The increase in antisemitic incidents is not just the preserve of New York: California's annual hate crimes report shows that Jews are the number one target of religious-based attacks in the state. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of antisemitic hate crimes in the Golden State increased by 24.3% to a total of 189 incidents. This figure includes violent crimes such as vandalism and assault on Jews, but does not include verbal incidents such as defamation, insults and curses, or spreading hate in flyers.
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In total, 2,120 hate crimes were reported in California in 2022 – a 20.2% increase over 2021, and more than double the number in 2019, when 1,015 incidents were reported. This is a second consecutive increase in the number of hate crimes – not only against Jews but also against blacks and the LGBT community which, according to the report, together constitute the target for attack in 61% of all reported hate incidents in the country in 2022. One of the only bright spots in the report: There was the sharp drop in hate crimes against Asians – the first drop since 2018. Between 2021 and 2022, anti-Asian hate crimes in the country dropped by 43.3% to 140 incidents, after the number rose sharply at the height of the coronavirus epidemic.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement that the surge against the three groups is "alarming" and "illustrates the need for our communities to come together against hate. This report is a stark reminder that there is still much work to be done to combat hate in our country." We all need to work together to fight extremism and foster a safe and inclusive environment for all Californians," he said.
California's annual hate crime report shows that Jews are the number one target of religion-based attacks in the state. The attacks include violent crimes such as vandalism and physical altercations.
The Anti-Defamation League reported this year that California is the second US state in terms of the number of antisemitic incidents, including non-criminal acts, in 2021 and 2022. It ranks second only to New York, but even accounting for differences in population, the Anti-Defamation League noted that the number of incidents there has risen dramatically and disproportionately. A hate crime is defined in the California Penal Code as a criminal act committed because of the victim's disability, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. Last year, charges were filed in 282 hate crime cases, and 53 convictions were recorded.
San Francisco: Hiring 200 new police officers
The California ncity of San Francisco is the symbol of the high-tech industry that has experienced a continuous crisis since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic. Street crime and the number of homeless are on the rise, drug deaths are soaring and house prices are skyrocketing due to a lack of supply. But precisely when it comes to hate crimes, it seems that the situation in the city has improved dramatically, from 118 incidents reported in the prosecutor's report last year to 41 in the current report.
The city's population is close to 900,000, and over 200,000 Jews live in the Bay Area. One of the hypotheses for the decrease in the number of incidents against Jews is a significant negative immigration within the Jewish community, and in the entire population of the city. In fact, about 80,000 of the city's residents have already left over the past two years, in part because of the skyrocketing crime rates compared to the corresponding deterioration in the sense of personal security.
Mayor London Breed added funding to the city budget to hire 200 new police officers, as well as new regulations designed to curb the market for stolen goods and give security personnel easier access to security footage. "I'm focused on making San Francisco a place where people want to live, do business and work, but still - there's a lot of work to be done on property crime and other public safety issues," she said.
First published: 17:35, 07.03.23