Hate crimes in Los Angeles County targeting Jews increased by 31 percent in 2014 from 2013, despite being at the second-lowest overall number in 25 years, according to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations 2014 Hate Crime Report, which was released Sept. 24.
The good news, according to a press release issued by the County of Los Angeles, is that the total number of hate crimes against Jews, as well as other groups, is “still among the lowest numbers ever reported.”
“Similar to past years, four groups constituted the bulk of all hate crime victims in 2014: African Americans, lesbians and gay men, Jews, and Latinos,” the release states. “Although there was an increase in Gay/Lesbian/LGBT and anti-Jewish hate crime reported, those followed dramatic drops the previous year for those groups, and were still among the lowest numbers ever reported for all four groups.”
The report revealed that while the “total number of hate crimes [in Los Angeles County] declined to the second-lowest number in 25 years … religion-motivated hate crimes [in Los Angeles County] increased 26 percent since the previous year … [with a] 31 percent increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes,” according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which released a statement in response to the annual L.A. Country hate crime report, as the organization does every year.
“It is disturbing that the trend of declining anti-Jewish hate crimes reversed itself this past year, both around the country and in L.A. County,” ADL Pacific Southwest Regional Director Amanda Susskind said in the ADL statement. “As we see across the country, some of this increase was due to the spate of hate crimes during the conflict between Hamas and Israel during the summer of 2014.”
Attacks perpetuated against Jews comprised a disproportionate number of religious-motivated hate crimes, with 19 percent of hate crimes motivated by religious bias and 76 percent of those crimes targeting Jews, the report said.
“That’s always true,” Susskind said of the disproportionate prevalence of attacks against Jews. “There’s nothing new about that. The vast majority of religiously based hate crimes are always against Jews, all over the state, all over L.A. County and the nation.”
Hate crimes occur when the victim is targeted based on his or her real or perceived religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, disability, nationality or ethnicity, the report said. Hate crimes are distinct from what the ADL has in the past described to the Journal as “ hate incidents,” which are hateful occurrences that do not rise to the level of crime.
Earlier this year, the ADL released its 2014 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, which compiles both crimes and incidents.
L.A. County reported only on crimes.
ADL Associate Regional Director Alison Mayersohn said in a phone interview that the just-released county report and the ADL audit from earlier this year were consistent with each other in their respective findings of anti-Semitism increasing from 2013 to 2014.
The ADL audit was released in March and examined anti-Semitism state by state, as opposed to looking specifically at L.A. County.
Meanwhile, shortly following an appearance at a Sept. 24 press conference downtown announcing the county’s findings, Susskind reiterated her belief in the link between the rise of anti-Semitic crimes last year with the 2014 Israel-Gaza war.
“I think we are starting to see a pattern: When there is military action in Israel, we always see an increase, not just here, but all over the world,” Susskind said.
Does the ADL leader expect to see an increase in 2015 reports of anti-Semitism in relation to the Jewish community’s reaction to the controversial Iran nuclear deal?
“My prediction is that won’t be a cause of a huge spike,” she said.
In total, 389 hate crimes were reported in 2014, according to Los Angeles County: “An average of more than one hate crime occurs every day,” Robin Toma, executive director of the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations, said in a statement, as quoted in the county release.
The highest concentration of L.A. hate crimes in 2014 occurred in the region stretching from West Hollywood to Boyle Heights, according to the L.A. County statement.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.