The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper S01E23 - Antisemitism in America

CNN Anchor and Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash delivers an in-depth examination of the rise of antisemitism in the United States, following the October 7 attack on Israel. 

Antisemitism was already on an alarming rise even before October 7 with near 60% of religious hate crimes perpetrated against the Jewish community, despite it making up just 2.4% of the American population according to the FBI. Bash investigates not just what the attacks against Jews are but why they are so pervasive right now.  Antisemitism and its conspiracies and tropes run deep in society and has for millennia, but in modern times it has largely festered beneath the surface. In America, that changed in the last ten years with extremists from the hard right feeling emboldened by the political climate. But antisemitism has also been brewing on the hard left, masquerading as political free speech, especially at America's elite universities.

The episode features the emotional testimony of Jewish college students experiencing fear, and even an assault, following the attack on Israel by Hamas last month, as well as interviews with U.S. Ambassador to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt, Director of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt, President and CEO of Hillel International Adam Lehman, and Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law Erwin Chermerinsky and more.