On 26th March 2003, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published data on incidents of antisemitism in the United States for the year 2002. The most interesting fact was that alongside a moderate, almost imperceptable increase in the number of incidents against Jews and Jewish institutions in the United States (from 1432 in 2001 to 1559 in 2002), there was a 24 percent increase in the number of antisemitic incidents on American campuses (from 85 in 2001 to 106 in 2002).
ADL Director General Abraham Foxman said that in view of these findings,
“While we can take comfort that year’s numbers have not increased substantially, it is unsettling that we are still experiencing antisemitism at an average rate of four incidents per day. It demonstrates there is a real need for continuing education and outreach.”
With regard to the on-campus incidents mentioned in the report, many of them began as anti-Israel demonstrations or Zionist counter-demonstrations, there were definitely expressions of antisemitism in the course of these demonstration.
According to the report, the Internet continues to play an important role in the dissemination of antisemitism. However, the report admits that in effect there is no way to determine the number of antisemitic messages on the web.
