Anti-Semitism is growing in this country. We all must confront it | Opinion

A year has passed since 11 Jews, praying at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, were mercilessly shot and killed during Sabbath morning services. For all American Jews, the pain persists. We are not the same.

While we had watched from afar rising anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence across Europe in recent years, many of us believed that America was different, that such horrendous acts of violence could not take place here. What happened in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2018, was a horrible wake-up call, a deadly reminder that anti-Semitism persists in our time, in our own country.

Hate crimes against Jews in the United States have been on the rise for several years. According to the FBI, the number of reported attacks against Jews in the this country rose almost 60 percent in 2018, making up almost two-thirds of all religiously-motivated hate crimes.

However, FBI reports do not tell us how American Jews experience and perceive anti-Semitism. Now, an unprecedented survey of American Jews, released just before the first anniversary of the assault on Tree of Life, reveals an American Jewish community with deep concerns about anti-Semitism in the United States and widespread fear that it is getting worse.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) survey findings are striking and profoundly troubling. Nearly nine out of 10 American Jews, 88 percent, say anti-Semitism is a problem in the nation today, with more than a third, 38 percent, calling it a very serious problem. When asked if anti-Semitism in the United States has increased over the past five years, a stunning 84 percent said it has and 43 percent — a plurality — said it has increased a lot.

More than a third of American Jews (35 percent) say they have personally been the targets of antisemitism over the past five years, and nearly a quarter (23 percent) say they have been targeted by antisemitic remarks in person, by mail, or by phone. A fifth (20 percent) say they have been targeted by anti-Semitic remarks online.

These survey results demonstrate that Jewish Americans’ sense of security in this country has been challenged. The perpetrators of anti-Semitic hate crimes intend to intimidate and spark fear, not just in the victims but also in the victims’ community. We will not let them succeed.

A serious effort to address this national challenge will require a self-examination and joint action on the part of government officials from both sides of the aisle, along with Jewish community representatives and civil society leaders.

Now is the time for principled leadership and introspection. Gov. Ron DeSantis took a powerful first step here in Florida when he signed legislation on May 29 barring anti-Semitism and other religious discrimination in Florida’s public schools. The state Legislature had unanimously passed the legislation in April. The bill sends a strong signal that Florida will not tolerate anti-Semitism, a cancer that continues to grow and threaten the fabric of society well beyond the Jewish community.

Using the U.S. State Department definition of anti-Semitism, the legislation mandates that discrimination against Jewish people be viewed the same as other acts of racial bias in Florida’s public education institutions. The legislation defines as anti-Semitism calls for violence against Jews, advancing conspiracy theories about Jewish control, Holocaust denial and ways in which anti-Zionism can mask anti-Semitism.

It is also time to mobilize both the Jewish community and our non-Jewish brothers and sisters to fight anti-Semitism. People of good conscience recognize that anti-Semitism of any kind threatens not only Jews, but American society in general.

That is why AJC created the initiative we called #ShowUpforShabbat immediately after the Pittsburgh attack. This hashtag inspired hundreds of thousands of Jews and non-Jews to go to synagogue, was seen by more than 250 million people and played a significant role in our national healing process. A year after the Tree of Life attack, this initiative inspired leaders in the faith and civic communities to stand together in solidarity and in defense of democratic pluralism and religious freedom.

Showing up for each other matters, but our solidarity must extend beyond one day. We must proclaim loudly our unified commitment to confront hate and bias crimes and to combat all forms of hatred and anti-Semitism. Only then will we be ensuring the safety and dignity of our communities and upholding our values of democracy, pluralism and mutual respect.

Brian Siegal is director of the American Jewish Committee’s Greater Miami and Broward Regional Office.