Illustrative An antisemitic graphic shared on social media blaming the COVID-19 pandemic on a Jewish conspiracy. Image: Hope Not Hate.

Antisemitic incidents in Wisconsin increased for the seventh year in a row, according to a new report by the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, a chapter of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

An audit of 2022’s incidents — of which there were 101 in total — conducted by the group shows a 6.3 percent rise from the previous year, with hate group activity, promotion of conspiracy theories, vandalism, and antisemitism on K-12 and college campuses spiking the most.

“What we’re seeing is people saying things out loud that they used to whisper,” Miryam Rosenzweig, president and CEO of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, said on Friday, commenting on the report’s findings. “It’s very dangerous. The majority of incidents are not done by people who would identify themselves as part of a hate group. Through repeated exposure, hate speech and hate crime become normalized, an hateful behavior accelerates quickly. When you see the rise of antisemitism, it means that you’re also seeing the rise of hate speech and targeting of other minority communities at the same time.”

In September, at University of Wisconsin-Madison, an individual chalked on a campus sidewalk messages accusing Jewish students of being “racist,” “genocidal,” and “having blood on their hands,” and in March, three antisemitic incidents occurred at the university, including the the carving of a swastika into a bathroom stall, and the harassment of a student who was targeted for “looking Jewish.”

“Hollywood is owned by them, all tv is owned by them, all social media is owned by them, alternative media as well,” said one flyer cited in the report.

In other incidents, students drew swastikas on their desks, and a candidate for office said a Jewish government official had used “[their] Jewish background 2try &BULLY [their] way around City Hall.”

The Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s report comes amid an outbreak of antisemitic hate crimes across the US. According to the Anti-Defamation League, substantial increases in antisemitic physical assaults, as well as over 1,500 incidents of harassment and vandalism, occurred throughout the United States in 2021, with a “surge” of offenders striking during the war between Israel and Hamas.

Five states, New York (416), New Jersey (370), California (367), Florida (190), Michigan (112) and Texas (112), accounted for 58 percent of the total number of incidents reported.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.