The 2024 Year in Review from ADL

Challenging Times and Moments of Hope During the Past Year

Dear Friends,

As I reflect on the end of the long year that has been 2024, two words come to mind first. ‘Challenges’ and ‘Community.’ Or possibly just ‘good riddance.’ But before we turn the page, it’s important to reflect on the work that the ADL community did this year in the face of such upheaval. I am so grateful to our dedicated professional staff, our amazing volunteer leadership, our generous donors and everyone else who speaks up and shows up to fight hate for good in your neighborhood, online, on campus and everywhere that antisemitism and other forms of bigotry and extremism must not go unanswered.

We entered 2024 with the sobering realization that in the three months since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, U.S. antisemitic incidents rose dramatically, foreshadowing a trend that would play out through the year. As I noted then, “the American Jewish community is facing a threat level that’s now unprecedented in modern history.”

In January:

• Addressing what would be one of the themes for the year -- the hostile campus climate -- ADL launched our Not On My Campus Hub with tools and resources for students, faculty, parents and alumni.

In February:

• ADL and The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against California’s Berkeley Unified School District for failing to take action to end nonstop bullying and harassment of Jewish students by peers and teachers since Oct. 7. This was part of a 2024 acceleration of ADL’s litigation efforts – our work is having an impact on campus and in K-12 schools, as well as in the workplace, online and in anti-extremism work.

In March:

• ADL’s flagship event, Never Is Now, welcomed over four thousand attendees to learn, to connect, and to take action. This is a tremendous event with global experts in the fight against antisemitism and hate and a reminder that... let’s face it. No one can fight antisemitism alone. (We encourage you to join us March 3-4, 2025 for another extraordinary Never Is Now; click here to get our Early Bird rate before it expires in January.)
• ADL launched our new ATLAS tool to provide a comprehensive picture of the state of antisemitism worldwide.
• Authorities arrested Frankie Rizzello, a white supremacist, on felony charges thanks in part to ADL investigative work, which uncovered his identity and provided information to law enforcement.

In April:

• The Countering Antisemitism Act was introduced. The bill, which would be the most far-reaching antisemitism initiative ever passed as national legislation, reflects substantial input from ADL; thousands of people across the ADL community also pushed hard to advocate for the bill. Sadly, it looks like this legislation will not be passed in 2024, but we will urge its approval again in 2025.
• ADL released our annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in the United States, and the numbers were appalling — the highest level recorded since ADL started tracking this data. This added up to an average of about one anti-Jewish incident every hour all year in 2023.
• As one way to fight back against hate amid encampments and other protests that were widespread in the spring, ADL launched our first Campus Antisemitism Report Card to help students, parents, alumni and others assess the schools they are interested in and to advocate for improvements. Schools have started to implement our recommendations, and we will keep updating the report card and pushing for schools to do better.

In May:

• ADL launched our Campus Crisis Alert newsletter, which quickly became an invaluable resource for people concerned for Jewish students. (Don’t get the Campus Crisis Alert in your inbox? Click here to subscribe.)
• I went to Israel to meet with Israeli leaders, with the families of hostages, and with others to provide support and report back to the ADL community.

In June:

• Keeping an eye on campus, ADL filed a formal complaint against Jewish Voice for Peace’s (JVP) political fundraising arm alleging multiple violations of campaign finance laws and regulations.
• With the Paris Olympics approaching, ADL Israel met with Israel’s Olympic and Paralympic delegations to share best practices on how to handle incidents.

In July:

• ADL and the firm Crowell & Moring filed a U.S. federal lawsuit as co-counsels on behalf of more than 125 plaintiffs against Iran, Syria and North Korea to hold them responsible for their role in 10/7.
• U.S. Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt unveiled the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism. ADL was proud to help shape this first-ever global framework with best practices to counter antisemitism.

In August:

• As the 2024 ‘proxy season’ of corporate shareholder meetings came to a close, ADL affiliate JLens highlighted our successful efforts to combat anti-Israel shareholder proposals and to address critical issues of online hate speech and cyberbullying, including at Amazon and defense contractor RTX Corporation.
• Thanks in part to the advocacy of ADL volunteers across the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security allocated a historic $454.5M to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. These grants fund security enhancements to synagogues and other houses of worship, along with other at-risk nonprofits.

In September:

• ADL revealed that the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL) that ADL partners on has received more than 650 requests for assistance from university students across the country who experienced antisemitic harassment, violence or discrimination. (It’s now over 800 as we end the year.)
• JLens issued a first-of-its-kind report showing that the largest university endowments could lose $33 Billion if they divest from from Israel: The report became a tool used to fend off BDS attempts targeting college endowments.
• ADL joined as co-counsel in John Doe v. Intel Corporation, an employment discrimination lawsuit against Intel, marking the first time in recent history ADL has filed suit against a major Fortune 500 company for alleged antisemitic discrimination in the workplace.
• ADL announced that our new Board Chair starting in January will be Nicole Mutchnik, a well-known community leader in Los Angeles. 

In October:

• The U.S. Department of the Treasury in a joint action with Canada, designated the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network as a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. ADL shared intelligence about Samidoun’s activities with Congress and the Administration and has been highly engaged in pushing for government action.
• ADL launched a major new center, the Ronald Birnbaum Center to Combat Antisemitism in Education, to serve as a focal point for ADL’s work to ensure safe, welcoming learning environments for all, including Jewish students, faculty and staff.

In November:

• After a soccer match in Amsterdam, there was horrific antisemitic violence in the streets as supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv were attacked by violent anti-Israel mobs in what seemed to be a coordinated attack. Responding to this modern-day pogrom, I flew to Europe to show support for the Dutch Jewish community and to tell political leaders that more must be done to protect Jews from this violent hatred. Enough is enough.
• The 30th Anniversary ADL In Concert Against Hate featured stars like Ben Stiller, Sia and Eden Golan honoring Scooter Braun with the ADL Spotlight Award, as well as Kay Family Award recipients Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, Dr. Charles Chavis and Rosette Goldstein and Levenson Family Defender of Democracy Award honorees Noa Fay, Luda Isakharov and Einav Tsach.
• In a sweeping settlement agreement in response to a federal Title VI complaint filed by ADL and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Occidental College has agreed to take a series of steps to address and prevent antisemitism on campus.

In December:

• An ADL-sponsored study found that Jewish American job candidates needed to send 24 percent more applications to receive the same number of positive first responses from prospective employers as Americans with Western European backgrounds when applying for the same job, and Israeli Americans needed to send 39 percent more applications.
• ADL Israel launched the Druze Leadership Program, with a goal of promoting a just and cohesive Israel.

During all of these unprecedented moments, ADL supporters like you were there, vigilant in rejecting antisemitism, supporting Israel in its time of need and finding ways to Fight Hate for Good. We thank you for joining with us in 2024.

Your support for ADL’s mission -- to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all -- has been vital this year and will be equally critical in 2025 and beyond.

Sincerely,
 

Jonathan Greenblatt
ADL CEO and National Director