‘Antisemitic instances have spiked by almost 400%’: Kaine expresses concern to FBI, DHS

Instances of antisemitism and Islamophobia are on the rise in the United States in the aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.

With deep concern, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia wrote today to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Kaine expressed support for asks made by his colleagues to boost funding to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to protect non-profit institutions, including places of worship, from violence and for an unclassified briefing for members of Congress regarding the current threat assessment, interagency coordination efforts, and preparedness measures that DHS and FBI have put in place to respond to antisemitic and Islamophobic acts of violence.

“Recent weeks have seen tragic examples of people being targeted because of their religious beliefs. Jewish and Muslim students on college campuses report hostility at a level they’ve never seen. Jewish and Muslim institutions report an escalating level of threats. American Jews, Muslims and other religious minorities experience harassment. Antisemitic instances have spiked by almost 400 percent since October 7, including public physical assaults. The recent murder of 6-year-old Wadea al-Fayoume by a neighbor expressing Islamophobic views shocked the nation,” Kaine wrote.

The volatile time in the Middle East is at a time when “too many are taking out their understandable frustrations with events abroad on their neighbors here at home. This causes people to live in fear and also weakens the example we send to the world that religious pluralism works.”