ADL Articles

November 08, 2018 By Mario Perez | Coordinator and Social Science/Human Geography Teacher at the Newcomer Center in Arlington Heights, IL As the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht approaches, I am drawn to the words of Holocaust survivor Kurt Messerchmidt: “Silence is what did the harm.” I can’t help but consider the relevance of this statement and Kurt's experiences during the Holocaust to the lives of my students. The anniversary of Kristallnacht, as…

November 07, 2018 The 2018 midterms were not kind to most of the country’s extremist and bigoted candidates, but a number of them did garner disturbingly high vote counts. More than 1.8 million Americans voted for known extremists and bigots who were running for national offices. In races for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House, extremists pulled in, on average, 29% percent of the vote. It’s important to acknowledge that some of these votes – perhaps even…

November 06, 2018 Robert Bowers appears to have referenced “optics” on social media prior to allegedly opening fire at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. His comments -- “Screw your optics, I’m going in.” -- and extremists’ reaction to them highlight a division that has dogged the white supremacist movement since August 2017’s violent “Unite the Right” rally. Following the shooting rampage, Matt Parrott, co-founder of the now…

November 05, 2018 Louis Farrakhan spent Sunday in Iran, according to the English language version of MEHR, an Iranian news agency, spewing anti-American, anti-Israel rhetoric. The Nation of Islam leader, ostensibly in Iran to mark the 39th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, lashed out repeatedly at the U.S. and the Trump administration’s new sanctions against Iran. He reportedly called the U.S. a “big liar” and described the new sanctions as …

November 05, 2018 The Road to Power, a white supremacist and anti-Semitic broadcasting outlet based in Sandpoint, Idaho, continues to ramp up its tactic of robocalling communities nationwide with racist, anti-Semitic and bigoted language. The calls, which have targeted communities in California, Idaho, Iowa, Florida, Georgia and Pennsylvania, seek to exploit current events by disseminating vile, offensive commentary.  Robocalls are a relatively low-cost and easy means of communicating…

November 05, 2018 “It’s okay to be white” posters were reported on 14 college and university campuses in 12 states last week. The wave of flier postings coincides with a similar campaign that occurred last year at the same time. The “It’s okay to be white” trolling campaign first emerged in October 2017 on 4chan, a  discussion forum infamous for instigating trolling efforts and for the studied offensiveness of many of its posts…

November 05, 2018 UPDATE: On November 3, one week after the massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue and six days after going dark, Gab found a new home at Epik.com. In a statement, Epik’s CEO, Robert W. Monster, explained his willingness to host Gab, writing, “De-platforming a haven of free speech is not about left or right.” He also quoted Edmund Burke’s famous warning, “Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it,” superimposed…

November 05, 2018 On Friday evening, Scott Paul Beierle reportedly entered a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida, and opened fire, killing two women and wounding five other people, four of whom are women. Beierle, who died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, appears to have been a misogynist and a racist. In the hours after the shooting, news reports quickly linked the 40-year-old Beierle, a former high school English teacher and apparent Army veteran, to language frequently…

November 01, 2018 In the hours and days following the horrific anti-Semitic shooting in Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, condolences and sympathies for those killed and injured poured in from individuals, communities and world leaders from across the globe. From Europe, to Australia, to Latin America, to the Middle East, the US government and US Jewish community were inundated with sympathies and expressions of sorrow for the eleven Jews who lost their lives while in synagogue during…

by: Jinnie Spiegler October 29, 2018 Last week, we saw several hate-inspired incidents that have shaken our nation. Many are worried about the toxic nature of our discourse, the direction our country is headed and how we explain all of this to young people.  The week started with a string of thirteen separate pipe bombs sent to a group of mostly prominent Democrats: former Presidents Obama and Clinton, progressive philanthropist George Soros, several members of Congress, former…

October 27, 2018 The last post made to the social networking account believed to belong to Robert Bowers, the suspect in Saturday’s deadly shooting spree at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, claimed that “HIAS [Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society] likes to bring invaders in that kill our people.  I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered.  Screw your optics, I’m going in.”  The post, made just a short time before the attack on the…

October 27, 2018 Extremists reacted quickly and vocally to Saturday’s shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Some celebrated the killings as “another holiday to add to the calendar,” others blamed the Jewish community for inciting the violence and praising the apparent perpetrator for his decisive action. Still others bemoaned the media coverage of the “false flag” distraction from the incoming “caravan” of Central American immigrants and refugees. …

October 27, 2018 According to police and media reports, Robert Bowers allegedly entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning, yelling, “All Jews Must Die” as he opened fire. As of Saturday evening, the death toll stood at 11, and several people remained hospitalized. A profile on Gab – a social media site frequented by right-wing extremists – which appears to belong to Bowers, showcases his virulent anti-Semitism. The vast majority of…

October 26, 2018 Law enforcement officials around the country are rushing to investigate a rash of pipe bombs sent through the mail apparently targeting a variety of prominent public figures associated with progressive causes, including former President Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, among others. Because the targets of these devices— most of which were intercepted before reaching their intended destinations, and none of which detonated — were either prominent…

October 25, 2018 In a recent tweet, President Trump called a woman a disparaging name. It was Stephanie Clifford (Stormy Daniels) whom he called “horseface.” Similar insults towards women include those based on looks (“ugly both inside and out”), bodily functions (“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”), comparisons to animals (“that dog”) or an aspect of their identity (“Pocahontas”)…

October 17, 2018 The Nation of Islam marked the 23rd anniversary of the Million Man March and Holy Day of Atonement on Sunday, October 14th.  The event, held at Detroit’s newly named Aretha Franklin Amphitheater, featured a nearly three-hour long speech from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. His comments touched on topics ranging from Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings to Kanye West’s Oval Office meeting with President Trump, and also…

October 16, 2018 The divisive political discourse in this country is increasingly mirrored by violence in the streets. For some groups on the far right, violence has become a go-to tactic in their opposition to the left, and a crucial tool to promote their political and social ideology. For their part, some on the far left have adopted violence as a means of pushing back against what they feel are the encroachments of regressive and neo-fascist movements. Together these impulses have…

October 16, 2018 By Melissa Garlick | Civil Rights National Counsel Today, the refugee experience is that of Hadi Mohammed- an Iraqi refugee who escaped death threats in Iraq and settled with his two young sons in Nebraska.  Because of more restrictive screening imposed by the Trump administration on refugee admissions, his family remains separated.  His wife, while initially told that she would be approved to come to the U.S. and reunited with her family within a month, has been…