Antisemitic incidents on the rise in Colorado in recent years

Eighty-five percent of Americans believe at least one anti-Jewish trope. That's the latest finding of the Anti-Defamation League, which made that finding in a recent survey. That number is significantly higher in the last few years; in 2019, the ADL found 61% of Americans believed at least one anti-Jewish trope.  It's also the highest rate of belief in anti-Jewish tropes the ADL has found in decades.

"The trope measures the classic conspiracy theories that have been leveled against Jews for generations about power, control, greed," said Scott Levin, Regional Director of ADL Mountain States Region in an interview with CBS News Colorado. 

The ADL surveyed 4,000 Americans in September and October of 2022. It found 20% of Americans believe six or more tropes about Jews, which is up from 11% in 2019. While there is a connection between anti-Jewish and anti-Israel beliefs, the survey did not find a connection in age. In 2022, 18% of young adults aged 18 to 30 believed six or more tropes about Jews, while 20% of older adults felt the same.

Colorado is not separate from antisemitism. The state has seen a similar increase in anti-Jewish incidents compared to the nation at large.

"We have been at the highest number of [antisemitic] incidents in a very long time," Levin said.

The ADL hasn't compiled the data from 2022 yet, but Levin says they expect to see the rising trend continue.

"It looks like they'll still be at very difficult and high levels. The year before, we were at our peak here in Colorado. And it is very troubling," said Levin. "What we're seeing is there's just been a normalization of hate that's been taking place in general, against all different types of people."

The ADL has been measuring antisemitic attitudes since 1964. Rates of antisemitic beliefs had been around 10% at one time, Levin says, but in the last few years have come back up. He says measuring antisemitism and other types of hate is important for fighting it. Levin says combatting hate is up to everyone.

"The Jewish people in the United States, it might surprise people to know, are only 2% of the country. We're not going to be able to do this on our own," Levin said. "It's going to take a whole-of-society approach, and that means it's going to take my neighbors speaking up for me just like I speak up for them."

You can read the full results of the Anti-Defamation League's 2022 Antisemitic Attitudes Survey here.