[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 40 (Thursday, March 21, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2717-S2719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMMENDING THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE FOR THEIR EFFORTS TO COMBAT HATE
CRIMES
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I applaud the Anti-Defamation League
[ADL] for its continuing work to expose and combat hate crimes, and to
bring your attention to its most recent ``Audit of Anti-Semitic
Incidents.'' For the past 17 years, the ADL has compiled data about
anti-Jewish attacks. Their efforts in the collection of data and the
development of programs regarding anti-Semitic acts increase public
awareness of this problem, and help generate constructive solutions. I
commend ADL for continuing this important endeavor and would like to
share with you some of their recent findings.
In 1995, the total number of anti-Semitic incidents reported to the
Anti-Defamation League--including acts against property and persons--
was 1,843. I am pleased to report that this total represents a decrease
of 223 incidents, or 11 percent, from the 1994 total of 2,066. This is
the largest decline in 10 years. Unfortunately, the decline is
contrasted with the seriousness of many of the incidents reported. For
the fifth straight year in a row, acts of anti-Semitic harassment
against individuals outnumber incidents of vandalism against
institutions and other property. In 1995, the 1,116 incidents of
harassment account for 61 percent of all incidents, compared to 727
accounts of vandalism. Fortunately, the 1,116 incidents of harassment,
threats, and assaults represents a decrease of 81, or 7 percent from
the 1994 total of 1,197, which was the highest on record. Although it
is encouraging to see the number of harassments down from previous
years, I am troubled that incidents of harassment remain one of the
dominant forms of anti-Semitic activity.
Although the ADL audit provides useful statistics about anti-Semitism
generally, it is particularly revealing to consider specific incidents.
One particularly violent incident occurred in Cincinnati, OH, when a
group of four youths assaulted the son of a community rabbi, chasing
him for about a block before they caught him outside of the synagogue
and beat him until he collapsed on the street. The ADL also reported an
incident of arson in New York City, at Freddy's Fashion Mart, where
eight people, including the arsonist himself, died. At Fresno State
College, following the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin, the student-run newspaper printed an article calling Rabin,
``The most despicable mass murderer the 20th century has seen, making
Hitler look like Big Bird.''
Sadly, 1995 saw a large number of anti-Semitic incidences on college
campuses. One disturbing incident occurred at the University of
Pennsylvania. On March 24, two students were walking in an area
immediately off campus. Derogatory epithets were shouted at them by two
students sitting on the porch of a private home. When the Jewish
students confronted them, one of the two went into the house and
returned brandishing a shotgun which he used to threaten the Jewish
students, who quickly fled the scene.
On another somber note, the number of arrests made in conjunction
with anti-Semitic hate crimes was 108, a significant decrease of 33
from last year's arrest total of 141. This may be attributed to either
fewer crimes or underreporting of crime instances. However, the number
of arrests is still relatively high, which is encouraging. Law
enforcement agencies have been making intensive efforts to refine
procedures for investigation of hate crimes, with the assistance of the
ADL and other human relations organizations.
In closing, I again want to commend the ADL for its outstanding and
important work and ask that portions of the ADL report be printed in
the Record.
The material follows:
Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents--1995
the findings
In 1995, the total number of anti-Semitic incidents
reported to the Anti-Defamation League--including acts
against both property and persons--was 1,843. This total,
comprising reports from 42 states and the District of
Columbia, represents a decrease of 223 incidents, or 11
percent, from the 1994 total of 2,066.
The four states reporting the highest totals of anti-
Semitic incidents of all kinds in 1995 were: New York (370),
California (264), New Jersey (228), and Florida (152). These
four states account for 1,014 of the 1,843 incidents reported
(55 percent).
The 1995 audit reveals the following new developments:
(1) The decline in violent crime in the U.S. that has been
reported by Federal and municipal law enforcement in 1995
carries over
[[Page S2718]]
into anti-Semitic bias incidents as well. The overall 11
percent decline reflected in this year's Audit is the first
since 1992, and the largest decline in 10 years. Thus, the
Audit statistics mirror the state of crime in American
society. Enhanced security awareness by Jewish institutions,
steadily improving law enforcement action, and passage of
hate crimes legislation have likely contributed to this
decline.
(2) The decline is contrasted with the seriousness of many
of the incidents reported. An extremely violent arson
incident in New York City led to several deaths. In addition,
the number of cemetery desecrations (one of the most serious
and hurtful forms of vandalism, which affects an entire
community) actually increased over 1994.
(3) The number of incidents occurring on the college campus
shows the first decline since 1987, and only the second since
the Audit began separately counting such incidents in 1984.
In 1995, 118 campus incidents occurred, a decrease of 25 (17
percent) from the 1994 total of 143.
