by: Oren Segal March 18, 2016 This week marks the 30th anniversary of a significant event in ADL history – the decision by the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to posthumously pardon Leo Frank. Frank was the Jewish manager of an Atlanta pencil factory who was falsely accused and wrongly convicted in August 1913 of the rape and murder of Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old girl who worked in the factory.
Anti-Semitism was rampant in the early 1900’s and Leo Frank&rsquo…
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by: David Robbins March 11, 2016 Jinnie Spiegler
Director of Curriculum, Anti-Defamation League
This blog originally appeared on Edutopia
Marriage equality, refugees seeking safety in Europe, the Confederate flag, police shootings of black and Latino men, the presidential election, Caitlyn Jenner, ISIS, and immigration are just a few of the news stories that inhabited the headlines this year on our phones, laptops, and newspapers. Unlike 20 years ago when…
by: Shaya Lerner Despite the international community’s reengagement with a more “open” and “moderate” Iran, some things in Iranian society haven’t changed, including the prevalence of Holocaust mockery and denial. While President Rouhani hasn’t touted the issue like his predecessor Ahmadinejad had, recent announcements indicate that the questioning of the Holocaust is very much alive and well within Iranian society. In December, the Tehran…
by: David Robbins March 08, 2016 By Jonathan Greenblatt
CEO of the Anti-Defamation League
This blog originally appeared on Medium
Political movements often depend on spoken or unspoken hatreds to perpetuate themselves.
Often, however, they can use ambiguity to mask these motives and appeal to a broader audience.
However, sometimes, when haters show their true colors, onlookers and fellow travelers can see through ambiguities to the unsavory aims of the causes…
by: Oren Segal March 07, 2016 On March 12, the Anti-Defamation League will play a key role at the first South by Southwest (SXSW) Online Harassment Summit. In a series of panels at this day-long event, the Summit will focus attention on various manifestations of hate online, including everything from cyberbullying to the sale of offensive merchandise to hate speech on social media to online extremist recruitment and propaganda. The overarching goal will be to identify the most…
by: Mark Pitcavage March 04, 2016 Updated March 22, 2016, to reflect additional charges and defendants.
In early March, federal prosecutors in Las Vegas announced charges against 14 anti-government extremists from a variety of states in connection with a 2014 armed standoff between the federal government and supporters of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy at Bundy’s ranch. Prosecutors added additional defendants later in the month. As of March 22, 19 people have been indicted…
by: Shaya Lerner March 02, 2016 As the media focuses on all that is allegedly “new “ in Iran, with new elected representatives and new business opportunities, young children in the Islamic Republic are being trained in decades-old Iranian propaganda, violence and hate, with the goal of “conquering Tel Aviv”.
As part of last month’s Fajr Decade celebrations (the anniversary of Islamic Revolution), Iranian officials in the city of Lamard organized the …
by: Shaya Lerner March 02, 2016 Recent controversies in Egypt illustrate the prevalence of anti-Israel sentiment in a country which has had a peace agreement with Israel since 1979.
The latest incident involved a dinner invitation by Egyptian Parliamentarian Tawfiq Okasha to Israeli Ambassador Haim Koren. Okasha, a TV personality who has a history of making anti-Semitic remarks on his show, was subsequently ousted from Egypt’s Parliament after being accused of engaging in normalization…
by: Oren Segal March 02, 2016 The Loyal White Knights (LWK) had every intention of holding a “White Lives Do Matter” protest on Saturday, February 27, 2016, at Pearson Park in Anaheim, California. But before the event could kick off, a bloody brawl erupted between Klan supporters and counter-protesters.
Klansmen, barely able to exit their cars, were suddenly swarmed by counter-protesters who wrestled Bill Hagan, the California LWK’s Grand Dragon, to the ground. Other Klan…
by: Oren Segal February 29, 2016 Nation of Islam (NOI) leader Louis Farrakhan made anti-Semitic accusations of Jewish governmental control while praising presidential candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 Saviours’ Day sermon at the NOI’s Mosque Maryam in Chicago on February 28.
