Recent weeks have seen a surge in high-profile antisemitism, and that comes after reported incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault against Jewish people had already reached an all-time high in 2021, according to anti-hate nonprofit the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Experts, officials and the Jewish community largely trace the latest rise in incidents to media, social media and users spreading antisemitic views through these networks—most notably Ye (previously known as Kanye West), who on December 1 spoke positively of Adolf Hitler and leaned into Holocaust denial on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ podcast.

On the same day, Twitter suspended the rapper’s account after he posted an image of a swastika inside a Star of David, a symbol of the Jewish religion. The platform had previously partially restricted West’s account after his October post that he would go “death con 3 on Jewish people.”

Jolie Brislin, ADL’s regional director for Nevada, says the levels of antisemitism—and the way it has proliferated on the internet—are unprecedented. “I’ve been with ADL for 14 years, and I’ve never seen us in a moment like we are in today, where it feels as though, every moment, every day, we are being bombarded with another incident,” she says.

“We know that antisemitism is a part of our daily lives. … But now, we’re seeing people with these megaphones that have been able to amplify their message.”

Brislin points out that West had more than 30 million Twitter followers before his account was suspended. “That’s double the amount of Jews in the entire world,” she says. “We have to think about how these messages are getting out, who they’re getting to … and how that has been encouraged.”

Those issues have even become more complicated since Tesla CEO Elon Musk took control of Twitter in October and implemented controversial changes regarding whether to allow postings involving extremism, conspiracies and hate.

Earlier this year, a Senate Homeland Security Committee investigation of Meta (formerly Facebook) and TikTok’s response—or lack thereof—to the threat of domestic terrorism, found that the platforms’ incentive structures “contribute to the spread of extremist content.”

In November, the Department of Homeland Security posted a regular terrorism summary raising concerns about domestic extremists and potential threats to Jewish, LGBTQ and migrant communities. The bulletin referenced the November 19 shooting at an LGBTQ bar in Colorado Springs (still under investigation), in which a gunman killed five and injured dozens more.

“Following the late-November shooting at an LGBTQI+ bar in Colorado Springs … we have observed actors on forums known to post racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist content praising the alleged attacker,” the bulletin reads, also noting the “enduring threat to faith-based communities, including the Jewish community.”

The line between online hate and real acts of violence, apparently, is becoming more clear to government agencies and the general public. With that laid out, how can the community begin to respond and attempt to unsow seeds of hate?

Joshua Abbey, executive director of the longstanding Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival, says the rise in antisemitism and associated incidents is “part of a broader spectrum” of teachings and cultural messages that ultimately create an environment for and encourage hate speech, extremism and violence. Understanding the bigger picture is essential to combating hate on any scale, he says.

“When someone feels that their identity or their belief system is under attack, that transforms itself into different levels of what we call hate. And that can graduate very easily, especially in a group scenario, into acts of violence,” he says, recalling the deadly 2018 Tree of Life Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. “What this eventually leads to is genocide,” he says.

As an activist, Abbey engages through educational outreach and cinema. In a short Holocaust education film he directed and released in 2020, local survivors ask questions to a sample of local middle school students about what they know of the event, referring to the Nazis’ systemic murder of an estimated 6 million Jews between 1933 and 1945.

“My hope is [the film] would be utilized in classrooms at the middle school level. … Teens are more likely to listen to other teens,” he says. “I’ve had a lot of experience with survivors who have dedicated their lives to teaching about hate and intolerance, and with the goal of using themselves as an example to make a difference for future generations.”

In the film, some of the student interviewees know what the Holocaust was, and some do not. Asked “Who are the Jews?” one student responds that they are “terrorists.”

“It’s a really interesting sort of test investigation,” Abbey says of the film, adding that it underscores the importance of education in combating intolerance. “It fundamentally relies on the education of young people. That’s really the only chance for real change to occur.”

Per ADL numbers, incidents of antisemitism rose 34% in 2021 compared to 2020. The spike in reported incidents was even higher in Nevada, which saw a 64% increase, according to the ADL.

In a letter sent to President Joe Biden in early December, Nevada Senators and more than 100 bipartisan members of Congress called for stronger interagency coordination and “a unified national strategy to monitor and combat antisemitism.”

Brislin says community-led initiatives and engagement are also crucial to stemming the tide of hate, pointing to the Nevada Against Antisemitism petition and digital campaign launched by the ADL in partnership with the Israeli-American Civil Action Network and Jewish Nevada in 2021.

“We had over 250 elected officials—from our entire federal delegation to our state legislators—community members and other organizations … sign on to this campaign to say that they will denounce antisemitism when they see it, and will continue to take an active role in learning about how to be an ally to the Jewish community,” Brislin says.

“I think that makes a strong statement to their supporters and to members of those organizations, that the organization as a whole will not stand by and be passive to the hate of Jews.”

Brislin and Abbey both refer to antisemitism as a “canary in a coal mine,” warning of rising hate and violence not only toward Jewish people, but also other marginalized groups.

“I think it’s essential that the culture, the heritage, the ideals, the values, the story of Jewish people be more broadly understood,” Abbey says. “We’re not an exclusive, insular part of the community. We’re an integral part, and here to help build and create unity of purpose, and deal with these acts of aggression that are so fundamentally detrimental to the welfare of all.”

Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!