FBI Report: Majority of Anti-Faith Hate Crimes Are Anti-Jewish

On Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) released its 2010 report entitled, "Hate Crime Statistics" (the full text of the annual report can be found here). Of the 6,224 single bias incidents reported, 20 percent were motivated by faith and religion -- making this the second most cited motivation for hate crimes abuses.

Additionally, 47.3 percent were motivated by race, 19.3 percent by sexual orientation and 12.8 percent were based upon ethnicity/national original bias. Another 0.6 percent occurred as a result of physical or mental disability.

In sum, there were 1,409 hate crimes motivated by religious bias. Of these anti-faith crimes, 65.4 percent were against Jews (or anti-Jewish), 13.2 percent were against Muslims (or anti-Islamic), 4.3 percent were anti-Catholic, 3.8 percent were anti-multiple faiths, 3.3 percent were anti-Protestant, 0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc. and 9.5% involved other religions, as reported by Religion Clause.

(Related: 'Avenue Jew,' Brooklyn: Subway Sign Defaced in String of Anti-Semitic Attacks)

These results clearly show that Jews are the most persecuted religious group in America, as the majority of crimes reported in the faith vein were aimed at this subgroup. That being said, the 2009 proportion for anti-Jewish bias was a bit higher at 71.9 percent.

In October, the Blaze covered the Anti-Defamation League’s “Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents,” which found that the number of anti-Jewish incidents in the United States increased last year for the first time since 2004.

The ADL audit showed that there were 1,239 reported incidents in 2010, which was up slightly from the 1,211 that were reported in 2009. Among the cases reported in the ADL report were 22 physical assaults, 900 instances of harassment and 317 cases of vandalism in 2010.

Robert G. Sugarman, National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, National Director, of the ADL, issues the following statement about the FBI's most recent report:

Enacted in 1990, the Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA) provides a disturbing snapshot of violent bigotry in the United States. In the past 20 years, the Act has inspired significant improvements in the response of federal and state law enforcement agencies to hate violence, and prompted numerous agencies to establish their own policies and procedures to record data.

An increase in criminal violence perpetrated due to hatred and bigotry is disturbing, especially in a year when earlier FBI reports indicated that overall violent and property crimes declined significantly. The report noted that there were 6,628 hate crimes in 2010, which included an increase in crimes against Hispanics, the LGBT community and Muslims, and a significant number of crimes against Jews and the Jewish community.

On its web site, the FBI claims that "hate crimes have remained steady," as there were 6,604 incidents reported in 2009. While it is certainly wonderful to hear that they haven't increased by much, the fact that these incidents haven't decreased is still a concern -- especially considering the anti-Jewish attacks that have recently unfolded in Brooklyn.

(H/T: Religion Clause)