by: Marilyn Mayo June 16, 2016 In the wake of the brutal terrorist attack by Omar Mateen that killed 49 members of the LGBT community and wounded 53 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando, communities held vigils across the country to express solidarity with the victims. In marked contrast to the love and support shown by people around the world, haters voiced anti-Muslim and anti-LGBT sentiment and promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in the aftermath of the event. Not surprisingly,…

by: Jinnie Array June 14, 2016 The unspeakable tragedy that took place at the Pulse Club in Orlando, FL in the early morning of June 12 brings with it a wide range of emotions for people across the country and world. Those feelings include anger, sorrow, loss, hopelessness, horror, fear, rage and also—a sense of powerlessness. It is easy to feel powerless when you think there is nothing you can do: nothing you can do about the hate, the gun violence, the terrorism and the extremist…

by: Jinnie Array June 01, 2016 Beginning on Memorial Day and for four consecutive evenings this week, the History Channel will air its 2016 version of ‘Roots,’ a remake of the 1977 television miniseries based on Alex Haley’s classic novel Roots: The Saga of An American Family.  The book is an historical portrait of American slavery based on Haley’s heritage dating back to 1750 in the West African village of Juffure and how his family’s saga unfolded over…

by: Oren Segal May 19, 2016 The 15th issue of Inspire, Al Qaeda in the Ara­bian Penin­sula (AQAP)’s Eng­lish lan­guage mag­a­zine, released on May 14, provides readers with instructions for murdering “the intelligentsia, economic and influential personalities of America.” Such attacks, claims the magazine, are “easy options that do not require huge efforts or man power, but the result is parallel to the big operations or…

by: David Robbins May 11, 2016 Ed Blumenthal is fighting anti-Semitism and hate with everything he’s got—including his legs. His late father, Ernie Blumenthal, escaped from Nazi Vienna in 1938, but luckily found a home in Philadelphia. His grandfather barely escaped some time later. To honor the memory of his father, who died recently from pancreatic cancer, and to raise awareness of that illness and of anti-Semitism and hate, Ed rode his bike from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, a…

by: Marilyn Mayo May 05, 2016 On his radio show yesterday, white supremacist David Duke celebrated Donald Trump’s victory in Indiana, which made him the presumptive Republican nominee for president. Duke also used the show as yet another opportunity to promote his virulent brand of anti-Semitism, blaming Jewish “neo-cons” for trying to destroy Trump’s candidacy and for allegedly controlling the country. Duke asserted that “Jewish extremists have made a terribly…

by: Oren Segal May 03, 2016 James Gonzalo Medina, a 40-year-old resident of Hollywood, Florida, was arrested on May 2, 2016, for allegedly plotting to use an explosive device in a Florida synagogue on Passover. Court documents indicate that he wanted to leave a notice with the bomb attributing the attack to ISIS. Violent expressions of anti-Semitism, including encouragement of attacks against Jews and Jewish or Israeli institutions, have been at the core of propaganda distributed by Al…

by: Jewel Nesmith April 26, 2016 Fears of extremism, radicalization and mass violence in our schools have unfortunately become all too common for educators and school administrators across the United States. At the same time, information that allows educators to understand the threat and leaves them equipped to address it without perpetuating biases and stereotypes is scarce. In order to fill this gap, the Anti-Defamation League and START (the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism…