tair Giudice, the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte’s chief impact officer, said Charlotte has also seen the rise in hate.
The number of reports the federation has received has tripled in the last year, Giudice said.
She said they mostly receive reports of vandalism and harassment but they are also noticing that the hostilities themselves are becoming much more aggressive.
Giudice said while swastika vandalism like that seen at Queens University is becoming more common, so are death threats.
Meredith R. Weisel, regional director of the ADL in Washington, D.C., said the increase in antisemitic incidents is happening for a variety of reasons and it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact ideology or belief system causing the spike.
“What we do know is that Jews are experiencing more antisemitic incidents in this country, in at least, you know, 40 years. And that’s certainly a deeply troubling, I would say, indicator of larger societal fissures,” Weisel said in an interview with The Charlotte Observer.
When there are political and societal pressures in the community people often look for a scapegoat, Weisel said. With COVID-19, there has been an uptick in attacks against the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, the LGBTQ community, the Black community, as well as the Jewish community, she said.
Antisemitism should serve as a canary in the coal mine and should worry others of what is to come and shows that societal norms are fraying, Weisel said.
Two of the contributing factors to these incidents have been the rise in conspiracy theories, especially surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and conflating military action taken by the state of Israel with the Jewish people as a whole, Weisel said.
This isn’t the first time conspiracy theories about a disease have led to antisemitic attacks.
“There’s a common I would say trope parroted by a lot of white supremacists that Jews were collectively responsible for the COVID pandemic. This is what we call echoes of blood libel. So blaming Jews for the spread of disease, which was something that happened in the medieval times. We’re seeing that again, continuing to happen,” Weisel said.
Now, extremists are becoming bolder, she said.
“A lot of these hate groups are using what I would call confrontational tactics. They’re doing flash mob gatherings, they’re (posting fliers) across neighborhoods,” Weisel said.
One of these incidents occurred in Greensboro in December, according to Rabbi Judy Schindler of the Jewish Clergy Association. Fliers blaming the Jewish community for the COVID-19 pandemic were spread throughout the neighborhood of Cornwallis and reported to police.
Some antisemitic incidents occurring in North Carolina may be going unreported. This happens because individuals may not feel comfortable reporting to law enforcement, or know to report some acts of vandalism, Weisel said.
Elected officials need to address the issue, she said.
“We need our policymakers to put in place laws and tools and trainings to prevent hate crimes from even happening and when they do how to respond appropriately, understanding it has a ripple effect to hold throughout the whole community,” Weisel said.
