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Antisemites, Racists and Other Bigots are Hijacking Public Meetings
The ADL Center on Extremism is tracking an increase in antisemitic speech and trolling efforts at public forums such as city council, county board and state house committee meetings. Extremists and bigots are using the public comment portion of these events, especially those with the option to call in virtually, to push antisemitic, white supremacist and anti-LGBTQ+ narratives.
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| A member of a virulently antisemitic white supremacist group makes comments during a City Council meeting in Oklahoma. |
Using the same tactics they deployed against school board officials, extremists are now harassing individual city council members, particularly those whom they believed to be Jewish. For example, in June the Goyim Defense League’s main telegram channel shared a post titled “*ATTENTION * CALL IN AND NAME THE JEW!” which provided information for a Sonoma County (CA) Board of Supervisors meeting including instructions on how to join the meeting virtually. Below the instructions the post read: “Make Jews seethe! Spread the truth in a public forum! GO VIRAL!”
This all adds to the wave of attempts to harass and intimidate Jews across the country, including online vitriol on X/Twitter and other platforms, antisemitic flyers spread in multiple states, swatting calls and bomb threats affecting dozens of synagogues, and
uniformed extremists rallying in public spaces with swastikas and anti-Jewish chants.
In addition to working with law enforcement and community partners to reduce the threat of incidents like these, ADL has been a strong partner in the White House Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which addresses the alarming levels of antisemitism through a whole-of-society plan that was shaped in part by dozens of ADL recommendations.
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| Blood Tribe demonstrates in Ohio in April 2023. |
HATE ON DISPLAY IN FLA:
ADL recently released a profile of the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, which was active in an extremist gathering on Sept. 2, as dozens of individuals associated with that group as well as the Goyim Defense League, White Lives Matter, Dixieland Nationalists and Vinland Rebels marched around a park in Altamonte, Florida before demonstrating on an overpass. The participants wore matching uniforms, waved swastika flags, performed Hitler salutes and shouted “white power” and “Jews will not replace us.”
→ MORE ABOUT BLOOD TRIBE.
CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGERS:
On CNN, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt discussed online and offline dangers for the Jewish community: “But what is alarming is the rise of antisemitism across the country. Like, we’ve got to see the big picture here. Literally, anti-Jewish acts have reached historic levels in the United States... there have been over 50 bomb threats and swatting attacks against synagogues and Jewish institutions across the country. This past weekend in Florida, we had Nazis marching out in the open. And then, of course, we see this grotesque antisemitism on Twitter...
→ VIEW THE VIDEO.
¿QUE ES EL ANTISEMITISMO?: As the new school year starts, ADL has updated our popular discussion guide about how to understand and reject antisemitism into Spanish to provide information to even more students, parents and educators.
→ USE THE GUIDE IN ENGLISH OR SPANISH.
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Over the past month, “swatting” incidents aimed at synagogues across 12 states have alarmed many communities. The Nonprofit Security Grant Program was enacted to support nonprofits so they can improve their security measures like security cameras, reinforced doors and emergency preparedness training. The Senate Appropriations Committee is proposing to significantly cut the program despite a recent revelation that less than half of funding requests are actually funded. Congress must commit to funding this vital program adequately to ensure that we are all safe to congregate
and pray. Please take just one minute to call on your members of Congress not to cut security grants to houses of worship.
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The @ADL_tracker feed of news and developments in antisemitism activities.
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