Anti-Semitism Rising In Florida
MIAMI (CBS4) - The number of anti-Semitic incidents in South Florida is on the upswing, according to a new audit released by the Anti-Defamation League. The group said it's seen more than a 25 percent increase when it tracked cases against Jews in 2010.
"The trend has been its gone down over the past few years and this year was the first time we've seen an increase. I believe it's been about two or three years," said Andrew Rosenkranz, Regional Director for the Anti-Defamation League.
The ADL audit lists 86 incidents of anti-Semitic harassment including threats, slurs or online harassment. It also said there were 28 cases of anti-Semitic vandalism and two cases of physical assaults on Jews.
"I think that the level of aggressiveness and toxicity in these incidents has increased over the years, the blatant in your face ugliness," said Rosenkranz.
It was certainly in the face of those at the Temple Israel of Greater Miami back in August of 2010. That is when vandals scrawled bold black letters of vulgar messages of hate against Jews on the synagogue walls.
"It was just a pretty shocking revelation that in 2010 these kind of things still happen," said Ben Kuehne, President of the Temple Israel of Greater Miami.
What made it even worse is that some of the vandalism was done right next to the synagogue's Early Childhood Learning Center. Children coming into school saw it coming into class that morning.
"Children can read; they can see this black spray paint right here on the beautiful entrance," said Kuehne. "What is that gonna do to a child?"
Teachers at the Center were able to turn this bad into good and weaved the incident into their lesson for the day.
"So the children actually learned a very valuable lesson from what could have been a horrifying situation," said Kuehne.
The ADL hopes the people of South Florida will learn a lesson from its audit. The ADL's regional director believes education and awareness are the pathways to a solution for the issue.
But what is causing the problem is not an easy answer either. There are a variety of theories.
Rosenkranz said he believes one reason is because more people are now turning to the ADL for help and reporting the incidents.
"I think intolerance and incivility in society certainly is one of the reasons as well," said Rosenkranz.
Back at the Temple Israel of Greater Miami, Kuehne has his own ideas about what is fueling the surge in hate.
"The economy things are tough in the economy," said Kuehne. "We're also in a political environment where it's fair game to hate the opposition. It's fair game to take personal attacks at the people you don't like."
