Social media is a hotbed of antisemitism, anti-Israel hate, Holocaust denial and distortion and other conspiracy theories. Check out our tips on how to engage and disengage in the fight against antisemitism, anti-Israel bias, and hate on social media.
Scapegoating of Jews for the 1969 Al-Aqsa Arson Continued as Usual in 2022
Article
August 21 marked the 53rd anniversary of the 1969 al-Aqsa Mosque arson and the ongoing disinformation campaigns scapegoating Jews and Israel for the attack. Although Israeli authorities promptly arrested, tried, and convicted the culprit, Denis Michael Rohan – a Protestant extremist from Australia who believed his actions would prompt the Second Coming of Jesus – Middle Eastern outlets have been publishing inaccurate reports of the event to this day. In a blog published last month,…
WESPAC (Westchester People’s Action Coalition) Foundation: What You Need to Know
Article
The WESPAC (Westchester People’s Action Coalition) Foundation is a progressive nonprofit organization that, for decades, has engaged in anti-Israel activity by serving as a major node in the funding and administration of anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and pro-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) groups. WESPAC has hosted rhetoric on its website that espouses disturbing and inflammatory ideas about Zionism and Jews, though it more notably provides administrative support to groups that…
Conspiracy Theories and How to Help Family and Friends Who Believe Them
Article
Do you have someone in your life who has been drawn in by a conspiracy theory? Has their behavior changed and you’re not sure how you can help?
Perhaps your parents have ventured down the QAnon rabbit hole and have become obsessed with trying to decode social media posts by public figures. They send you a daily stream of articles and YouTube videos about how the government is controlled by pedophiles who are running a child sex trafficking ring, and they’re especially worried…
How A Texas Teen Turned Bias and Body-Shaming into Advocacy and Action
Article
Olivia Julianna (who uses only her first and middle name publicly to protect her privacy) has been an activist for several years, advocating voting rights and reproductive-health care. Like many in her generation, she found the political side of TikTok where young people post about important issues facing them. Olivia is involved with Gen-Z for Change, a nonprofit organization leveraging social media to promote civil discourse and political action on a variety of topics including…
Table Talk: Family Conversations About Current EventsWhen there are periods of heightened violence and war in the news, oftentimes one or more marginalized identity groups can become the focus of attention, anger, hostility and bias even far removed from the location of the conflict. In the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023, ADL has tracked an uptick in antisemitic attacks in the U.S. and around the globe, and there have also been incidents of anti-Muslim attacks. As the…
Anti-Israel Activists Co-opt American Tragedies to Target Israel
Article
This spring and summer, as headlines across the United States have focused on urgent issues like the dangers of gun violence and threats to reproductive care, prominent anti-Israel groups and individuals have sought to tether these American issues to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, doubling down on anti-Zionist tropes and false accusations against the state of Israel.
These groups include Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), both of which…
President Biden’s Visit to Israel Sees Uptick in Anti-Zionist Rhetoric
Article
U.S. President Joe Biden, who is currently visiting Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Saudi Arabia, reiterated the strong friendship and strategic alliance between Israel and the United States, paid tribute to Holocaust survivors, and even self-identified as a Zionist, at a time when the term is being demonized by Israel’s detractors.
Outraged by this show of support for the Jewish State, individuals and groups in the anti-Israel movement in the United States assailed President…
The Presbyterian Church’s Lost Moral Compass on Israel
News
By Jackie Subar, Director of Strategic Partnerships at ADL
The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. finds itself in a moral quandary, a dilemma with Israel at the heart of growing debate.
Late last month, commissioners on the PCUSA’s International Engagement Committee voted on an overture, or resolution, to label Israel as an apartheid state. The resolution also outrageously and falsely compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to the Holocaust. The General…
The Boston “Mapping Project” is not a one-off from a fringe group. Rather, it exemplifies how the increasingly aggressive purveyors of anti-Zionism are spewing raw antisemitism into the mainstream. The movement barely attempts to use the fig leaf of opposition to Israeli policies to cover a venomous hostility to the Jewish people.
View this page in Spanish Antisemitism is a topic that has been in the news and is something important to explore and understand. From news stories about vandalism and hate crimes, to celebrities spewing frightening claims and vitriol about Jewish people, to the antisemitic tropes we see in our social media feeds — antisemitism is all around us. What is Antisemitism?Antisemitism refers to prejudice, discrimination, or hostility directed at Jewish people. It is generally based…
The Horrific Mass Shooting in Buffalo: How to Talk with Young People
Article
Another mass shooting has taken place, a violent massacre in which the shooter targeted a Black community after posting a white supremacist tract online that espoused virulently antisemitic and racist beliefs.
On May 14, 2022, a gunman entered a supermarket in a largely Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York and shot thirteen people, killing ten people and injuring at least three others. Almost all of the victims are Black. The gunman was identified by law enforcement as eighteen…
Helping Students Make Sense of News Stories about Bias and Injustice
Tools and Strategies
For Educators When there are national news stories that involve incidents of bias and injustice, young people want to be part of the conversation. Even at a young age, they hear adults talking about what’s happening, read about the story on social media or learn about it through television. Rather than protect children and youth from what’s going on in the world, there are age-appropriate and constructive ways to engage them in understanding the situation. Teachers…
Quds Day Exposes Iran’s Genocidal Ambitions – Again
Article
By Aykan Erdemir
Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the clerical regime has observed the last Friday of the month of Ramadan as International Quds (i.e. Jerusalem) Day, using it as an opportunity to spread antisemitic hate, incite violence against the Jewish people, and call for the destruction of the State of Israel.
Last year, for example, the main English-language Twitter account attributed to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (@khamenei_ir)…
Remarks by Jonathan Greenblatt to the ADL Virtual National Leadership Summit
News
May 01, 2022
Thank you for that kind introduction. I am so glad to welcome you – leaders from coast to coast committed to the fight against antisemitism and hate.
I don’t need to tell you how important and pressing this work is. All of you know this from the work you do in your communities. You know when a synagogue or cemetery is desecrated. You know the families who have to comfort their children after a slur is hurled their way – online or in real life. You all…