Anti-Semitic Assault, Vandalism, Harassment Increases 300%+ In Past Month

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – “Would you put your Christmas tree where people could see it, or would you put your wreath on your door so people can see it? Because that can put you at risk. That is the type of conversations we are having now with Jewish members of our community,” explains Tair Guidice. She is the Chief Impact Officer for the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte. Guidice says, “People are questioning whether or not they’re going to put their menorahs on the windows this coming Hanukkah, which is early December, whether it’s safe to do that.”

She says Charlotte’s Jewish teens are worried about posting anything that identifies themselves as Jewish on social media. She’s even advised her young daughter to remove her Star of David necklace. Guidice says, “I tell her, you know what, maybe for this week, maybe take it off when we go outside, because it’s not such a good idea, maybe.”

Guidice tells WCCB that her office gets calls at least twice a week, from people reporting anti-Semitic incidents at Charlotte K-12 schools, college campuses, and on the street. She says, “People here in America, in the year of 2023, are afraid to show their Jewish identity.”

We went to Meredith Weisel with the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL is closely tracking the rise in anti-Semitism across America. Weisel says, “People can report directly to us, whether it directly happened to them or not.”

After the ADL verifies reports, they compile the data. New numbers released Monday show what’s happening across the country and the Carolinas. In Greensboro, an Israeli flag was ripped from a Jewish family’s home. In Durham, an Instagram user called for a “new Hitler to make Jewish (people) extinct again” and in Apex, a middle school student made an anti-Semitic comment to a Jewish classmate.

Weisel says, “We have seen a tremendous increase in anti-Semitism that is spreading both around the world and certainly here closer to home.”

Back at Charlotte’s Jewish Federation, Guidice is urging her community to be strong, and lean on each other, and for others to speak up. She says, “This is a critical moment in this society, and if we said ‘never again’ as a society, we are being tested now and and we need to hold ourselves accountable, to act now, before it’s too late.”

Mecklenburg County Commissioners last month issued a resolution supporting Israel and condemning terrorism. Guidice says more of the Charlotte area’s elected leaders, businesses and educational institutions should do the same.