The Anti-Defamation League tallied 498 antisemitic incidents in Northern California in 2024, a year in which the majority of incidents nationwide were tied to anti-Israel animosity, according to an annual audit released Tuesday.
Across the country, antisemitic incidents reached 9,354 last year. That was the highest number the ADL has recorded in a single year — and up 893% from 942 such incidents reported in 2015.
Incidents in Northern California last year were down a fraction of a percent from the 501 reported in 2023. However, both years were up significantly from the 166 incidents reported in 2022 and 70 in 2021.
Marc Levine, director of the ADL’s Central Pacific region based in S.F., told J. that the “persistent” problem of antisemitism in the Bay Area continues to diverge with its reputation as a community “that is supposed to be more tolerant, progressive and accepting.”
Tolerance “wasn’t the trend,” he said. The “sustained level of antisemitic incidents … is essentially creating a new baseline for the Bay Area. The level of alarm and intimidation that this causes for the Jewish community is just untenable.”
Nationally, the ADL noted that a greater percent of antisemitic incidents than ever before came in the context of Israel and Zionism. Just under 60% of all reported incidents included elements related to Israel or Zionism, the audit found, a historic first since the ADL began publishing annual reports in 1979.
The ADL noted that it distinguishes between criticism of Israel or “general anti-Israel activism” and the antisemitic rhetoric used by “extreme actors in anti-Israel spaces.” Out of more than 5,000 anti-Israel rallies tracked throughout last year, 2,596 involved antisemitic messaging.
In its report, the ADL described “antisemitic messaging” as including glorification of antisemitic violence, calls to destroy Israel (through slogans ranging from “Death to Israel” to “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”), and explicit marginalization of Jews with a connection to Israel (for example, “We don’t want no Zionists here”).
“Legitimate political protest, support for Palestinian rights, or expressions of opposition to Israeli policies” were not included in the audit, the report stated.
Some opponents of the ADL’s approach to antisemitism tracking reject its inclusion of certain phrases, like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Last year marked the fourth in a row in which the ADL reported a rise in antisemitic incidents nationwide. The figure was up 5% from 8,873 in 2023. However, 2023 itself witnessed a dramatic increase of 139% from the 3,698 antisemitic incidents reported in 2022.
Authors of the report said the results reflect an elevated level of antisemitism that has become a “persistent reality” for American Jews since the spike immediately following the Hamas massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Based on the ADL’s data, Jewish college students likely have faced a significant portion of the intimidation that Levine described.
University campuses saw the largest increase of reported antisemitic incidents when compared with any other location category, including public areas, Jewish institutions, businesses, residential areas and cemeteries.
This trend was consistent in Northern California, where incidents at college campuses increased by 31% from 2023, according to the Central Pacific region of the ADL.
These reported incidents reached their apex from mid-April through mid-May of 2024, coinciding with the anti-Israel encampment movement that descended on colleges nationwide, the report reads. Tent encampments sprung up on multiple California campuses, including San Francisco State University, University of San Francisco, UC Berkeley, California State University in Sacramento, Stanford, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA, and University of Southern California.
J. reported a litany of antisemitic incidents on campuses last year. In February 2024, UC Berkeley students attending a talk by an Israeli attorney and military reservist were forced to evacuate Zellerbach Playhouse after protesters rushed the venue while chanting “Intifada, intifada.” One student reported that protesters called him a “dirty Jew” and spit on him.
In May 2024, protesters took over an abandoned UC Berkeley building, vandalizing its walls with graffiti reading “Martyrs never die” and “Zionism is Nazism.”
In a “fundamental shift” in the antisemitism landscape, university incidents surpassed those at K-12 schools last year. The ADL calls K-12 schools one of the “traditional hotspots” for antisemitism, but reports decreased 26% nationwide in 2024. As in previous years, however, the ADL cautions that incidents in this category are likely underreported, as children may hesitate to speak out about their experiences.
By contrast, antisemitic incidents on college campuses nationwide rose 84% last year.
Regardless, Levine told J. that the ADL will maintain its advocacy efforts at K-12 schools, particularly on the issue of ethnic studies courses in California. Following several years of debates around the content of ethnic studies curriculum, which critics say discriminates against Jews, state legislators introduced AB 1468 this year in an effort to standardize curriculum guidelines for ethnic studies at California high schools.
“We have our work cut out for us in ensuring that ethnic studies curricula across high schools are free from bias against Jews and Israel,” Levine said. “The ADL will be laser-focused on this to help the community bring these numbers down, so that we can catch our breath and live vibrant, proud Jewish lives in the Bay Area.”
The annual ADL audit is based on incidents reported directly from victims and witnesses, as well as from law enforcement agencies, media outlets and partner organizations. Antisemitic incidents can be reported to the ADL online via adl.org/report-incident.