It is challenging for the Bay Area’s Jewish community to remember what our world looked like a year ago. Since Hamas’ terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and the ensuing war, we witnessed a rise in antisemitism unparalleled for generations. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to combat this surge.
As we close celebrations for the Jewish new year and approach Monday’s one-year anniversary of the attack, we reflect on both the hate we’ve experienced and also our hope that the future will bring peace and a renewed sense of safety and belonging for the Jewish community.
Among the deeply troubling trends is the explicit support for terrorism targeting Israel. We see banners strung along highway overpasses, signs on school campuses and graffiti celebrating Hamas, including red triangles (a symbol of Hamas’ targets on Oct. 7) to the chanting of “By Any Means Necessary” and “Globalize the Intifada.” ADL is collaborating with parent groups, schools, universities and government officials to provide insight about the pain and alienation these messages sow.
This is compounded by a rise in antisemitism that manifests in various forms, from the normalization of slurs and antisemitic tropes and stereotypes to violent actions targeting Jewish individuals and institutions. One of the most egregious developments is the use of Zionist as a pejorative. Purposely maligned by those who seek to weaponize Zionism as a coded switch word for Jew, Zionism is the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, the land of Israel. Over the past year, the word has become an alternative for Jew in order to mask underlying hate.
In what we considered a tolerant, progressive community, supporters of Israel find themselves unwelcome. We witnessed students at UC Berkeley ostracized from clubs and Jewish high school students shamed for their identity. ADL is actively involved in litigation, including federal Title VI complaints, to ensure that learning environments claiming to be safe spaces free from hate and bias are truly that.
The backlash against Israel’s right to exist has exploded in public forums. Elected officials face demands by angry mobs, including during city council meetings where antisemitic rhetoric has surged. It is shameful that at an Oakland Council meeting we heard the chants of “Heil Hitler,” and at a Berkeley Council meeting an elderly Holocaust survivor was shouted down when she attempted to provide public comment.
We are witnessing a mystifying reaction from individuals and organizations that traditionally fought to end sexual violence but now vocally and vehemently deny and distort the rape, torture and murder of women on Oct. 7. The tearing down of posters of hostages kidnapped by Hamas belies reason. Hamas’ cold-blooded, brutal murder of Berkeley native Hersh Goldberg-Polin drives home the horror of its terror tactics and the need for all remaining hostages to be freed.
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Local Jewish-owned shops and synagogues have been targets for vandalism and bomb threats. The singling out of a first-year medical student at UCSF by a faculty member is just the most recent act of hate that scares, isolates and “others” Jewish students, staff, faculty and patients. We have worked tirelessly with UC leadership to do more to combat this hate.
It is alarming how manifestations of antisemitism are normalized within broader societal discourses, often under the guise of political activism. The morphing of legitimate criticism of Israel with outright antisemitism creates a dangerous precedent. It undermines the values of tolerance and respect that should be foundational to any democratic society.
The Bay Area has always been a leader in fighting for social justice and equality. But it hasn’t felt that way since Oct. 7. We look now to our allies for support and partnership. Hand in hand, we can create the peace and renewal here at home that eluded us the past 12 months.
Marc Levine is the regional director for the Anti-Defamation League in Northern California, Hawaii and Utah. He served in the California State Assembly from 2012 to 2022.