Confronting the escalating threat of antisemitism
Oct. 7, 2023, didn’t happen in a vacuum. The effects of the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history reverberated across the globe, and this evil found its way into the dark corners of our homeland.
The Jewish people have been persecuted for centuries, but many Jewish Americans are experiencing violence today they’ve never witnessed in their lifetimes.
Just two weeks ago, two Israeli embassy staff members were slain in the streets of our national capital. Now, the Jewish community was dealt another blow by an antisemitic terrorist in Boulder, Colorado. This latest act of targeted violence underscores the persistence of hatred against our Jewish brothers and sisters — and the urgency to hold those who promote antisemitic hate accountable.
These attacks are not isolated — they are part of a dangerous and growing trend that endangers the safety, dignity, and freedom of Jewish Americans. Antisemitism is a clear and present threat to America’s Jewish community, and it’s been on the rise for years.
Last year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported 9,354 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment, and vandalism — this amounts to 25 targeted incidents a day. That’s more than one per hour. It also represents an almost 900% increase in antisemitic incidents over the past 10 years.
In fact, since they began tracking in 1979, ADL recorded the highest number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2023 and 2024. The American Jewish Committee (AJC) reported that 63% of American Jews felt less secure in 2023 compared to the previous year, a significant increase from 41% in 2022.
These numbers are staggering to anyone, but to our Jewish brothers and sisters, it’s just a reflection of their terrifying reality.
After the world witnessed a modern-day pogrom in Amsterdam where Israeli soccer fans and Jews ran for their lives, I wrote a letter to Jewish college students across America.
“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen — not in Amsterdam and not in the United States,” I emphasized.
“I want to make clear to each and every Jewish student on an American campus: I and my colleagues won’t stand for this. While your administrators may not have your backs, we do. And we always will,” my letter continued.
I want to reiterate my statement to Jewish college students, as well as the entire Jewish community, now and in perpetuity.
Among numerous other legislative efforts, I remain a strong supporter of the Antisemitism Awareness Act. This legislation would direct the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when investigating antisemitic acts on campus.
In fact, I discussed how Congress can work to strengthen Title VI in a Senate Judiciary hearing earlier this year with witness Alyza Lewin, President of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law. She urged adopting the IHRA definition to make clear the critical distinction between a political debate on the state of global affairs and the vilification of Jews.
I’m sincerely thankful for my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, who continue to denounce hateful, anti-Jewish sentiment. And I continue to be grateful for President Trump’s strong actions to protect America’s Jewish citizens. His unwavering efforts to hold institutions and leaders accountable for antisemitism are exactly the leadership America needs right now.
The sheer evil of antisemitism, left unchecked, has evolved and grown into an ever more virulent hatred, one that no American citizen should ever have to endure.
When radical extremist antisemites sow seeds of division within our nation, it is imperative we stand together, as Alabamians and Americans, in opposition to this despicable violence and in solidarity with the Jewish community across the globe.
Katie Boyd Britt is the junior U.S. senator from the state of Alabama.