In addition to the aforementioned findings, the 1995
figures maintain two important trends noted in the 1994 ADL
study:
(1) For the fifth straight year, acts of anti-Semitic
harassment outnumber incidents of vandalism. In 1995, the
1,116 incidents of harassment account for 61 percent of all
incidents, vs. 727 incidents of vandalism. The number of
harassments and assaults in 1995 dropped by 81, or 7 percent,
from 1994.
(2) As in previous years, of the total of 727 incidents of
vandalism, the number of vandalism incidents committed
against public properly locations (362)--i.e., public school
buildings, bridges, and sign posts--in 1995 was more than
twice that committed against synagogues and other Jewish
institutional targets (145). (The remaining 220 vandalism
incidents were perpetrated against privately owned property.)
This pattern continues a trend seen over the previous five
years. Vandals, it seems, are still opting for the more
numerous and harder-to-protect public locations rather than
the generally better secured and increasingly more aware
Jewish institutions. In recent years, such institutions have
also become better protected by more intensive law
enforcement action.
fewer incidents--but many still very serious
In contrast to the overall decline in incidents reported in
1995, there were several particularly troubling incidents
which took place over the last year.
On November 11, 1995, the FBI arrested four suspects in a
foiled attempt to bomb several offices of civil rights
organizations around the country, including ADL Regional
Offices. Willie Ray Lampley, Cecilia Lampley, Larry Wayne
Crow, and John Dare Baird had been allegedly conspiring since
August 1995 to build homemade bombs out of ammonium nitrate,
fuel oil, and other ingredients to destroy the ADL Houston
office, a second unnamed ADL office, the Southern Poverty Law
Center in Montgomery, Alabama, and two other targets to be
decided by the ``Tri-State Militia.''
The FBI became aware of the plans on a tip from local law
enforcement sources in South Dakota, and closely monitored
the development plot through the use of undercover informants
and surveillance. All of the suspects were arrested without
incident, and indicted on Federal charges.
On December 8th, Roland Smith entered Freddy's Fashion Mart
on Harlem's historic 125th Street in New York City. According
to the New York Times (Dec. 9, 10), he then produced a
revolver and yelled ``It's on now!'' and ordered all blacks
to leave the store. After this he began to fire the gun, and
to spread a flammable liquid over the racks of clothing in
the store, before igniting them. When the fire department had
finally extinguished the flames, 8 people were dead,
including Smith. An additional 4 people were wounded.
Fred Harari, the Jewish owner of Freddy's, was involved in
a landlord-tenant dispute with Sikhulu Shange, the black
owner of the Record Shack, a store subletting an adjacent
property. (The entire property was actually owned by the
United House of Prayer for All People, a Black church). Mr.
Shange enlisted the support of the 125th Street Vendors
Association, which organized demonstrations outside of
Freddy's. Though it started as a simple economic dispute, the
demonstrators quickly began to characterize it in terms of a
white Jewish-owned business trying to force a black business
off 125th Street. In late November, Mr. Harari complained
that the demonstrations, which was supported by community
newspapers and radio stations, were taking an anti-Semitic
tone, and were laced with increasingly violent racist
rhetoric.
On Saturday, February 18, members of the Ohev Shalom
Synagogue in York, PA, arrived for services to find a severed
pig's head mounted on the front door. The community quickly
rallied behind the efforts of law enforcement officials to
apprehend the perpetrator, and support the synagogue. At a
vote on a motion to condemn the incident, town supervisor
Lori Mitrick states that the Jewish community should know
``this is not just an embarrassment to them, it is an
embarrassment to all decent human beings.''
Determined police work led to the eventual arrest and
conviction of 22-year-old Mason E. Aldrich for institutional
vandalism, desecration of venerated objects, and criminal
conspiracy. He was sentenced to 23 months in jail and ordered
to perform 120 hours of community service, including 15 hours
of cultural awareness programming with ADL.
In interviews leading up to his October 16 Million Man
March, the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan sought to
justify his referring to Jews and others as ``blood
suckers.'' On Reuters Television, Farrakhan explained, ``Many
of the Jews who owned the homes, the apartments in the black
community, we considered them bloodsuckers because they took
from our community but didn't offer anything back to our
community.'' Minister Farrakhan was interviewed by many
national news programs in the weeks leading up to the march,
interspersing many of his remarks with thinly veiled
conspiracy theory anti-Semitism.
In addition to the above incidents, other troubling acts
included the beating of a rabbi's son in Cincinnati, OH, and
the intimidation of the cast of a play about the Holocaust in
Honolulu, HI. At the University of Pennsylvania, two Jewish
students were threatened by other students brandishing a
shotgun, after being taunted with anti-Semitic epithets. In
California, a home-made fire-bomb was thrown at a synagogue.
The bomb did not detonate, and the synagogue was spared.
(Please see Examples of Harassment, Threats and Assaults, p.
4; Campus Incidents, p. 9; and A Look at Some Noteworthy
Incidents, p. 13, for more information.)
