ADL Articles

June 17, 2019 It’s that time of year when seniors play “pranks” as a final goodbye to their high school days. Intended to cause havoc, senior pranks may be planned for weeks or months leading up to graduation. These pranks are often harmless, fun and light-hearted and, in the best of cases, reflect a positive climate and school spirit. But some pranks have the opposite effect. They are offensive, harmful to individual students and negatively impact school climate. These…

June 14, 2019 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Organizers of the “DC Dyke March” attempted to implement a ban on Jewish Pride flags, claiming they too closely resemble the flag of Israel. In Detroit, a small group of neo-Nazis carrying weapons disrupted an LGBTQ Pride march by spewing homophobic, racist and anti-Semitic slurs at participants and pretending to defile an Israeli flag. A gay man in Atlanta was shot and killed in what police are classifying as a hate crime. Read on for…

June 13, 2019 Key Highlights In 2018, 13 individuals were arrested for domestic criminal activity motivated by Islamist extremism. Four of the 13 arrests were linked to terror plots, one of which resulted in the murder of a high school student. All 13 individuals arrested for domestic Islamist extremist activity in 2018 were lawfully in the United States at the time of their arrest. Eleven of these individuals were U.S. citizens, one was a lawful permanent resident originally from…

June 11, 2019 On Sunday, May 19th, Deir Yassin Remembered (DYR) led a protest outside a “Breakfast for Israel” fundraiser for Magen David Adom, the Israeli version of the Red Cross, at Congregation Beth Sholom in Teaneck, New Jersey. About a dozen protestors from DYR – an organization whose leaders have called for the elimination of Israel, described Zionism as a “cancer” and claimed that Israel is a hub for pedophilia and organ trafficking – were joined…

June 11, 2019 On Saturday, June 8, ten neo-Nazis associated with the National Socialist Movement protested Detroit’s Motor City Pride Festival, carrying guns and shouting homophobic and anti-Semitic slurs. NSM leader Burt Colucci and Aric Lemieux, NSM’s South Michigan chapter leader, headed up the protest, which included participants from Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Michigan. Lemieux expressed his intention to protest the festival months ago, and other group…

June 07, 2019 June 6, 2019 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 YouTube announces a new effort to remove extremist, white supremacist content from its platform, in what ADL called “an important step forward.” In an attempt to claim ‘prominent’ conservatives were being censored on social media platforms, a Fox News host cited an avowed anti-Semite as an example. Volkswagen is partnering with ADL to fund a new office in Berlin that will research and combat anti-Semitism throughout…

June 02, 2019 Remarks by Jonathan Greenblatt CEO and National Director, Anti-Defamation League To the ADL National Leadership Summit June 2, 2019, Washington, D.C. (As prepared for delivery) Thank you, Esta, for that kind introduction, and welcome to our 2019 National Leadership Summit. I am so glad to be here. Its been an exhausting year and a hard year, and to that end I want to ask you to pause for a moment of silence to honor the 12 people who were killed in…

May 31, 2019 May 30, 2018 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 Jews in Germany were warned that wearing a kippah in public may be dangerous, due to a disturbing increase in anti-Semitic incidents. The Ku Klux Klan attempted to hold a rally in Dayton, Ohio over the weekend but failed spectacularly – being out numbered 600 to nine. Twitter is weighing whether banning white nationalists from their platform or allowing them to stay on and be debated is the proper approach in dealing with this issue. …

May 29, 2019 President John F. Kennedy was born 102 years ago today. His dedication to upholding the American ideal of a “nation of immigrants” catalyzed the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which eliminated the national origin quota system. ADL and Harper Perennial released the 60th Anniversary edition of President Kennedy’s book, A Nation of Immigrants, last year. His words are evergreen and remind us how a diversity of faiths, nationalities and…

May 28, 2019 On May 15, Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed the country’s most restrictive abortion bill into law. The new law would effectively ban abortion at every stage and would charge doctors who perform an abortion with felonies, with possible sentences of 99 years in prison. White supremacists greeted the news out of Alabama with muted approval, reflecting their complicated feelings on the subject. Historically, white supremacists have embraced the idea of white women being…

May 24, 2019 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 Less than a week after three attempted arsons against Massachusetts Jewish centers, three Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Chicago synagogue. The incidents were the latest in a series targeting synagogues and Jewish institutions in the U.S.  Also this week, in California, a guest lecturer in a UCLA anthropology class likened Zionism to white supremacy.  And in New Jersey, a 20-year-old man was arrested after sending money to Hamas and threatening to…

May 23, 2019 UPDATE: A large law enforcement contingent kept the peace as only nine HSK members and associates participated in Saturday’s rally. Yards away, separated by a fence and a wall of police, hundreds of counter-protesters drowned out the barely visible Klan group with a united and peaceful message against hate. The Honorable Sacred Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (HSK), a small Madison, Indiana-based Klan group led by Derek Dean Eaglin and Kate Nicole Eaglin, has scheduled…

May 23, 2019 Shootings in Poway and Pittsburgh, and suspected arson attacks in Massachusetts and Chicago — hate is on the rise. An escalating number of incidents of anti-Semitism and bigotry targeting Jewish houses of worship have reminded us that if we stand by and do nothing, hatred will gain a foothold in society. At a time when violent attacks fueled by prejudice are becoming far too common, we must come together to stand in solidarity, celebrate diversity and condemn bigotry. …

May 20, 2019 Hand-written on poster board were the following words: “To our Jewish cousins, your Muslim cousins have your back. Together against terror.” The words on that poster board expressed some of the many moving and meaningful sentiments uttered, felt and shared at a community vigil in Poway, California the Monday following the horrific April attack at a synagogue where a woman was shot to death and three Shabbat worshippers injured by a terrorist allegedly inspired by…

May 17, 2019 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Six days after being kicked off Facebook, notorious anti-Semite and leader of the Nation of Islam Louis Farrakhan was invited to speak at a church in Chicago, where he delivered his typical brand of bigotry and anti-Jewish hatred. The Harvard Lampoon, a satirical magazine on campus, was forced to apologize after publishing an inappropriate and doctored photograph of Anne Frank in swimwear. On Capitol Hill, ADL and others call on Congress and the…

May 15, 2019 Extremist and anti-Semitic expressions have featured in recent Polish demonstrations against restitution of Holocaust-era Jewish property, seized by the Polish government.  Together with our Polish partner, Never Again Association, ADL has been monitoring events and have found the following: On May 10, the Polish Journalists Association hosted a panel discussion, entitled, “Jewish claims and the case of Poland,” with several known extremists.  The…

May 14, 2019 Two world-class soccer teams from two continents will be joining forces on the playing field on Wednesday to do battle against a common foe: Hate. On May 15, 2019, the Chelsea Football Club, a popular UK soccer team, will visit Foxborough, Massachusetts for an exhibition match against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Unlike traditional soccer matches, which are solely about competition, this event has an equally important purpose: to raise awareness…