Anti-Semitic Incidents Down--But at a Price

This item was pointed out to us by Nation and World Editor Terry Atlas.

First the good news: A report out today from the Anti-Defamation League reports a 12 percent decline in acts of anti-Semitism in the United States in 2006, totaling 1,554 incidents (compared with 1,757 in 2005).

Now the bad news: The ADL says some hate groups are turning their attention toward immigrants instead.

"The national discussion over illegal immigration energized some Klan and neo-Nazi groups, causing them to refocus much of their energies on targeting Hispanics as immigration rallies and protests took center stage across the nation," the report says. "The national immigration debate caused extremist groups to partially refocus their energies away from their traditional objects of hate and onto other minority groups, particularly immigrants and Hispanics."

New York led the country in anti-Semitic incidents with 284, followed by New Jersey with 244.