The Upstander Archive collects first-person stories from LA's Jewish community about antisemitism, alongside the data behind it, and asks the community to respond as witnesses, signers, and accountable partners.
He was walking home from his nightly Torah learning when a stranger got out of a car and attacked him.
On April 27, 2026, a rabbi who teaches Judaic studies in West LA was shoved against a wall and choked in an alley in Pico-Robertson. As the attacker left, he said "Free Palestine." Police investigated it as a hate crime, and a 21-year-old man was later charged. The rabbi sat down with the Archive to talk about what happened, how it changed the way he moves through his own neighborhood, and what kept him rooted in his community afterward.
First-person accounts from LA's Jewish community: people who experienced antisemitism directly, witnessed it, or work to respond to it. Every number further down this page is one of these stories.
Judaic studies teacher in West LA, attacked walking home from his nightly Torah learning. Name withheld.
A professor emeritus of Jewish communal studies in Los Angeles who has written widely on antisemitism and how Jewish communities respond to it.
Interview coming soonA high school student in Los Angeles on the antisemitic bullying she faced at school after October 7.
The most recent numbers available on antisemitism in Los Angeles, from LAPD, LA County, the ADL, and the State of California.
"I will not stay silent. I will notice, I will report, and I will stand with those who are targeted."
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A narrow, fundable ask that a council member could realistically introduce. Not a broad anti-hate bill, but a concrete accountability measure: make hate crime data public and specific, find out what isn't being reported, and put real funding behind prevention and victim support. Below is the draft we're working to bring to the Los Angeles City Council.
Relative to the public reporting of hate crime data and the City's response to antisemitic and other bias-motivated crimes in Los Angeles
WHEREAS, the Los Angeles Police Department recorded 98 anti-Jewish hate crimes in the City of Los Angeles in 2025, and 46 in the first five months of 2026, putting the City on pace for an increase of roughly 12 percent; and
WHEREAS, the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations reported 202 anti-Jewish hate crimes countywide in 2024, the second-highest total in the history of its reporting, and found that 80 percent of religiously motivated hate crimes in the County targeted Jewish people; and
WHEREAS, the Anti-Defamation League counted 398 antisemitic incidents in Los Angeles County in 2025, 322 of them within the City of Los Angeles, including harassment and threats that often never become a police report; and
WHEREAS, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed 66 hate crime cases in the first seven months of 2026 but could not say how many involved Jewish victims, leaving residents and policymakers without a clear picture of who is being targeted; and
WHEREAS, hate crimes harm Angelenos of every background, and timely, public data broken down by bias motivation serves every community the City is responsible for protecting; and
WHEREAS, the City cannot direct resources to where they are needed, and residents cannot hold institutions accountable, for a problem that is not measured and made public;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, with the concurrence of the Mayor, that the Council of the City of Los Angeles:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Clerk transmit a copy of this Resolution to the Mayor, the Chief of Police, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, and the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations.
This is a sample for discussion, prepared by The Upstander Archive. In Los Angeles, a council member would introduce this language as a motion or resolution. The figures come from the sources in the data section above.
I grew up in West LA and went to YULA High School. For as long as I can remember, I've heard stories of Jews who were afraid to be proud of their religion because being visibly Jewish could make them a target. It didn't feel like history. It was something people around me talked about at the dinner table.
Growing up, strong security everywhere was just normal: guards at the door of my school, guards outside synagogue, locked gates, bag checks. I didn't realize how unusual that was until a bomb threat was called into my school. Walking out of class that day, I understood that the precautions weren't hypothetical. They were there because someone might actually try to hurt us.
In the past few years I've watched antisemitic incidents rise around me, and what struck me most was how few places exist where you can hear from the people affected, in their own words. The numbers get reported, but the people behind them mostly don't. So I started collecting their stories in one place, so that people who don't think about this much can see that it's real, and that someone in this city is living with it every single day.
— Gabriel Sokolov, founder
Partnerships are currently in progress.
Whether you have a story to share, want to partner with the Archive, or are writing about antisemitism in Los Angeles, we'd like to hear from you.
If you're sharing a story and want to stay anonymous, just tell us in your email.