For the first time in nearly 35 years, there were more recorded anti-Jewish than anti-black hate crimes in Massachusetts in 2024, the commonwealth stated on Wednesday.
Overall, hate crimes were down last year, but there was what the commonwealth called a “troubling” 20.5% increase in antisemitic hate crimes in 2024. The commonwealth said that this was the first time since 1991, when it began tracking hate crimes, that reported instances of Jew-hatred outpaced racist incidents.
Of the 456 hate crime incidents in the state in 2024, 153 (35%) reflected religious bias, according to the state. Of the religious bias incidents, 130 (85%) were antisemitism, according to the state’s data. There were also 10 incidents (6.5%) of anti-Muslim bias, in which four known offenders had committed against nine people. Per the state data, 33 known offenders committed anti-Jewish hate crimes against 97 victims.
Per state data, there were 107 incidents of anti-black hate, or about 31% fewer than antisemitic hate crimes. The state recorded 70 hate crime incidents based on sexual orientation.
Robert Leikind, regional director for New England for the American Jewish Committee, told JNS that “as shocking as these new hate crime statistics are, they are hardly surprising.”
Leikind noted that 77% of American Jews say they feel less safe as Jews in the United States due to the Oct. 7 terror attacks, and 33% say that they have been targeted as Jews in person or online at least once in the past year, per the AJC’s 2024 State of Antisemitism in America report
“Clearly, Massachusetts is not immune to these disturbing trends,” Leikind told JNS. “Confronting this hate requires a whole of society response from our educators, government, law enforcement and community leaders at all levels.”
“We need to identify and engage with those who knowingly—and not—perpetuate the conspiracy theories that drive anti-Jewish hatred and spread disturbing narratives that are fueling anti-Jewish ideas and convey that Zionists and others who support Zionism are exemplars of the world’s greatest evils,” he added.
Samantha Joseph, the Anti-Defamation League New England regional director, told JNS that she is “deeply disturbed yet not surprised” to see that anti-Jewish hate crimes were up by an “astounding” 20.5% in the state.
“This confirms the increase in Jew-hatred that we’ve been tracking for years,” Joseph told JNS. “This is not normal. This data should ring alarm bells all over the commonwealth.”
The nonprofit told JNS that “together, all of us need to confront antisemitism wherever it appears—in schools, neighborhoods, workplaces and online spaces.”
“We need our government leaders to lead,” it said.
It recommended that the state adopt the advice of its Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism and that “government leaders at all levels must also speak out forcefully and unequivocally against antisemitism, regardless of which side of the political aisle it comes from, but especially when it comes from their own party.”
“Selective condemnation sends a message that some forms of Jewish hatred are acceptable,” it said.
School and district administrators ought to adopt “clear protocols” on reporting and responding to Jew-hatred, law enforcement should get “specialized training” and “all of us need to push back on the antisemitic boycott, divestment and sanctions movement everywhere it rears its ugly head,” per the ADL.
“Aiming to delegitimize Israel, the BDS movement uses tactics that bring division and rancor to the communities and institutions they have targeted,” it said.
Benjamin Flax, the rabbi of the Temple Tifereth Israel, an unaffiliated synagogue in Winthrop, Mass., and a chaplain in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, told JNS that “as synagogues, yarmulkes and Jewish cultural events are being targeted, we must acknowledge that this is all antisemitism, and there must be zero tolerance.”
“Today, hateful actions against almost any other marginalized community are grounds for immediate ‘canceling,’ whereas participating in antisemitism,” he said, “well, that seems to get you tenure track at Harvard.” (Flax holds a master’s from Harvard.)
The state hate crime statistics are “truly saddening, yet unsurprising,” he told JNS.
“Over the past decade, antisemitic tropes and voices have become mainstream and even fashionable,” he said, noting that he has been referred to with an antisemitic slur (k***) during a Winthrop town meeting and harassed on local public transportation.
“Someone yelled at me, ‘Watch out for this Oct. 7, someone is coming for you,’ along with other vile remarks, and not a single person said a word or acknowledged the action,” Flax told JNS.
“Society seems to believe that by claiming ‘anti-Zionism and antisemitism are not the same thing,’ any antisemitic harassment coded as anti-Zionist shouldn’t be counted,” he said. “These words and accepted voices fuel vitriol and violence that is shocking.
The Massachusetts government stated that the 4.4% to 6.5% drop in reported hate crimes overall in 2024 compared to 2023 was “supported by targeted investments in youth programs, community-based prevention strategies and robust partnerships between law enforcement agencies and local organizations.”
The state invested “more than $45 million in targeted public safety initiatives that have contributed to a measurable decline in crime in communities statewide,” it added.
It wasn’t clear why those things wouldn’t also lower anti-Jewish hate crimes.
“This new data is encouraging and reflects the important work that law enforcement and community partners do day in and day out to keep the people of Massachusetts safe,” stated Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat.
“We know there is always more work to be done, and we remain committed to bringing people together to continue to enhance public safety in communities across the state,” she said.