With hate crime at its highest level in decades, the Simon Wiesenthal Center is once again calling for the creation of an FBISpecial Taskforce to combat anti-Semitism. Hate crimes surged nearly 12 percent between 2020 and 2021, according to updated statistics released by the FBI on Monday. Contributing to the overallrise was a 28% increase in anti-Jewish incidents, from 683 to 871.
“Simon Wiesenthal Center reiterates its call to the FBI for the creation of a Special Taskforce onAnti-Semitism. We reiterate our call on social media giants to stop extremists – from terrorists to anti-Semites – from leveraging their powerful marketing platforms used to mainstream hate intoour everyday lives,” stated SWC Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda, Rabbi AbrahamCooper.
The SWC will be releasing itsDigital Terrorism and Hate Report in partnership with NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Monday, March 20. The 2023report comes at a time of unprecedented hate, anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial on global platforms by neo-Nazis, racists, and white supremacists. A Digital Terrorism + Hate “Report Card” will alsobe released grading the social media companies on their failure to curb online hate.
For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com orShawn Rodgers at srodgers@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitterfeed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization numbering over400.000 members. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).