As 2021 Ends, December Sees Sharp Antisemitism Vandalism Spike, CAM Data Shows

The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) Information Hub tracked a total of 181 antisemitic incidents reported in the media worldwide in December 2021, a 15.0% decrease from the previous month.

CAM’s Monthly Antisemitism Report classifies incidents of Jew-hatred (including physical assault, verbal harassment, vandalism, and hate speech) by the ideologies of the perpetrators.

Of December’s incidents, 56.9% (103) had far-right motives, while 11.0% (20) had far-left motives, and 15.5% (28) had radical Islamist motives. The remainder — 16.6% (30) — had unidentifiable motives.

There was a 25.3% rise in incidents of vandalism in December, with a total of 94 — 51.9% of all antisemitic incidents for the month, and there was also a 7.7% increase in incidents of radical Islamist antisemitism, while decreases of 5.5%, 23.1%, and 42.3% were recorded in the far-right, far-left, and unidentifiable categories, respectively.

December marked the end of a year that saw a disturbing rise in the trend of Holocaust trivialization, largely centered around the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. A full CAM database of Holocaust trivialization events since the summer is available here.

In mid-December, supporters of the Goyim Defense League, a neo-Nazi group, were responsible for the dissemination in at least nine U.S. states of antisemitic leaflets propagating conspiracy theories blaming Jews for the Covid-19 pandemic.

There were four adoptions of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism in December — by the Australian state of New South Wales; Argentina’s Club Atlético Talleres soccer team; and the U.S. states of Montana and South Dakota.

The full monthly report can be viewed here.

For more information on CAM’s antisemitism incidents data, which is collected on a weekly basis, visit: combatantisemitism.org/newsletters