While Part 1 of Farrakhan’s 2016 Saviours’ Day sermon last week at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena largely avoided the topic of Jews, in Part 2 of his sermon…
by: Marilyn Mayo February 28, 2016 Updated March 2, 2016
White supremacists have been enthusiastic supporters of Donald Trump since he announced his candidacy for president in June 2015 with bigoted remarks about Mexican immigrants. Subsequent remarks from Trump about banning Muslim immigration to the U.S served to solidify that support. White supremacists believe that Trump is voicing their own xenophobic and bigoted views toward immigrants and non-whites.
David Duke, a racist and anti…
by: Oren Segal February 23, 2016 Holocaust denier Bradley Smith, the founder of the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust (CODOH), died on February 18, 2016, his 86th birthday. Smith’s lasting impact is apparent in his peers’ reaction to his death – and in the continued efforts of the organizations he created to promote dangerous Holocaust denial theories. Smith’s acolytes and fellow Holocaust deniers rushed to eulogize him in the days following his death.
Smith…
by: Oren Segal February 18, 2016
Nation of Islam (NOI) leader Louis Farrakhan was provided with an opportunity to promote his typical anti-Semitic conspiracy theories last week in Iran.
Farrakhan was a “special guest” at multiple high-level events and met with current and former Iranian government officials including Grand Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati and former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati. Farrakhan was also reportedly the guest of honor at a ceremony unveiling a new…
by: Shaya Lerner February 10, 2016 By Rabbi David Fox Sandmel
ADL Director of Interfaith Affairs
As a professional in the Jewish community who works on interfaith relations, I am often asked “why aren’t Muslims speaking out against terrorism and ISIS?” The answer is that, in fact, many Muslims have done so. Equally important is for religious leaders to speak out and address the root causes of extremism in their community, and find ways of discouraging terrorist activity,…
by: Mark Pitcavage February 09, 2016 Rock musician and right-wing activist Ted Nugent surprised many of his followers on February 8 when he posted to his Facebook page a blatantly anti-Semitic graphic that labeled a dozen prominent supporters of gun control measures as Jews and asked “So who is really behind gun control?”
The graphic was one that had circulated in white supremacist circles for several years before Nugent gave it new life, telling his followers to “Know…
by: David Robbins February 08, 2016 By Jonathan Greenblatt
CEO of the Anti-Defamation League
This article originally appeared on The Times of Israel blog
Here they go again. The French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, has announced a new initiative toward convening an international conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The history of such international gatherings, with the unique exception of the Madrid Peace Conference following the first Gulf…
by: Oren Segal February 02, 2016 Update: 3/17/2016 - In March 2016, the Cyber Caliphate Army, a pro-ISIS hacking group, released so-called "kill lists" with the names, addresses and contact information of law enforcement officers in New Jersey and Minnesota. The information was uploaded to a file sharing site and to Telegram.
The original version of this post was also updated on 2/19/2016.
2015 saw an unprecedented number of attacks on law enforcement officials by U.S. residents motivated by…
by: Mark Pitcavage February 02, 2016 On January 26, 2016, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, one of the anti-government extremists involved in the January 2 armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters near Burns, Oregon, was fatally wounded by Oregon State Police (OSP) troopers during an attempt by the OSP and the FBI to arrest Finicum and a number of key occupiers.
Finicum, along with occupation leader Ammon Bundy and others, were traveling in two vehicles to…
by: David Robbins January 28, 2016 By Jonathan Greenblatt
CEO of the Anti-Defamation League
This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post Blog
In the wake of a protest against a reception featuring an Israeli community group at a recent LGBTQ conference, there has been widespread controversy. We have read blog posts and articles, watched videos of the protest, and heard from friends and allies who…
by: Oren Segal January 27, 2016
On January 2, a loosely organized group of armed anti-government extremists led by Ammon Bundy seized control of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters buildings located near the town of Burns in remote southeastern Oregon. They later named themselves Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.
On Tuesday, January 26, Ammon Bundy and several others were arrested by federal and state law enforcement officers during a traffic stop near John…