ADL Articles

October 06, 2020 Leila Khaled, longtime active leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and who has engaged in PFLP terrorist operations, keynoted an October 3, 2020 public webinar during which she expressed explicit support for violence and deep animus toward Zionists. The webinar was convened by the far-left “anti-imperialist” group International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS).  In her session, Khaled claimed that Jews,…

October 06, 2020 An October 1, 2020, preliminary hearing in Tulare County, California, revealed that authorities have charged Joshua Isgrigg of Porterville with possession of explosives with intent to cause harm, as well as manufacturing a destructive device without a permit.  The Porterville, California Police Department launched an investigation of Isgrigg in April 2020 over alleged elder abuse and credit card fraud, for both of which he has also been charged. Their investigation…

October 02, 2020 Leila Khaled is a longtime active leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and is well-known for her role in the hijacking of two civilian airliners, TWA Flight 840 in 1969 (bound for Tel Aviv from Rome) and El Al flight 219 in 1970 (traveling from Amsterdam to New York City). In 1997, PFLP was designated as a terrorist organization by the United States Department of State, which cites the group as having carried out “large-scale…

October 01, 2020 A small but vocal segment of anti-Israel activists have engaged in inflammatory rhetoric in response to the recent normalization deals between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which were inked in a ceremony on the White House lawn September 15. Since the Israel-United Arab Emirates deal was announced August 13, critique from some has veered into conspiracy theories (that at times have incorporated antisemitic tropes) and language justifying violence and demonizing…

September 26, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 The nation continues to mourn the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first Jewish woman to serve on the Supreme Court and a pioneering advocate for women’s rights. The late Justice will be the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. A grand jury in Jefferson County, Ky., has indicted a former Louisville police detective on three charges of wanton endangerment in the March shooting that resulted in the death of 26-year…

September 24, 2020 While extremists of differing ideologies aligning to further a common goal is not a new phenomenon, recent activity suggests that this overlap is becoming more common as extremist ideas are shared online. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) September 3, 2020 arrest of 30-year-old Michael Robert Solomon and 22-year-old Benjamin Ryan Teeter in Minneapolis is the most recent example of a hybrid ideology. To support their alleged violent goals of destroying the U.S…

September 23, 2020 Over the years, a small but concerning number of US anti-Israel groups and activists have expressed support for groups or individuals who are known to have engaged in terrorist activity in the name of the Palestinian cause. While properly protected by the First Amendment, such rhetorical support can implicitly legitimize terrorism; it also diminishes prospects for meaningful dialogue on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Though infrequent, praise and support for US…

September 21, 2020 September 22— National Voter Registration Day — is a nonpartisan civic holiday that celebrates the cornerstone of our democracy, the vote, by creating broad awareness of voter registration opportunities.  In addition to providing information about voter registration and other resources, the day is an appropriate occasion to underscore that the success of the American democratic experiment relies, at its core, on the rule of law and the right to vote. …

September 11, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Top officials with the Department of Homeland Security directed agency analysts to downplay threats from violent white supremacy, a whistle-blower complaint released on Wednesday said. Vice President Mike Pence and top officials from the Trump campaign are slated to attend a Montana fundraiser next week hosted by a couple who have expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. A Palestinian woman who played a part in the hijackings of two…

September 04, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Facebook announced new steps to limit voter misinformation in the upcoming election – which didn’t go far enough. A skirmish between alt-right and Black Lives Matters protesters ended with the shooting death of a supporter of the far-right group Patriot Prayer. ADL and the National Urban League announced a new partnership, starting with a pilot program in Philadelphia on voting rights. Read on for more on these headlines, news you…

August 31, 2020 Under the guise of anti-censorship and free speech, video-hosting service BitChute has become a hotbed for violent, conspiratorial and hate-filled video propaganda, and a recruiting ground for extremists. BitChute founder Ray Vahey’s concept for the platform came from, in his words, “seeing the increased levels of censorship by the large social media platforms in the last couple of years. Bannings, demonetization, and tweaking algorithms to send…

August 28, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Federal investigators announced that they have launched a civil rights probe into the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. A sign with the phrase “The Jews Want A Race War” was hung from the heavily trafficked Los Angeles interstate 405 highway overpass on Saturday. The NAACP will replace all leadership of its Philadelphia chapter — including its president, Minister Rodney Muhammad —…

by: Scotland Nash August 26, 2020 Now more than ever, we need to build the capacity for empathy and compassion with our students and school communities.   The health crisis of COVID-19 highlighted again the racial disparities across the country. The racial violence embodied in the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and George Floyd re-ignited our understanding of the systemic racism that plagues our nation.  We can’t deny the staggering statistics that…