New York, NY, March 6, 2026 ... The Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Task Force on Middle East Minorities issued the following statement regarding the military conflict in Iran: At this moment of profound uncertainty for Iran, we stand in solidarity with the Iranian people and their tireless struggle for their rights, freedom, and dignity. Iran is not the regime that has controlled it for the last 47 years. For more than two millennia, Iran was one of the world's great…
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The ongoing military conflict in Iran has the potential to reshape the country, not least for its diverse range of religious and ethnic minorities. While Iran has a deep and ancient history of religious and ethnic pluralism, the 1979 revolution set in motion almost five-decades of systematic persecution against the country's minority communities and Iranian women in the name of the Islamic Republic. Since 1979, the Islamic Republic has imposed a theocratic order…
Statement by ADL's Task Force on Middle East Minorities on the Nationwide Protests in Iran New York, NY, January 13, 2026 ... The Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Task Force on Middle East Minorities issued the following statement regarding the nationwide protests in Iran: In light of the nationwide protests across Iran, ADL’s Task Force on Middle East Minorities condemns the Islamic Republic's violent crackdown and calls on the international community to make clear to the…
The Anti-Defamation League’s Task Force on Middle East Minorities is deeply troubled by the recent sentencing of Remy Rowhani, a respected Qatari Baha’i, to five years in prison. This decision raises concerns about the treatment of religious minorities in Qatar. Mr. Rowhani, a distinguished citizen who has long served his country, appears to have been singled out because of his faith. We urge the Qatari authorities to consider reversing the sentence and take meaningful steps to…
ADL has been closely tracking how states are addressing antisemitism and supporting their Jewish communities. In 2024, ADL tabulated 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the United States – a 5% increase from 2023, a 344% increase over the past five years, and an 893% increase over the past decade. These numbers underscore the urgent need for state-level action. As highlighted in our first-of-its-kind Jewish Policy Index (JPI), our goal is to provide a tool that advocates, educators and…
April 21, 2025 Letters to the Editor Jewish News Syndicate To the Editor: Dr. Andrew Bostom and Morton Klein conflate facts and distort findings in their attempt to reach their preconceived conclusion that ADL is “hiding” data about antisemitism among Muslim communities (“ADL quietly purged data on European Muslim antisemitism,” April 18). Nothing could be further from the truth. Our surveys have always tracked this data, and our aim has always been to be fully…
A guide of best practices for school decision makers in their work to counter antisemitism in K-12 schools.
Use this collection of classroom activities about holidays and observances to enhance students' understanding of our multicultural society and world.
Under the Trump Administration and continued under the Biden Administration, a public health law called Title 42 has been used against many seeking asylum and other forms of immigration relief at the U.S. border, denying them entry under the pretext of covid-19 prevention. The Biden Administration had announced that it would stop expelling migrants under Title 42 starting May 23, 2022. The plaintiff states in this case are challenging the Title 42 wind-down on Administrative Procedure Act…
New York, NY, November 29, 2021… Members of ADL’s (the Anti-Defamation League’s) Task Force on Middle East Minorities issued a letter today calling on United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken to broaden the criteria for Priority-2 refugee admissions status to include Afghan nationals from ethnic and religious minority groups that have a well-founded fear of persecution under Taliban rule.
Vulnerable ethnic and religious groups are now in much greater peril since…
A common hand gesture that a 4chan trolling campaign claimed in 2017 had been appropriated as a symbol meaning "white power." Used by many on the right--not just extremists--for the purpose of trolling liberals, the symbol eventually came to be used by actual white supremacists as well. Caution must be used in evaluating instances of this symbol's use.
New York, NY, March 17, 2021 ... In response to historic increases in anti-Chinese and anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander incidents and assaults, ADL (the Anti-Defamation League), the world’s leading anti-hate organization and Committee of 100, a non-profit U.S. leadership organization of prominent Chinese Americans, issued the following joint statement:
“We are united with all of our Asian American brothers and sisters in standing up against hate, xenophobia and violence…
New York, NY, December 7, 2020 … ADL’s (the Anti-Defamation League) Task Force on Middle East Minorities today welcomed the bipartisan passage of two important House Resolutions that the Task Force had endorsed earlier this year as part of its work supporting the rights of vulnerable groups. The Task Force consists of scholars, experts, and activists who serve as an advisory body to augment ADL’s work in protecting vulnerable…
White supremacists, primarily on the West Coast, may use a two-handed hand sign consisting of one hand showing or flashing two fingers and the other hand showing or flashing three fingers. Together, they signify the number 23, a numeric symbol for W ("White"). This itself is often shorthand for the numeric symbol 23/16, which stands for "White Power." Additional Images:
One of the most popular white supremacist symbols is the numeric symbol 88, which stands for "Heil Hitler" (substituting letters for numbers, 88 means HH, i.e., "Heil Hitler"). It is thus not surprising that white supremacists occasionally attempt to display 88 as a hand sign. It is not a very common white supremacist hand sign, probably because it involves some dexterity and effort. Additional Images:
The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT), a large and violent racist prison gang, uses a hand symbol consisting of a raised index finger and raised ring and little fingers (or the reverse), signifying the numbers 1 and 2. Substituting letters for numbers 1 and 2 stand for A and B, or Aryan Brotherhood. Sometimes ABT members may use a two-handed variation in which one hand "throws up" one digit and the other hand (belonging to the same or a different person) "throws up" two digits, again signifying…
The Aryan Circle is one of the largest white supremacist prison gangs in the United States. Its primary hand sign consists of holding up the thumb and the middle, ring, and little fingers of one hand, signifying the numbers 1 and 3 (which stand for AC). One can also hold up the little finger and the middle and index fingers, plus the thumb.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Bolts Up, Bolts to the SkyThe largest white supremacist prison gang in Tennessee is Aryan Nations (a different group than the neo-Nazi group of the same name). Aryan Nations gang members use a hand sign they sometimes refer to as "bolts up" or "bolts to the sky," consisting of forming the hand into a pistol shape and pointing it upwards or outwards. Additional Images:
ALTERNATE NAMES: Bolts Up, Bolts to the Sky
Read more about Aryan Nations (hand sign - Tennessee prison gang)
The European Kindred is a large white supremacist prison gang based primarily in Oregon. Gang members often use a two-handed hand sign in which three fingers of one hand are spread to look like an E and two fingers of another hand are spread to resemble a K.
The handsign of the Hammerskins, a racist skinhead group, consists of two crossed forearms emulating the "crossed hammers" of the Hammerskins logo.