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

March 31, 2017 The Forward By Brittan Heller Director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Technology and Society For years, the Anti-Defamation League has held the clear, unwavering stance that videos made by terrorists and hate groups have no place on the internet. Hate-filled videos mislead children, poison the online experience for everyone, and serve as an unfortunate, yet effective, tool to recruit new generations of violent extremists. Now, ADL is seeing the impact…

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…

by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | February 09, 2017 Your Holiness, This week, in synagogues all over the world, Jews will read Shirat Ha-yam, the “Song of the Sea” from the book of Exodus that Miriam, Moses and the Israelites sang after they miraculously passed through the Sea of Reeds on dry land. As a newly free people, they expressed their thanks to God for their redemption, saying: Who is like you, o eternal, among the…

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: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | September 23, 2016 JTA Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ statement before the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday revived old hatreds more than it broke new ground. It was little more than a rote diatribe against Israel and a call for international pressure to coerce the Jewish state in place of the hard give and take that happens at the negotiating table. It shed light on why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has endured so long through…

by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | September 13, 2016 Foreign Policy If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s purpose was to criticize the Palestinian leadership, there are many issues he could have raised in his latest short video posted on Sept. 9. He could have spoken about their celebration of terrorists, or he could have raised their demonization of Israel through anti-Semitic conspiracy theories or their repeated rejection of any Jewish connection to the Land of Israel. He could…

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…

August 12, 2016 Introduction and Overview of the Guide Anti-Semitism and The Merchant of Venice: A Discussion Guide for Educators (Grades 10-12) is a tool for teachers presenting The Merchant of Venice to their students. This guide is not intended as an exhaustive study of the play. Rather, it is a supplement intended to guide an exploration of the problematic issue of anti-Semitism as part of the broader discussion of the play. The initial sections of this guide provide important…

July 28, 2016 1.     David Duke has been active in the white supremacist movement for over 40 years.  In 1974, he founded the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Recognizing that he could gain more attention by recasting his racism in more palatable terms, Duke shed his Klan robes and in 1981 founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP). Though its ideology mirrored the Klan, he presented the group as “primarily a white rights lobby…

by: Kenneth Jacobson | July 27, 2016 The Times of Israel Upon hearing the initial report that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was asking the Arab League to sue Great Britain for its Balfour Declaration of 1917, I thought this must be a satire of the sort put out by The Onion. I was wrong as it turned out. Apparently, Abbas is serious. So let’s treat his initiative seriously. The Balfour Declaration, a statement by the then Foreign Secretary of Great Britain, Lord Balfour,…

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: Rabbi David Sandmel | June 05, 2016 The Times of Israel The General Conference of United Methodist Church recently concluded its quadrennial gathering, which this year was held in Portland, Oregon. I and many others in the Jewish community, not to mention many Christians as well, were pleased with the outcome of a number of votes on resolutions concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Inter alia, the Church rejected resolutions calling for divestment or for investment screens…

May 27, 2016 In April, ADL sent a letter to G4S recognizing its public statement that its decision to sell its business in Israel was unrelated to pressures from BDS campaigns.  In the public statement, G4S said it “reiterates that it does not support the anti-Israel boycott by BDS or any other group.”  This letter was sent following consultation with sources, including in Israel, who indicated that BDS has not been a motivating factor in G4S’s decision. Our…