ADL Articles

December 02, 2019 Telegram, the online social networking app, may not be a household name in the U.S. like Twitter or Facebook, but with well over 200 million users, it has a significant audience. And it is gaining popularity. Telegram has become a very popular online gathering place for the international white supremacist community and other extremist groups who have been displaced or banned from more popular sites. The platform, which is a cloud-based chat and group messaging app,…

November 26, 2019 The November 11 Independence Day March in Warsaw, Poland, attracted tens of thousands of participants, including a number of far-right individuals and groups, as well as white supremacists from Europe and the U.S. This is a clear example of the increasingly international reach of white supremacist ideology. The annual event is organized by two groups that take their names, symbolism and ideology directly from Polish nationalist, anti-Semitic groups active in the 1930s:…

November 26, 2019 It’s not often an old joke evolves into a catchphrase for mass violence, but that’s just what’s happened this past year when a variety of extremist and fringe movements and subcultures adopted the word “boogaloo” as shorthand for a future civil war.  From militia groups to white supremacists, extremists on a range of online platforms talk about—and sometimes even anticipate—the “boogaloo.” The rise of &ldquo…

November 25, 2019 It might be hard to believe, but the reality is white supremacists are trying to recruit your white teenage boys. Parents see white supremacists recruiting online Recently, parents are writing articles that express fear and deliver warnings based on what they’ve been through with their teenage sons. One anonymous parent described the circumstances that led their thirteen-year-old son to join the Alt-right. A misunderstanding about sexual harassment at school…

November 25, 2019 In his remarkable address at ADL’s Never is Now Summit last week, the comedian and actor Sacha Baron Cohen called out major social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, for failing to stop the spread of anti-Semitism and hate on their platforms. “All this hate and violence is being facilitated by a handful of internet companies that amount to the greatest propaganda machine in history,” Baron Cohen said in his remarks,…

November 22, 2019 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Actor, screenwriter and director Sacha Baron Cohen slammed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other tech giants for their role in facilitating the spread of online misinformation and hate. A new global survey finds that about one in four Europeans harbors anti-Semitic beliefs. And in Monsey, New York, an Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed walking to morning shul; it was not immediately clear whether it was a hate crime. Read on for more on these…

November 21, 2019 ADL’s latest ADL Global 100 Index poll of anti-Semitic attitudes in 18 countries sheds light on some of the prejudices present in Latin America. The poll was fielded between April and June 2019 in Eastern and Western Europe, Canada, South Africa, Argentina and Brazil. European and other countries with significant Jewish populations were selected for the 2019 survey. Using an 11-question index that has served as a benchmark for previous ADL polling around the world since…

November 15, 2019 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Newly released data from the FBI shows that hate crime murders in 2018 reached an all-time high. Following a sharp increase in anti-Semitic attacks directed at the Orthodox community, ADL announced a doubling of funding for its flagship education program, No Place for Hate, in schools throughout the borough. And officials at George Washington University are investigating after an anti-Semitic video posted on Snapchat was circulated amongst the…

November 12, 2019 As Europe marked the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht, the 1938 pogrom across Germany and Austria that historians consider the beginning of the Holocaust, on November 9, several anti-Semitic incidents occurred during and just after the anniversary. These incidents were a reminder of the continued virulence of anti-Semitism in Europe. In one of the most brazen and overt displays of anti-Semitism in Europe, reportedly more than 200 neo-Nazis marched on the Kristallnacht…

November 08, 2019 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 An avowed white supremacist in Colorado was arrested after federal investigators uncovered a plot to bomb an historic synagogue. Campus officials at East Tennessee University are opening an investigation after signs saying “It’s okay to be white”— a popular white supremacist slogan — appeared around campus. A man in Milwaukee is facing felony hate-crime charges for allegedly throwing acid on a Latino man because of his…

November 06, 2019 “Pills” feature prominently in the online chat rooms and forums dedicated to right-wing extremism. These are not actual pharmaceuticals; instead, each “pill” sends a message about a person’s level of dedication to an extremist ideology or cause. Are they just beginning to learn about an ideology, or have they progressed further to embrace a nihilistic, potentially violent mindset? While online posts about “pills” can help outside…

November 05, 2019 Update: February 26, 2021: A federal court sentenced Richard Holzer to 19.5 years in prison.  Update: October 15, 2020:  The Justice Department announced that Richard Holzer, 28, pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and explosives charges for plotting to blow up the Temple Emanuel Synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado. According to a DOJ press release, Holzer faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the hate crime charge…

November is National Adoption Awareness Month—an annual reminder that it is important for all of us to raise our awareness about adoption and adoptees. There are approximately 5 million adoptees living in the United States today. Ensuring that your classroom and school are inclusive and respectful of adoptees and their unique experiences is crucial. Words Matter: Positive Adoption Language (PAL) and Inclusivity Educators know that words matter. You understand the harm that is…

November 01, 2019 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 The House of Representatives voted on a bipartisan basis this week to approve a resolution commemorating the Armenian Genocide – a move endorsed by ADL. A member of the anti-Israel group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Benedictine University confronted a Holocaust survivor during a speech on campus, demanding he “condemn the establishment of the Zionist Israeli state.” And U.S. Armed Forces conducted a raid over the…

October 18, 2019 White supremacists continue to pose a serious threat to Jews in the United States – as they do to African Americans, Muslim Americans, Latinx Americans, immigrants, LGBTQ Americans and other communities. In the year since the deadly rampage at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, at least 12 white supremacists have been arrested for their alleged roles in terrorist plots, attacks or threats against the Jewish community specifically. Many of the offenders…

October 11, 2019 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 On Yom Kippur, a suspected right-wing extremist gunman killed two people and injured several others after attempting to gain entry into a synagogue in Halle, Germany. Anti-Semitic hate crimes in New York City increased by 50 percent in 2019, according to the NYPD. And as we approach the one-year mark of the white supremacist shooting attack targeting three Jewish congregations in Pittsburgh, ADL and Jewish community leaders across the country are focused on…

October 10, 2019 On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of Jewish calendar, the synagogue in Halle, Germany was attacked.  A terrorist with a shotgun tried unsuccessfully to enter the synagogue, where approximately 80 congregants were worshiping.  After his failed attempt at the synagogue, he began shooting at nearby individuals, killing two people and wounding two others, none of whom were affiliated with the synagogue. According to news reports, Stephan Balliet, a 27-year-old German…

September 27, 2019 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 The “okay” hand sign, the Dylann Roof ‘bowlcut’, and 34 other extremist symbols have been added to ADL’s hate symbols database. The Department of Homeland Security unveiled a new strategy that places a priority on domestic terrorism, including the threat posed by the far-right. And the Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahatir Mohamad, who has a history of making deeply offensive and anti-Semitic statements, was invited to…