Anti-Semitic acts decline in U.S.

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NEW YORK, June 2 (UPI) -- The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States has declined for the fourth consecutive year, the Anti-Defamation League says.

The New York group's annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, issued Tuesday, counted a total of 1,352 incidents of vandalism, harassment and racially motivated physical assaults against Jewish individuals, property and community institutions in 2008, a 7 percent decline from the 1,460 incidents reported in 2007, the ADL said in a release.

Anti-Semitic acts recorded last year included repeated vandalisms of the San Francisco Holocaust Memorial and the desecration of dozens of graves at a Jewish cemetery in Chicago with swastikas and hate group symbols.

Some 42 percent of the incidents occurred at homes, private buildings or businesses while 23 percent took place in educational establishments, including public and private schools and universities, the ADL found.

"It is encouraging that the number of anti-Semitic incidents continues to decline, but the sheer volume of incidents reported and the violent nature of many of the physical assaults is a reminder that we cannot be complacent," said ADL National Director Abraham Foxman.