ADL highlights incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault from its annual 2016Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents

March 15, 2017 Please note this was last updated on March 21, 2017. The Anti-Defamation League is tracking bomb threats made to Jewish institutions across the country. Some institutions may share the same space as a community center, Jewish federation or school of some kind. In those instances the institutions are listed together. The total number of bomb threats made is 167 in 38 states and 3 Canadian provinces. The total number of institutions targeted is 120. The total…

January 01, 1970 Since January, 167 bomb threats have targeted Jewish institutions across the country, including Jewish Community Centers, schools, synagogues and ADL offices in New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Atlanta and Boston. To date, one man has been arrested in connection with eight of these threats. (Note: Use the slider at the bottom of the interactive map to view the progression of incidents, and click on the institution types in the legend to toggle. Map is being…

June 22, 2016 ADL continues to receive a troubling number of complaints about children, adolescents and teenagers engaging in anti-Semitic behavior, both on and off school grounds. These incidents include physical assaults, threats of violence, and verbal and written taunts promoting anti-Semitic stereotypes or evoking disturbing Holocaust themes.   The following is a list of selected incidents in 2015 that represent anti-Semitic bullying of children, adolescents and teenagers by their…

June 22, 2016 ADL witnessed an explosion of hate online, especially on social media platforms in 2015. While the audit includes incidents of online anti-Semitism reported to ADL in which an individual or institution is explicitly targeted, it does not count general anti-Semitic expressions online. ADL has been monitoring the recent spike on such harassment, which seems to have corresponded to the political season, with a large amount of this vitriol directed at journalists and other public…

by: Oren Segal | September 29, 2016 The Guardian Pepe the Frog originated as an innocuous cartoon character in 2005. This week, he was added to the Anti-Defamation League’s Center database of hate symbols. At first glance, it may seem more than a little strange that the image of a cartoon frog could end up alongside such infamous symbols as the Blood Drop Cross of the Ku Klux Klan. But the evolution of Pepe the Frog actually illustrates a key aspect of hate symbols:…

by: Marilyn Mayo | September 08, 2016 The Forward It’s not often that I get an opportunity to come face-to-face with one of the extremists whose activities, in my work as a research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League, I am charged with following and exposing. But on Wednesday night it happened that one of the most ardent spokespeople for anti-Semitic 9/11 conspiracy theories was appearing in New York City, my hometown. It was tempting to ignore that Christopher Bollyn was speaking…

September 02, 2016 Rumor: Forever 21 is selling "Swastika rings." Status: FALSE  What happened? A rumor spread on Facebook, Instagram and other social media sites and making the rounds via e-mail suggests the clothing retailer Forever 21 was selling "swatika rings." The social media posts included a photograph showing the purported swastika rings for sale on the shelf in the store. ADL and independent internet hoax sites such as Snopes have verified that the image of the swastika…

July 14, 2016 Most police enter the profession with the best reasons: They want to protect people who can’t protect themselves, give back to their communities and secure justice. To help law enforcement professionals stay true to their core values, ADL and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) created a powerful program, Law Enforcement and Society (LEAS), in 1999. LEAS spurs law enforcement professionals today to reflect on their mission. The program traces the changing role of…

by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | March 16, 2016 New York Daily News On many occasions in recent years, the Anti-Defamation League I lead has spoken out as politicians, celebrities and other public figures tried making a point about a controversial subject by invoking the Holocaust. The analogy has shown up inappropriately in countless discussions of public policy because it is the most available historical event illustrating right versus wrong. Abortion? It was said to be an “ongoing…

by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | February 28, 2016 CNN.com Donald Trump claimed he is not familiar with David Duke. It is hard to believe, but we will choose to take him at his word and use this opportunity to explain in detail to him -- and indeed all candidates -- who David Duke really is. It seems that Trump did have a change of heart after a public outcry over his comments about not knowing who Duke was. Trump later tweeted his disavowal of Duke. Still, we believe Trump and the…

June 21, 2013 David Duke, perhaps America's most well-known racist and anti-Semite, promotes anti-Semitic and white supremacist views as the leader of the white supremacist European American Unity and Rights Organization, as a writer of anti-Semitic tracts, and, in recent years, as an international figure who has promoted his anti-Jewish ideology in Europe and the Middle East, devoting particular attention to Russia and the Ukraine. Duke has been active in the white supremacy movement for…

January 02, 2013 Q. What is the basis for ADL's concerns about Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ"?A. We first learned about Mr. Gibson's plans to make a film based on the final hours of Jesus' life in a New York Times Magazine article that appeared in February 2003. An early version of the script was shared with us. In August 2003, an ADL representative saw a rough cut in Houston. On January 21, we saw a version of the film at a screening in Orlando, Florida. We had hoped to see the film…

December 14, 2012 An online publication called The Occidental Observer has become a primary voice for anti-Semitism from far-right intellectuals. Founded in October 2007 as a "Webzine," or online magazine, it is one of a number of publishing efforts that have grown out of the Charles Martel Society, a group founded by William Regnery II, a Chicago, Illinois-based heir to the Regnery publishing fortune. Kevin MacDonald's influence Ideologically, the magazine is guided by the ideas of…

August 30, 2011 Ten years after  9/11, antisemitic conspiracy theories surrounding the attacks are "alive and well" and fueled by an entrenched propaganda industry, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which today issued a new report showing how these theories have grown and evolved over the last decade. In "Decade of Deceit: Antisemitic 9/11 Conspiracy Theories 10 Years Later," ADL looks at the individuals who continue to circulate distorted conspiracy theories about 9/11,…

December 19, 2008 The financial scandal surrounding allegations that Bernard Madoff ran a $50 billion dollar Ponzi scheme has given anti-Semites fodder for their bigoted views. There has been a dramatic upsurge in anti-Semitic comments on a wide range of Web sites since the Madoff story broke in the news. Anti-Semitic reaction to the Madoff scandal was prevalent on some of the most popular newspaper sites, blogs and message boards on the Internet. Most of the anti-Semitic comments tended…

October 24, 2008 Read the full report here: Financial Crisis Sparks Wave of Internet Anti-Semitism (PDF). As the financial crisis continues to affect markets around the world, anti-Semites are still using it to promote conspiracy theories about Jewish involvement in the crisis, and anti-Semitic statements and other anti-Jewish messages are appearing on a daily basis on financial Internet discussion groups and on websites and blogs both in the U.S. and abroad. The crisis has also given…

September 07, 2006 Five years after the devastating September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, conspiracy theories about Jews' involvement in the events of that day continue to be promulgated through the Internet, publications, books and videos. Soon after the attacks, a number of conspiracy theorists on the far right and far left, as well as in the Muslim and Arab world, blamed the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad or the Israeli government for the attacks. Today, those theories…