The shooting massacre of 11 worshipers at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh Saturday was the deadliest attack on Jewish people in U.S. history.
It is difficult not to see the attack — which was carried out by a man whose social media posts made clear he wanted to eradicate Jews — as the extreme tip of a trend. Anti-Semitism has always been present in American society, but in the last two years it has been especially visible.
Jewish community centers around the country received dozens of bomb threats last year. The 2016 presidential campaign included anti-Jewish imagery. White supremacists have marched through the streets of Charlottesville, Va., with torches chanting, “Jews will not replace us!”
Data show the problem getting worse. The number of anti-Semitic incidents and crimes has been rising rapidly after years of decline, though the most recent annual tallies are still below the peaks of the last two decades.