Anniversary of Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel sees record number of antisemitic incidents: Report

The highest number of incidents of antisemitism in a single week, going back five years, was recorded in the past week, which were the days between the two High Holy Days in the Jewish religion and included the first anniversary of the horrific terrorist attack by the Iranian-backed Hamas against Israel. 

The findings were from the Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) of the organization, Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM). They recorded 324 incidents this past week, which was nearly double the previous highest number that ARC has recorded in a single week going back five years. The previous weekly high this year was 168 incidents recorded back in June. 

Breaking the numbers down further, they found that 132 of this week’s incidents, or 40.7%, took place on college campuses. In the U.S., 112 of the 168 recorded incidents, or exactly two-thirds, took place on college campuses. 

CAM points out that these much higher numbers than in the past started shortly after the October 7 attack last year by Hamas, the terrorist organization that attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage. Days later Israel fought back, and the war in Gaza, which Hamas has controlled since 2007, has continued to this day. Hamas’s covenant calls for the destruction of Israel, saying "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."

CAM cites the emergence in April of anti-Israel encampments, mostly on college campuses, “highlighting the central role hate groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) play in fostering antisemitic atmospheres at American higher education institutions.”

The CEO of CAM, Sacha Roytman, said on X, “The world cannot continue as if nothing has changed. This week, the Combat Antisemitism Movement recorded the highest number of antisemitic incidents since our founding over five years ago. We believe it’s also the week with the highest number of attacks on Jews since the end of the Holocaust.”