ADL, OneTable, and Passages Israel to Launch 'A Light in the City'
Article
September 20, 2024 – As antisemitism reaches unprecedented levels in the United States, ADL (Anti-Defamation League), OneTable, and Passages Israel are working to build bridges between the Jewish and Christian communities through shared experiences and dialogue. Their joint initiative, “A Light in the City,” aims to foster friendship and understanding by hosting Shabbat dinners in four key cities. The pilot program, to take place in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York…
Chelsey Nelson Photography, LLC v. Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government (U.S.C.A., 6th Circuit, 2023)
Amicus Brief
At issue in this case is a wedding photographer who seeks a religious exemption to Louisville's anti-discrimination ordinance for the purpose of denying wedding-related services to same-sex couples. ADL joined 14 other faith-based organizations in a brief led by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The brief argues that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment does not require granting the photographer a religious exemption to this neutral, generally…
ADL Urges Supreme Court to Revisit Flawed Ruling on Religious Accommodations in the Workplace
Press Release
New York, NY, February 28, 2023… ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today joined an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case Groff v. DeJoy, supporting people of faith seeking religious accommodations in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Title VII requires employers to allow religious accommodations for employees unless doing so would constitute an “undue hardship” for the business. However, in Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, the Supreme…
In Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison (1977), the Supreme Court held that an employer is required to allow a religious accommodation for an employee under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 unless doing so would constitute an “undue hardship” for the business. However, the Court defined an “undue hardship” as anything that imposes “more than a de minimis cost” for the employer — a very low standard that has made it difficult over the years…
ADL Task Force on Mideast Minorities Statement Regarding Situation in Iran
Press Release
New York, NY, December 11, 2022 ... The ADL Task Force on Middle Eastern Minorities today issued the following statement regarding the current situation in Iran:
"It is apparent that the Islamic Republic is intentionally and arbitrarily targeting religious minorities in Iran as a means of suppressing the protests and sowing discord.
"Iran is a country with deep diversity including all Islamic denominations, Jews, Christians, Baha’is, Zoroastrians, nonbelievers,…
ADL Honors Scholar and Interfaith Leader Imam Abdullah Antepli with 2022 Daniel Pearl Award
Press Release
The award was presented to Imam Antepli on Nov. 10 during ADL’s annual Never Is Now Summit on Antisemitism and Hate in New York City.
“Imam Abdullah Antepli is an ally and a champion for interfaith relations and embodies the ideals and the mission of ADL,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “This award recognizes leaders who demonstrate a commitment to the values which guided the life of Daniel Pearl, a commitment to building understanding between Jews and Muslims…
Singh v. Berger (U.S.C.A. District of Columbia, 2022)
Amicus Brief
In this case against the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), a Sikh USMC Captain and three Sikh Marine recruits filed suit to be able to serve with their articles of faith. This included a request for the recruits to attend Marine recruit training while maintaining their turbans and beards, which was prohibited in their initial limited religious accommodations. ADL, the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty, and Interfaith Alliance filed a motion to participate as amicus curiae in support of the…
Thai Meditation Association of Alabama v. City of Mobile (11th Circuit, 2022)
Amicus Brief
At issue in this case is the right of the Thai Meditation Association of Alabama (TMAA) to offer meditation services on property it owns in Mobile, Alabama. TMAA has faced repeated obstacles in its effort to build its facility even though the property is located in a zoning district that encourages religious uses. The brief — filed in coalition with the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, the ACLU, Muslim Advocates, the Orthodox Union, the Sikh American Legal Defense and…
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (U.S. Supreme Court, 2022)
Amicus Brief
This case involves a public high school football coach who filed a lawsuit claiming religious discrimination under the Free Exercise Clause and employment discrimination laws after he was fired for refusing to stop kneeling in prayer at the football field's 50-yard line immediately following every game. This practice started after the school district directed him to stop leading his team in pre- and post-game prayer, which the coach had done for eight years prior. The lower courts repeatedly…
Carpenter v. James (U.S.D.C. Western District of New York, 2021)
Amicus Brief
At issue in this case is a business invoking the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to seek a religious exemption from a New York State anti-discrimination law for the purpose of denying wedding photography services to LGBTQ+ couples. In opposing this claim, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that such an exemption is not required by the Free Exercise Clause. Furthermore, New York’s public accommodations law does not coerce participation in religious activity. Finally,…
At issue in this case is a free exercise challenge to a Maine secondary school tuition assistance program. To provide for high school education in over half of the State’s school districts that do not have public secondary schools, Maine pays for students to attend public or private schools which provide secular education, including religiously affiliated schools that do not indoctrinate religion. The lawsuit was brought by parents seeking to send their children to religious schools. ADL…
Neo-Nazis have adopted the Ku Klux Klan practice of symbolic burnings, substituting swastikas, othala and life runes, triskeles and the Celtic cross for the traditional cross burned by Klan members.
Resurrection School v. Hertel (U.S.C.A. 6th Circuit, 2021)
Amicus Brief
At issue in this case is a private religious school’s Free Exercise clause challenge to a State of Michigan COVID-19 order requiring all persons who are at least five years old to wear face masks whenever they are in a shared space with someone outside their household, including both public and private schools. The brief asserts that in the context of a national pandemic that has taken the lives of 543,000 Americans, including more than 16,900 Michigan residents, the order is fully…
88 is a white supremacist numerical code for Heil Hitler. Read more about the meaning behind the numbers, as well as how it’s used in non-extremist forms.
"Blut und Ehre" is a German phrase that translates into "Blood and Honor;" it was popularized by the Nazi Party (as a Hitler Youth slogan and elsewhere). Since World War II, this German phrase (and even more so for its English translation) has commonly been used by white supremacists in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere - most notably as the name of an international racist skinhead group. Additional Images:
ALTERNATE NAMES: DirlewangerThe crossed grenade emblem signifies the Waffen SS unit most commonly known, after its commander, as the "Dirlewanger Brigade" (later, the 36th SS Division). Oskar Dirlewanger (1895-1945) was an SS officer involved in the Holocaust and anti-partisan actions in World War II, including the murderous suppression of the 1944 uprising of the Polish Home Army in Warsaw. Even within the Waffen SS, both Dirlewanger and his unit had a reputation for sadism,…
It is common for white supremacists in the United States and elsewhere to use German words or phrases, or to create German-like equivalents of English words and phrases. This is most common among neo-Nazis and racist skinheads, but can be seen to some degree across all white supremacist movements. Some of the terms derive from the the Third Reich, while others are more modern in origin. Common examples include phrases such as "Weiss Macht" or "Weisser Macht" (White Power), "Weiss Junge" or …
ALTERNATE NAMES: Nazi SaluteThe Nazi or Hitler salute debuted in Nazi Germany in the 1930s as a way to pay homage to Adolf Hitler. It consists of raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down. In Nazi Germany, it was often accompanied by chanting or shouting "Heil Hitler" or "Sieg Heil." Since World War II, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists have continued to use the salute, making it the most common white supremacist hand sign in the world. Additional Images: