March 11, 2019 The first in a series of reports co-authored by the Network Contagion Research Institute and ADL’s Center on Extremism The toxicity on social media creates victims online and online ecosystems that breed real-life hatred.  Gab, a self-described “free speech” platform largely used by right wing extremists, has been the preferred platform for hatred and vitriol. Users include Robert Bowers, who posted on the site just before he massacred congregants …

March 01, 2019 By Samuel Woolley | ADL Center for Technology and Society Belfer Fellow On October 27, 2018 Robert Bowers shot and killed eleven people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Bowers was at least partially radicalized online. He made regular use of the extremist-friendly social media platform Gab. After months of anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant posts on the site he even wrote that he was “going in” shortly before the massacre. The day before the…

February 27, 2019 Many American Jewish organizations generally refrain from commenting on Israeli electoral issues. The fact that so many felt they had no choice but to condemn the agreement to include Otzma Yehudit Party (Jewish Power) on a mainstream party list in advance of the April 9, 2019 national elections demonstrates the level of concern with which American Jews and pro-Israel groups view this development and its implications -- both in Israel and abroad -- for how Israel…

February 25, 2019 As the political crisis continues in Venezuela, the hardline regime of Nicolas Maduro, whose power is currently being challenged, is promoting hateful anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and allegations of Jewish or “Zionist” plots to take over the government. As declared interim President Juan Guaidó – whose bid to take over the government is supported by more than 50 countries – challenges Maduro’s power, the resulting political, social…

February 25, 2019 Mya and Deanna Cook, 15, were both excellent students, but they had been kicked off school sports teams, banished from prom, and sentenced to hours of detention for refusing to change their hair. When these twin sisters were punished by their Boston-area high school for wearing braided hair extensions, ADL helped them change their school’s controversial hair and makeup policies, which unfairly targeted students of color. ADL’s New England office received a…

February 21, 2019 One would think that teaching the lessons of the Holocaust in schools would be a given in the United States. After all, it is an essential component in learning about world history, the rise of fascism, World War II, and genocide, all of which are already part of any respectable high school history curriculum. But recent incidents of students appropriating and abusing Holocaust imagery have served as a reminder and a wake-up call for the need to teach the universal…

February 20, 2019 It shouldn’t come as a surprise anymore that France has a serious anti-Semitism problem. Since 2000, there’s been attack after violent attack against the French Jewish community, with only the most shocking ones – from the horrific murder of a Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll last year to the deadly terrorist shooting at the Hyper Cacher kosher market – making headlines and raising perennial concerns about the safety and long-time viability of…

February 18, 2019 Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam teamed up with a Holocaust denier and anti-Semitic ideologue to attack the Jewish religion and blame numerous ills of modern society on Jews, during the keynote event at the Nation of Islam’s annual Saviours' Day conference in Chicago. Speaking before a crowd of several thousand at the United Center and an unknown number on a livestream, Farrakhan was preceded by Michael A. Hoffman II, who suggested that ancient…

February 15, 2019 Blackface has taken center stage in our public discourse. Again. Virginia is embroiled in a controversy based on admissions by Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring to wearing blackface in the past. The list of celebrities and other public figures who publicly condone blackface is growing and there are others entering the spotlight. Just a few months ago, NBC host Megyn Kelly set off her own controversy when she defended blackface as a Halloween costume…

February 07, 2019 By David Andrew Weinberg The government of Qatar has a longstanding and problematic record with regard to promoting or enabling anti-Semitism. The state Grand Mosque has hosted numerous anti-Semitic hate preachers, including anti-Semitic sermons delivered in recent years by regular preachers in residence.  Qatar’s state book fair this past year provided a platform for numerous anti-Semitic titles.  Qatar’s Al Jazeera network, which the U.S. State…

February 06, 2019 When Dylann Roof murdered nine people in a racially motivated shooting spree at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, reactions from fellow white supremacists were all over the map. While some praised the shootings, others claimed the attack was fabricated by the government or Jews to cast a bad light on white supremacists.  Some criticized Roof, believing he would attract negative publicity and unwelcome law enforcement…

January 15, 2019 White supremacist online forum Fascist Forge advertises itself as a “Home for the 21st Century Fascist,” and attracts some of the movement’s most extreme adherents.  Launched in May 2018, the forum is modeled after (and serves as homage to) the defunct fascist social networking platform “Iron March,” founded by Russian nationalist Alisher Mukhitdinov, aka Alexander Slavros.  Fascist Forge’s founder and moderator goes by the…

January 07, 2019 By Rabbi David Fox Sandmel | ADL Director of Interreligious Engagement I have traveled to Israel and the Palestinian territories a number of times with interfaith groups, including Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals and Muslims, among them some African-Americans.  A recent trip that brought together rabbis and African-American pastors from around the country, however, was different because the African-American experience and Black-Jewish relations framed the entire…

December 26, 2018 ADL has been monitoring anti-Semitic editorial cartoons in newspapers across the Middle East for decades. One regular source of such cartoons, which blatantly demonize Jews, is the Qatari media, notably by cartoonist Umayya Juha. The prevalence of these highly problematic depictions led ADL to contact Qatar’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani calling for action.  Backed by ADL’s long time and…

December 24, 2018 Sports tournaments and other international competitions have long been harnessed by some countries in the Middle East as part of their continued efforts to isolate and delegitimize Israel and prevent engagement with Israelis. This typically includes the host country barring entry to Israeli athletes; refusing to allow them to compete under the Israeli flag or play their country’s national anthem at medal ceremonies; and refusing to shake their hands or even compete…

December 21, 2018 Can you remember being a fourth grader? It’s a vulnerable age, where you’re just starting to gain more confidence and independence, yet you’re still squarely in the “kid” zone. Now imagine being a child this age and hearing the slur “dirty Jew” ringing in your ear, uttered by multiple classmates. Melanie Roloff doesn’t have to imagine this nightmare—she lived it. In her fourth-grade class, instead of being able to…

December 21, 2018 With approximately 3 percent of the world’s Jewish population residing in Latin America, ADL works in partnership with the organized Jewish communal institutions to lend our voices when needed. Going into 2019, as challenges to Jewish community grow worldwide, ADL’s focus on strengthening relations with local Jewish communities across Latin America will continue to be paramount, particularly in areas of common interest.   Political shifts  …

December 21, 2018 64% of American households have a member that plays video games for three or more hours per week. And these gamers are not just kids. In 2017, the average age of a gamer was 31, and there were more gamers over 36 than between 18 – 35 or under 18. At ADL’s Center for Technology and Society (CTS) we know that video games can be a meaningful force for good in society. We think games can be incredible tools in helping to challenge bias and create respectful and…

December 20, 2018 Imagine the terrified, demoralizing feeling of going to your place of worship, and seeing hateful graffiti spread across its walls—graffiti that directly targets and assaults not only your faith, but who you are as a person. That’s exactly what happened in Mandeville, Louisiana on September 5, 2018, at Northshore Jewish Congregation (NJC). Imagine being Rebecca Slifkin, who worked at NJC, whose concerned neighbors came by to tell her about being shocked and…