“In its annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, ADL found that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. rose 57 percent in 2017 – the largest single-year increase on record and the second highest number reported since ADL started tracking such data in 1979. The sharp rise was in part due to a significant increase in incidents in schools and on college campuses, which nearly doubled for the second year in a row…”

See also Quartz: “A gunman has killed multiple people (11), and shot at least 12, including three police officers, at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Saturday (Oct. 27). The suspect has been named as 46-year-old Robert Bowers. While we don’t yet know his motives—authorities are treating the attack as a hate crime—we do know that this tragedy is the culmination of years of rising anti-Semitism in the US, both off and online, that has ramped up ahead of the November midterm elections. According to a report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish civil-rights group, the midterm elections have been a “rallying point” for far-right extremists to organize efforts to spread hate against Jews online. The ADL released a report just yesterday, on Oct. 26, which found that far-right extremists in the US have generated a wave of anti-Semitic harassment against Jewish journalists, political candidates, and private citizens. As the report states: “The online public sphere—now a primary arena for communication about American politics—has become progressively unhospitable [sic] for Jewish Americans.”

But it’s not just online. In 2017, anti-Semitic incidents (including physical assaults, vandalism, and attacks on Jewish institutions) surged nearly 60% over the previous year, according to an ADL audit, the largest single-year increase on record, and the second-highest number reported since the ADL started tracking anti-Semitic incidents in 1979…”

And also via Quartz – If you’re surprised by anti-Semitism, you’re not paying attention

Via BuzzFeedNews: Residents Say The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting “Ripped At The Fabric Of Our Community” As Authorities Detail A Crime Driven By Hatred Of Jews…And the city’s mayor — responding directly to President Trump — said he believed the nation’s focus should be on gun control, not security measures.” Note – this article includes the criminal complaint against the gunman, Robert Bowers.