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ADL tells Massachusetts commission its audit found 440 antisemitic incidents in 2023; warns of underreporting
Summary
The Anti-Defamation League told the new state commission that ADL's 2023 audit recorded 440 incidents in Massachusetts and large year-over-year increases in vandalism and assaults; ADL urged better, consolidated incident reporting and cautioned its data likely undercounts the true scale.
At the inaugural session of the Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism, Peggy Schuenger of the Anti-Defamation League presented ADL's audit methodology and key findings for 2023.
Schuenger said ADL categorizes incidents as harassment, vandalism and assault and that Massachusetts recorded 440 incidents in ADL's 2023 audit. She reported a 70% rise in vandalism and said assaults doubled year over year; ADL also flagged a sharp increase in bomb threats toward Jewish institutions and a rise in organized white-supremacy propaganda.
ADL cautioned its audit reflects reported incidents and is likely an undercount; the organization noted it recently broadened methodology to include some public activism when leaders or chants include explicitly antisemitic rhetoric. ADL distinguished that a protest slogan like "Free Palestine" alone would not be counted unless the rhetoric specifically targeted Jews or glorified violence.
ADL recommended improved and more uniform incident reporting. Schuenger pointed to state examples and cited the Washington state centralized hotline model as a possible template for a trauma-informed, linguistically accessible reporting system that helps victims navigate services.
Commissioners asked for methodological clarifications and for ADL to return with additional breakdowns; ADL said it would try to provide more disaggregated research in a future meeting.
What remains unresolved: one harassment increase percentage was unclear in the transcript and is recorded here as not specified; ADL repeatedly emphasized both methodological changes and the underreporting risk so official counts should be read as a lower bound of prevalence.
