Muslim and Jewish organizations see spike in hate speech, discrimination

Apr. 20—A Jewish high school student in Santa Fe was teased with "pictures of ovens" by a classmate. A University of New Mexico student said they hoped "Israel would be wiped off the map." La Cueva High School was covered in spray-painted swastikas and racial slurs.

And that was before Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing more than 1,000 people, and touching off an invasion of Gaza that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead.

Since then, both Jewish and Muslim advocacy organizations say hate speech, attacks and discrimination against the two groups have reached heights not seen over the past several decades in America.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a nationwide audit that found antisemitism skyrocketed by 140% in 2023, with 8,873 incidents — the majority of them classified as "harassment" — compared with 3,698 incidents in 2022.

And a report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) found it received 8,061 complaints of discrimination in 2023, with 607 classified as "hate crimes or incidents."

The total was the most in CAIR's 30-year history and a 56% increase over the previous year, which saw 5,156 complaints.

According to the data, 44% — or 3,578 — of CAIR's complaints and 59% — or 5,204 — of the ADL's incidents in 2023 were reported after the events of Oct. 7.

"When you have, sort of, this explosion, where it just rises so rapidly in such a short period of time, that's a really big concern," ADL Regional Director Scott Levin told the Journal.

Levin said areas with the largest Jewish populations, particularly on the West and East coasts, have historically seen the most incidents per year. New York, for instance, saw more than 1,200 in 2023.

But Levin said the increase in New Mexico, from 8 to 31 in one year, "is troubling."

The ADL report found New Mexico had the 13th fewest antisemitic incidents in the nation last year. To compare two inland states with similarly sized populations: Idaho had 22 incidents and Nebraska had 44.

Corey Saylor, CAIR research and advocacy director, said the agency received a "massive spike" in cases after Oct. 7.

He said those included the stabbing death of a 6-year-old boy in Chicago by a man allegedly yelling anti-Muslim rhetoric and a teacher in Georgia threatening to decapitate a student who criticized an Israeli flag.

Saylor said they've also gotten reports of "going after people's jobs for attending pro-Palestine rallies, like I've never seen."

"Obviously, it's very frightening and upsetting for many people," he said. "I think a common theme among many people that I've heard is how upsetting it is, that engaging in legitimate political speech gets them in trouble."

Saylor said CAIR often receives reports in places they have offices and, with no offices in New Mexico, they have not received reports from the state that "stands out." But he said studies have found 85% of Muslims do not report hate crimes and for three reasons: distrust of law enforcement or they don't know where to report.

"The one I find most troubling is that, unfortunately, it's become normalized," Saylor said of the third reason, relaying anecdotes of religious leaders ignoring threats because they are so common.

He added, "It's gone on for so long at this point that people are just desensitized to it."

ADL methodology changeA sizable portion of the rise in ADL's numbers is due to a change in the way it tracks antisemitic incidents, including 1,350 tied to "anti-Israeli" protests, identifying sayings such as "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" as antisemitic harassment.

Levin said the context of the phrase is calling for "the eradication of Jews from the land that's now Israel." He said many people attending rallies may not be aware of the context but it is not lost on many Jews.

"That can be very impactful, very threatening and certainly very upsetting," Levin said. He said criticizing Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's policies or showing concern for the death and famine in Gaza is not antisemitism.

"I question the leadership and the politics of the United States of America every day. And it doesn't make me un-American," Levin said.

Saylor agreed in simple terms: antisemitism, a problem — criticizing a foreign state, not a problem. "And that's just how speech works," he added.

Saylor said the "from the river to the sea" phrase has been around a long time. It has recently been condemned by the ADL and the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to The Associated Press, the phrasing goes back decades but was co-opted by the Hamas terrorist organization more than a decade ago.

"As I understand (how) people use it, it is intended to mean that Palestinians will have a state of their own or ... there will be a state in which Palestinians and Israelis can live as equals," Saylor said.

Iris Keltz, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace in Albuquerque, said she would never call for the eradication of her own people. She said the eradication tied to phrases used at pro-Palestinian rallies is "an unfounded Jewish fear."

"I'm shocked people are against it. 'From the river to the sea' stands for a pluralistic democracy for all the people who live there, including Jews and Muslims and Christians," she said. "It is the ultimate statement of democracy and I don't see anything antisemitic about it."

Keltz said she considers the phrase pro-human rights.

"I stand with whoever's human rights are being violated; right now it's the Palestinians," she said.

Saylor said CAIR didn't change its methodologies, as the ADL did, because to do so "midstream" takes away from the ability to compare past and present patterns.

'Beyond the numbers'

Without the ADL's methodology change, there was still a 125% increase in antisemitism nationwide, something the organization was upfront about in its audit.

ADL data shows that 15 of the 31 antisemitic incidents reported in New Mexico happened at pro-Palestinian rallies. In one instance, protesters waved a Jewish flag with a blood-colored swastika on it instead of the Star of David.

But there were more than a dozen incidents unrelated to rallies.

In one, "Jew" was written on a bus stop ad, and in another, someone called a rabbi and threatened, "I don't care if you are Palestinian or Zionist, you are nothing but queer (expletive) Jews and I'll slice your (expletive) throat."

Levin said the audit "goes beyond the numbers."

"Every one of those numbers is a story," he said. "There's a feeling of vulnerability in the Jewish community now that it probably has not felt in quite some time."

Saylor said the 3,578 complaints CAIR received the last three months of 2023 was more than the total recorded during two separate periods of heightened Islamophobia: when Trump announced a plan to ban Muslims on the campaign trail and, again, when he put the executive order in place after taking office.