According to a new poll from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), antisemitism in the United States is low. However, a large number of Americans are deeply concerned about violence against Jews, and a significant percentage of Muslim Americans hold anti-Jewish views.
“The good news in this research is that today a large majority of Americans do not subscribe to common anti-Semitic stereotypes,” ADL’s national director Jonathan Greenblatt reportedly said in a statement.
The data, which was acquired by the Jerusalem Post, indicated “only 14 percent of Americans expressed antisemitic attitudes, a slight increase from 10 percent in 2015.” The poll also found that more than half of respondents expressed fear about violence against Jews. “52 percent of respondents said they were concerned about anti-Semitic violence,” notes the Jerusalem Post.
The findings indicated that older and less educated pollers were most likely to hold anti-Jewish views. However, it also found that 34 percent of American Muslims held antisemitic views — a proportion far greater than in the general population.
The poll reportedly also found that “half of Muslim Americans hold a favorable view of Israel.” Also, 76 percent of respondents were worried about violence against Muslims.
The ADL reportedly noted that Muslims in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, hold even higher anti-Jewish views than those in the United States. According to the findings, 55 and 75 percent of Muslims in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa hold anti-Jewish view.
The interviews were conducted in October 2016 as well as in January and February of this year. The polls reportedly had a 1.6 to 3 percent margin of error.
Last month, the ADL announced its plans to build a “cyber-hate” command center in Silicon Valley to analyze and combat online hate speech and harassment.
“As I look at the front lines against anti-Semitism and bigotry on all fronts and I look at the scene of where civil rights issues are being hashed out…it’s online,” Greenblatt said, according to SiliconValley.com. “It’s really become the focus for so much of our activity.”
eBay founder Pierre Omidyar is one of the largest backers of the ADL’s new venture.