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…

February 22, 2016 It’s only November, but 2016 has already passed a grim milestone: not since 2001 have there been this many murders related to domestic Islamic extremism in a single year. This is due almost entirely to Omar Mateen’s June shooting rampage at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which left 49 people dead and a city – and nation – reeling. 2016 has also seen a particularly high number of plots – carried out or thwarted – motivated by Islamic…

by: Ken Jacobson | February 15, 2016 The Forward Israel and its supporters are being held hostage by the notion that Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, is all that we have on the Palestinian side and that any successor would be far worse. The right’s response to this is either that there isn’t a hair’s breadth of difference between Abbas and Fatah on the one hand and Hamas on the other, or that Israel is better off having Hamas in power because then…

January 26, 2016 El 6 de agosto de 1965, el Presidente Lyndon Johnson sancionó la Ley de Derecho al Voto (VRA, por sus siglas en inglés), una de las leyes más importantes y eficaces de la legislación de derechos civiles jamás aprobadas. Al firmar, el Presidente Johnson afirmó: “Hoy es un triunfo para la libertad tan enorme como cualquier victoria que se haya ganado en un campo de batalla”. Sus palabras han probado ser correctas. Durante…

January 05, 2016 Download the whole report Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2015 (PDF). When it came to domestic terrorism and extremism, the year 2015 was a grisly one for the United States.  In the past twelve months, the names of a number of American cities became unwelcome shorthand for the carnage that extremist killers wreaked in them:  Charleston, Chattanooga, Colorado Springs, San Bernardino.  Each of these cities became scenes of tragedy and death,…

December 02, 2015 Download the complete report (PDF). “Black Friday” took on an altogether different meaning in Colorado Springs this past Thanksgiving weekend when, on November 27, a gunman embarked upon a deadly shooting spree at a local Planned Parenthood clinic.  The shooter, Robert Lewis Dear, opened fire outside the clinic, then entered the building.  As police arrived on the scene, Dear allegedly engaged them with gunfire, hitting several officers. …

November 01, 2015 For many years, a consensus existed in the organized American Jewish community that we should support the democratically-elected government of Israel, whether Labor or Likud, on a non-partisan basis, particularly on matters of Israeli security. The logic was twofold:  Moral – Israelis put their lives on the line every day in a dangerous neighborhood and we, sitting in the comfort of America, should respect Israel’s democratic process regarding the safety and…

October 28, 2015 To view the full statement, please see: ADL Statement to House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security – October 28 Radicalization: Social Media and the Rise of Terrorism Hearing The Honorable Ron DeSantis Chairman House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515   The Honorable Stephen F. Lynch Ranking Member House…

by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | October 27, 2015 PBS - Religion & Ethics Newsweekly The promulgation, on October 28, 1965, of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Church’s Relations with Non-Christian Religions, may be the most important moment is post-Holocaust Jewish-Christian relations and interfaith relations writ large. In its fourth chapter, Nostra Aetate effectively overturned centuries of what the noted French Jewish historian…

by: Jonathan Greenblatt | October 08, 2015 The Washington Post From Charleston to Baltimore and Ferguson, it’s undeniable that our country continues to wrestle with racism and inequality. But recently there have been some notable and hopeful developments — including bipartisan prison reform and the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse. This weekend in Washington, a major demonstration will take place that is billed as a call…

September 25, 2015 When political pundit Ann Coulter made disparaging comments on Twitter claiming that presidential candidates were pandering to the Jewish community and questioned some candidates’ focus on Israel during the CNN Republican debate on September 16, white supremacists and anti-Semites were gleeful that she took on what they call “the Jewish question.” Extremists believe that Coulter was exposing alleged “Jewish power” in this country. This is not…

September 08, 2015 Read the full comprehensive report, Anti-Semitism: A Pillar of Islamic Extremist Ideology (PDF). In a video message in August 2015, Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza bin Laden, utilized a range of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel narratives in his effort to rally Al Qaeda supporters and incite violence against Americans and Jews. Bin Laden described Jews and Israel as having a disproportionate role in world events and the oppression of Muslims. He compared the…

by: Ken Jacobson | September 03, 2015 The Jerusalem Post The surge of global anti-Semitism is one of the more disturbing phenomena in recent years. When asked, however, by a member of a congressional committee before whom I was appearing whether it was happening all over again in Europe, I answered that such an analogy was neither accurate nor helpful. Nazi Germany was a regime committed to the destruction of the Jewish people. Today, I noted, whatever the challenge of anti-Semitic violence…

August 17, 2015 Remarks as Delivered The Georgian Club, Atlanta, Georgia The circumstances of our gathering today are somber, they are serious, but I am really filled with hope. I must tell you, it has been such an extraordinary visit. We had a nice time at Or Hadash Synagogue on Saturday morning. We had a wonderful visit yesterday at Ebenezer Baptist Church which is a remarkable, redemptive and reinvigorating place. We spent the afternoon at the Civil Rights Museum where we had the…

August 06, 2015 This post was originally published as part of a larger ADL Retrospective on ADL’s archived website. This was the cry of the furious mob outside the Atlanta courthouse where Leo Frank, a Northern Jew, stood trial after his arrest in 1913 for a murder he did not commit. Anti-Semitism hung heavy in the courtroom as Frank was found guilty and sentenced to death. Though a courageous governor later commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, Frank never did serve…

December 31, 2015 Argentina October 18, 2015 - Concepción del Uruguay, Entre Ríos – A Jewish cemetery was desecrated with a swastika.  August 25, 2015 - Buenos Aires – “Jew and mobster” were spray painted on a subway station in reference to Mauricio Macri, head of the government of the City of Buenos Aires and a presidential candidate.  August 1, 2015 – Sauce Viejo, Santa Fe – Graffiti reading &ldquo…