Friday, August 14th | 1 Elul 5786

Subscribe
April 14, 2022 11:28 am

News Outlets Turn Blind Eye as Antisemitic Incidents Skyrocket in New York City

×

Error: Contact form not found.

avatar by Rachel O'Donoghue

Opinion

A taxi passes by in front of The New York Times head office, Feb. 7, 2013. Photo: Reuters / Carlo Allegri / File.

The New York Police Department released statistics on crime, showing that during the month of March, Jews were targeted in the city more than any other minority group.

Antisemitic incidents rose by 92% last month, compared to the same period in 2021, with a total of 23 instances reported; this, in contrast to 42 apparent hate crimes perpetrated against all other minority groups combined.

Overall, there were 86 anti-Jewish hate crimes in the city during the first three months of this year alone.

February 2022 saw a jump of 400% in antisemitic events compared to the same month in 2021, and 300% in March 2022 versus the same month in 2021.

On April 2nd at 7:25 pm, near West 86 Street and West End Avenue in Manhattan, three unidentified males approached the Jewish victims, made anti-Jewish statements, and menaced the victims with a sword. If you have info, contact @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/1IILP8wxIE

— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPDHateCrimes) April 6, 2022

Despite these startling figures, not a single mainstream US news outlet has printed meaningful coverage.

Indeed, as HonestReporting highlighted in a comprehensive study on this subject, Jews are the victims of more hate crimes per capita than all other minority groups in the United States, according to data collated by the FBI.

However, anti-Jewish incidents receive disproportionately low media coverage, by a worrying margin.

In our report, we drew attention to how hate crimes perpetrated against Muslims receive the most news attention, even as such offenses have declined in recent years, which suggests a correlation between adequate reportage and the increased safety of minority groups.

This week, HonestReporting’s CEO Daniel Pomerantz was invited to discuss the contents of our report with representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at the body’s Paris headquarters.

The recent work we have done examining how news outlets pay less attention to rising antisemitism on the streets builds on extensive efforts over the years examining how such bigotry is frequently downplayed or ignored altogether by some of the largest media organizations in the world.

For example, last year, we drew attention to CNN’s woeful analysis of the FBI’s 2020 Hate Crime Statistics Report, which despite running to more than 1,000 words, included not a single reference to how American Jews are disproportionately on the receiving end of hate incidents.

It was a particularly glaring oversight, considering that Jews comprise a mere 2 percent of the US population, but were the targets of nearly 60 percent of all religiously motivated offenses.

In July 2021, we ran a story that detailed how last year’s Hamas-initiated conflict against Israel led to a disturbing rise in anti-Jewish hate incidents in the United States, which were documented in alarming figures compiled by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and other Jewish groups.

Following pro-Palestinian rallies and marches that were held during the fighting, numerous videos and reports emerged of Jews being verbally and physically assaulted. There were also countless antisemitic attacks in public that did not target a specific individual, but Jewish people in general.

Moreover, HonestReporting pointed out that widely-read news outlets such as NBC News and The New York Times would insert references to Islamophobia in articles that were ostensibly about Jews being abused, harassed, and assaulted in broad daylight.

Amid this tide of rising antisemitism, our work holding media outlets to account has never been more vital: we must ensure such bigotry is called out whenever it occurs.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The opinions presented by Algemeiner bloggers are solely theirs and do not represent those of The Algemeiner, its publishers or editors. If you would like to share your views with a blog post on The Algemeiner, please be in touch through our Contact page.

Share this Story: Share On Facebook Share On Twitter

Let your voice be heard!

Join the Algemeiner

Algemeiner.com

    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.