It was a peaceful day in Hudson, Ohio, when a small group of protestors gathered at the city green bearing antisemetic signs and a flag marked with a swastika. The group of five was visible from one of the city’s busiest intersections. “We are here,” one of the protestors said, “get used to it.” At least for the moment, the protester was correct. They returned the following weekend, further unsettling citizens.
Senator Casey Weinstein represents Ohio’s 28th district and is a Hudson native. Weinstein said, “There seems to be a permission structure coming from the top that has allowed these bigots; white nationalists; literal Nazis, to bring their flags and Sieg Heil salutes and demonstrate in public areas across my district.”
Hudson is not the only community to be impacted by a wave of recent antisemitism. In June and July, a small group held antisemetic and white supremacist signs on a bridge over Route 8, a heavily trafficked area. In Nov. 2024, a group marched through the streets of Columbus carrying Nazi flags and shouting slur-laden phrases.
The simplest explanation for this visible increase in antisemetic protests is the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct 7, 2023 and Israel’s subsequent military response. Antisemetic incidents spiked in Ohio throughout the following two years. In 2022, Ohio saw 61 antisemetic incidents. In 2023 and 2024, the numbers were 238 and 233 respectively, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Noah Bickart, who holds a doctorate in Talmudic Studies, said the answer is not that simple. Bickart said, “In the same way that I think it’s a mistake to start discussions around Israel-Palestine at Oct. 7, I think it’s also probably a mistake to talk about antisemitism starting Oct. 7… I think that antisemitism is baked into the west.”
While rates of antisemitism spiked dramatically following Oct. 7, they have been rising overall for over a decade. Weinstein blames national leadership. Weinstein said, “I think there is a permission structure put in place by the president that targets or even incites division.”
Complicating the issue are substantial debates over how to define antisemitism. The ADL, a preeminent source for statistics on antisemitism, has faced criticism from pro-Palestinian groups, claiming they are attempting to silence criticism of Israel. Since Israel launched its war against Gaza, there has been heavy debate over the differentiation between criticism of Israel’s government, criticism over Israel as a state, a position known as antizionism, and antisemitism.
The ADL considers antizionism antisemetic in certain cases. Bickart said, “I think that there are a lot of antizionisms that are not antisemitism … on the other hand, there are a lot of people who utilize classical antisemetic tropes when criticizing the government.”
Controversies over the definition of antisemitism have been particularly relevant on college campuses, where students have launched widespread protests against Israel’s war in Gaza— which has killed 65,000 people, according to estimates considered reliable by the United Nations. These protests have caused controversy at the federal and local level amidst accusations of antisemitism.
In January, President Trump signed an executive order with the stated purpose of combating antisemitism, especially on college campuses. Since then, Trump has targeted specific universities like Harvard, threatening to remove federal funding if they do not comply with his demands to fight the alleged antisemitism. Trump has also targeted Ohio State University, where hundreds of pro-Palestinian protestors had gathered in spring 2024.
Bickart said, “I think any definition of antisemitism has to carve out real protections, especially in an environment in which pro-Palestinian student’s voices are routinely being silenced.”
The world is weeks away from the two year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack. In that time, a war has begun, ceasefires have come and gone, thousands have been killed and four out of ten Jewish Americans have experienced antisemitism. For Bickart, it is personal. He said, “I think what I’m coming to realize is that the ’80s, the ’90s … may well in retrospect be seen as a kind of golden age in which Jews were really accepted in America.”
On Sept. 3, 2025, a far larger group gathered in Hudson where weeks earlier a Nazi flag had been flown. Faith leaders and citizens joined in counter-protest. Weinstein said “We had hundreds of people on the green… ultimately, it was a very uniting and peaceful rally and a very visible signal of where our community really stands.”