Harassment, threats, and assaults
In 1995, the number of incidents of anti-Semitic
harassment, threats, and assaults directed at Jewish
individuals and institutions totaled 1,116. This total
represents a decrease of 81, or 7 percent from the 1994 total
of 1,197, which was the highest on record.
This category of incidents covers a large variety of
intimidating and hostile acts, including: slanderous anti-
Semitic and neo-Nazi hate literature mailed or disseminated
in public places; slurs directed against Jewish individuals
walking to synagogue services or campus gatherings; speeches
given on campus containing anti-Semitic language; Holocaust-
denial advertisements in campus newspapers; a threatening
phone call to a synagogue or Jewish school; as well as direct
physical violence against Jewish persons as a result of their
identity. Although many incidents of harassment are not
crimes, they continue to constitute overt and painful
expressions of anti-Semitic hatred.
While it is encouraging that the number of harassments is
down from previous years, a troubling trend has been
maintained in the 1995 totals. As in past years, incidents of
harassment are significantly more common than incidents of
vandalism. While any expression of anti-Semitic behavior is
troubling, the high number of these more personalized attacks
is a cause for particular concern.
examples of harassment, threat, and assault incidents
The following is a representative sampling of 1995
incidents of anti-Semitic harassment, threats, and assaults
in the 20 states reporting the highest totals of such acts.
1. New York (200 incidents) March--Upon leaving a dance
club late at night, a group of men was approached by several
people who asked if they were Jewish. When they responded
that they were, one of them was beaten with a ``Club'' anti-
car-theft device. (New York City)
2. California (175) August--A car with four young men in it
drove past a group of campers and staff at a JCC camp and
shouted profanities and anti-Semitic epithets. (San Diego)
3. Florida (102) October--Police officers and social
workers received messages on their beepers leading them to
call the Children of the Reich hate line, with a message
threatening Jews and African-Americans.
4. New Jersey (97) January/February--Community leaders were
threatened with bodily harm if they supported an application
to erect a new synagogue building. (Closter)
5. Connecticut (51) February--An anti-Semitic, Holocaust-
denying letter was sent to a Jewish newspaper. (Hartford)
6. Ohio (50) November--Soon after the assassination of
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a spectator at a
Cleveland Browns football game held a sign saying, ``They
killed the wrong Jew,'' a reference to Art Modell, the owner
of the team who decided to move it to Baltimore. (Cleveland)
7. Massachusetts (47) June--A 74-year-old Russian immigrant
was assaulted by his neighbor, who yelled, ``F__ __ __ing
Jew--go back to Russia.'' (Brighton)
8. Maryland (44) May--A Holocaust information center
received numerous anti-Semitic phone calls after its phone
number was posted on the Internet. (Baltimore)
9. Illinois (40) August--A man was walking on a downtown
street wearing a sandwich board sign which read, ``HIROSHIMA
+ NAGASAKI Were (and are) JEWISH ATROCITIES.'' (Chicago)
10. Pennsylvania (36) April--A synagogue nursery school
received a letter which stated, ``Fuel oil fertilizer. Jews
go boom.'' (Western Pennsylvania)
11. Missouri (31) March--The Aryan Revolutionary Army
passed out flyers stating that the ``only good Jew is a dead
Jew.'' (St. Louis)
12. Georgia (27) April--A high school history teacher
asserted in class that the Jews control the media and film
industry. (Atlanta)
13. District of Columbia (21)--A U.S. Congressman received
anti-Semitic hate mail including, ``How is it that a Jew
backs a
[[Page S2719]]
Nazi?'' and ``You Jews cause trouble all around the world and
then try to hide behind your religion,'' and imagery such as
swastikas and other offensive drawings.
14. Minnesota (20) February--The National Socialist
American Workers Freedom Movement, a neo-Nazi group,
distributed flyers questioning the Holocaust and filled with
virulently anti-Semitic statements. (Minneapolis)
15. Texas (20) February--A 15-year-old Jewish student was
assaulted by a gang of 15 skinheads. He escaped without
serious injury. (Alamo Heights)
16. Colorado (16) October--A threatening message was left
on the voice mail of the ADL Regional Office, stating,
``Hello, is this the rabbi? F__ __ __ you. Six million more,
hey six zillion more!'' (Denver)
17. Wisconsin (16) April--A letter addressed to the
Executive Director of the Jewish Council said ``Death to all
jews [sic]. Six million more!!! May you be next!!!''
(Milwaukee)
18. Washington (13) April--A package of dog feces was left
on the front porch of a Jewish family, with the message,
``Happy Passover from Congregation Beth Shalom.''
19. North Carolina (11) January--Skinhead hate literature
was distributed at a flea market by Gary Lauck's National
Socialist German Workers Party. (Fayetteville)
20. Virginia (11) January--Anti-Semitic hate literature
from the National Alliance was left in people's driveways.
(Henrico County)
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