City Paper Staff | Antisemitic incidents nearly doubled in South Carolina from 2022 to 2023, according to a new audit by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The numbers jumped 93% in incidents year over year, the report said
“While these numbers are staggering, they are not surprising,” said Natanya Miller, the Charleston Jewish Federation’s director of educational initiatives. “We have been responding to incidents across the Charleston area, and the state as a whole, in greater numbers since October 7.” That’s when terrorists from Gaza struck Israel and took more than 240 hostages, prompting a war that has lasted more than six months.
“It is more important than ever that our community come together to learn not just how to confront antisemitism, but also how to stand against it,” Miller added. “Whether it is swastikas drawn at schools, comments made to people in grocery stores or flyers promoting conspiracy theories, our community is no stranger to hate, but we are stronger than it.”
South Carolina is one of two states in the U.S. without an existing hate crimes law, despite bills being introduced annually in the state legislature since a White supremacist murdered nine worshippers at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015.
South Carolina’s spike in antisemitic incidents has led to several communities introducing their own hate crimes ordinances. Charleston was the first municipality to pass a local hate crime law, followed by (in alphabetical order) Bluffton, Chester, Florence, Mount Pleasant and Myrtle Beach. Anti-hate measures also have been proposed or are in process in Beaufort, Hardeeville, North Charleston and Summerville.
Across the nation, antisemitic incidents rose 140% from 2022 to 2023, the report said. Related assaults increased by 45% to 161 incidents, vandalism increased 69% to 2,177 incidents and harassment increased 184% to 6,535 incidents.
The dramatic increase in incidents took place primarily in the period following the Oct. 7 attacks. Between Oct. 7 and the end of 2023, ADL counted 5,204 antisemitic incidents, more than the incident total for the whole of 2022. Antisemitic incidents also increased year-over-year at K-12 schools, Jewish institutions jumped, and college and university campuses.
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