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extremely Newsletter: Antisemitism, Misogyny and More

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Welcome to extremely, the new weekly newsletter from the ADL Center on Extremism and your go-to resource for emerging trends and developments in extremism and hate.

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1. Halloween’s Over, Guy: COE Unmasks Popular Antisemitic X Influencer

COE has identified, with a high degree of confidence, Cyan Cruz of Amarillo, Texas, as the man behind the popular antisemitic X account “TheOfficial1984.” The handyman turned purveyor of hate currently has more than 205K followers on the platform.

Cruz, aka TheOfficial1984, uses his platform on X to share antisemitic memes, Holocaust denial and hateful tropes about Jews, while glorifying Hamas, demonizing Israelis and selling eye-wateringly offensive antisemitic merch via the “Bad Goys Club,” an online store he launched in October 2024 and promotes heavily on X.

Analysis 
Hiding behind his blue check-verified “TheOfficial1984” alias, Cruz has taken advantage of the worsening antisemitism crisis by using it for clout and financial gain via his online sales — all under the cloak of anonymity (until now). This strategy — getting verified, racking up a huge audience and selling questionable merch – has proven popular among bigots and extremists on X, where hate speech has thrived, especially in the wake of the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. 

2. Antisemites Celebrate Amsterdam Attack in Inspiring Display of Shared Bigotry

On the evening of November 7, Israeli soccer fans were violently attacked in the streets of Amsterdam following a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax. Israelis were chased, harassed and assaulted in what appears to be a coordinated attack.

Analysis

The explosion of antisemitic violence in the Netherlands marks a significant escalation in violent targeting of Jewish people outside of IsraelDemonstrating that cruelty transcends all boundaries, foreign terror organizations like Hamas were joined by American antisemitic activists in praising the attacks.

Within Our Lifetime leader Fatima Mohammed called the pogrom “fun” and expressed sadness they couldn’t be there to join in. Samidoun, recently sanctioned by the U.S. and Canada for funding terrorism, praised the melee, declaring, “[This] is exactly what we mean by ‘Globalize the Intifada.’” Meanwhile, white supremacists Nick Fuentes and Stew Peters have blamed the attacks on the Israeli soccer fans who were being provocative towards the anti-Israel soccer fans, claiming that “they were asking for it” or that they deserved it.

3. Because We Don’t Have Enough to Worry About: Islamist-Inspired Terror Incidents Make Unwelcome U.S. Comeback

In October, authorities in Oklahoma and Arizona made arrests in suspected Islamist-inspired plots and attacks.  Prospective Islamist plots have focused on churches, political figures, energy facilities and a Pride parade, and included one mass shooting plot against a Jewish target.

Analysis

This rash of arrests spotlights a troubling trend: we’re seeing a significant uptick in terror incidents in the U.S. motivated by extremist Islamist ideologies, outpacing right-wing and left-wing incidents. Before this, recent terror plots and attacks have been primarily linked to right-wing extremists, including white supremacists and anti-government extremists. Islamist extremists were never completely out of the picture, but most arrests were of people who were attempting to help terrorist organizations, including Al-Shabaab, ISIS and its hydra-head of subsidiaries, or leave the U.S. to fight alongside them. This new spike in Islamist terror incidents in the U.S. isn’t cause for immediate panic, but it does add a new element to our nightly “stare at the ceiling at 3 a.m. and fret about the world” routine.

4. Area Man Tests Disastrous New Pick-up Line

Borrowing a line from the world’s most repressive regimes, white supremacist Nick Fuentes seized on the November 5 presidential election results, posting, “Your Body, my choice. Forever,” on X and other platforms.

The post, which has been viewed more than 91 million times and reshared 35,000 times, prompted Fuentes’ gleeful followers to announce that women who get abortions would face “unspeakable consequences.”

This twisted sense of male ownership of women’s bodies animates much of the “manosphere,” whose influencers – including Andrew Tate – enthusiastically celebrated President-elect Trump’s 2024 victory.

Analysis

Grossly sexist rhetoric has become mainstream, thanks to most social media platforms’ apparent unwillingness to address rampant misogyny like Fuentes’. Unsurprisingly, this surge has sparked fear among many women and girls, who are encountering this rhetoric online and now in schools, where Fuentes’ “your body, my choice,” has become a catchphrase for young boys.

5. New England White Supremacists Will Do Anything to Avoid Reading a Book

On November 2, several members of New England White Network (NEWN), a small white supremacist group based in New Hampshire, held a Talmud and book-burning event on a member’s private property. Before filming the book burning (because if you don’t post it on socials, did it really happen?) the group filmed a member firing an M-16 rifle loaded with armor-piercing bullets into 18 volumes of the Talmud and the Zohar, a medieval tome of spiritual writings. Then they loaded the Talmud, the Zohar and more than 50 additional LGBTQ+ titles into the fire, making crass, homophobic, transphobic and antisemitic comments as they tossed each book into the fire. No one has ever accused white supremacists of being enlightened.

Analysis

Similarly, no one has ever accused white supremacists of being original. This was a scene right out of Nazi Germany, where officials burned books by authors they considered enemies of the state. The book burning -- the group’s second in a year -- is part of NEWN’s efforts to increase its on-the-ground activities, and, presumably, solidify members’ reputation as intellectual heavyweights. 

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Podcast: extremely: Hosted by COE V.P. Oren Segal, this podcast will change the way you think about extremism – and the people who have dedicated their lives to fighting it.