Anti-Semitic Hate Crime [factsheet]

Abstract

Anti-Semitism has affected Jewish communities for millennia, and found its most brutal expression in the Holocaust, during which millions of Jews were murdered. Despite the lesson of this horrific event, anti-Semitism continues to plague Jewish communities to this day, from conspiracy theories to violent attacks. Too often, this intolerance can morph into hate crimes against Jews. The impact of these crimes can be that Jewish individuals fear attending worship services, wearing religious attire or symbols, or abstain from identifying publicly as Jews either culturally or in religious identity. Anti-Semitism affects not only Jews, but society as a whole. Its existence underscores wider trends of intolerance towards other groups, and everyone has a role to play in countering thisand all forms of intolerance.