
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 7, 1991                   TAG: 9102070423
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium

THREATS TO JEWS DOUBLE/ 23 INCIDENTS GIVE STATE 16TH RANKING

Anti-Semitic incidents in Virginia nearly doubled last year over 1989, the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith said Wednesday.

The Research Department of ADL's Civil Rights Division conducts a yearly state-by-state audit of harassment, assaults or threats against Jews or Jewish institutions.

The results of the 1990 survey, made public this week, said 23 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in Virginia, up from 12 in 1989. Nationwide, the number of such incidents climbed to a record 1,685, marking a fourth straight year of increases.

In Virginia, 15 of the 23 incidents were classified as acts of vandalism, compared to nine in 1989. The other eight incidents in 1990 included harassment, threats and assaults, up from three the year before.

New York led the nation with 186 acts of vandalism, down 27 from 1989, and 110 acts of harassment, threats or assaults, down five from 1989. Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia all reported no incidents.

Virginia ranked 16th among the states.

Ira Gissen, the director of the ADL's Virginia and North Carolina region, said some of the anti-Semitism may be linked to the Persian Gulf crisis.

Nationally between January and August, there were about 20 incidents of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian threats against Jews and graffiti on synagogues and other Jewish property, officials said.

The onset of the Persian Gulf crisis and efforts by anti-Israel forces to link Iraq's invasion of Kuwait to the Arab-Israeli problem saw an additional 25 anti-Semitic incidents containing references to those events by the end of 1990.

In the report, ADL officials also said they were concerned about a dramatic rise in campus bigotry.

The group's record of incidents on Virginia campuses included distribution of anti-Semitic mail at George Mason University in Fairfax, the painting of swastikas on campus property at Virginia Tech, and a telephone threat at the College of William and Mary last year.

A Jewish cemetery in Roanoke also was vandalized in December.

by CNB