Hate Crimes Against Jews Up In Riverside County, Report Finds

Anti-Semitic incidents dropped by 14 percent nationally in 2012, despite an increase in vandalism attacks across the country and in the Pacific Southwest Region that includes Riverside and Los Angeles counties, according to a report released today.

According to the Anti-Defamation League's Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, California dropped from first to second place in the number of reported anti-Semitic incidents for the first time in three years, with New York taking the top spot.

The report found that there were 927 reported incidents of anti-Semitic assault, vandalism and harassment across the country in 2012, down from 1,080 in 2011.

"We are pleased to see a decline in anti-Semitic incidents around the country and happy to relinquish California's standing as the state with the most overall incidents," ADL Pacific Southwest Regional Director Amanda Susskind said. "Still, as we track crimes and incidents, including assaults, vandalism and harassment, we are troubled by the insurmountable challenge of monitoring cyberspace, where hate can be anonymous and ubiquitous."

The report found that despite the overall drop in anti-Semitic incidents, reports of vandalism jumped 33 percent nationally, from 330 in 2011 to 440 in 2012 -- with 13 percent of the reported vandalism targeting Jewish institutions.

In the ADL's Pacific Southwest Region, which includes Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Kern counties, anti-Semitic vandalism increased by 12 percent, according to the report. Much of that vandalism involved swastikas.

The report outlined some of the vandalism, including the painting of swastikas and the words "Jew die" on a Los Angeles student's dorm room and the words "kill Jews" painted on a vehicle in the San Fernando Valley.

The report also detailed some online threats, including a person in Riverside County who received a message on Facebook stating "no one's killed you yet" and "you'll be dead soon Kike."--City News Service