According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents in the United States rose by about 400% in the weeks since war broke out in the Middle East after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

Since then, there have been reports of crowds chanting the “Nazis were right,” people tearing down photos of hostages taken by Hamas and shots fired outside a synagogue in Albany on the first night of Hanukkah.

According to attorney Hank Greenberg, a spokesperson for the Jewish Federation for Northeastern New York, Jews are terrified.

Anecdotally, many Jews in upstate New York and elsewhere are no longer wearing obvious signs of their Jewishness, like Stars of David and yarmulkes for fear of being attacked out in public.

“Never in my lifetime did I think I would encounter this level, degree of antisemitism, including…a synagogue shooting in Albany, at my synagogue, Temple Albany,” Greenberg told Capital Tonight.

Since the war began, Greenberg has spoken and written extensively about Israel and antisemitism. When asked what his Jewish friends and neighbors are feeling, Greenberg said “fear, terror, heartbreak.”

“They, like me, have never experienced anything like it,” he said.

Asked about the silence coming from women’s groups and human rights organization after reports of widespread rape, Greenberg explained that one of the classic manifestations of antisemitism is double standards.

“Treating the suffering of Jews as less concerning and less sorrowful as someone else. That, I fear, is what we saw with respect to those women’s groups who were silent in the days, weeks, now months since October 7th,” Greenberg said.