This Week’s Topline

Report: High Levels of Antisemitic & other Extremist Activity in Texas

The “Hate in the Lone Star State” report reveals an alarming trend. As the Texas Tribune noted in their coverage, “Texas continues to be a hotbed for extremism and antisemitism, driven by the heavy presence of white supremacist and anti-LGBTQ+ groups that are headquartered or active in the state.”

The ADL Center on Extremism’s report identifies the unique forces driving alarming levels of extremist activity and provides recommendations to counter this surge.

Members of Patriot Front march in Austin

One driver of this phenomenon is the presence of the white supremacist group Patriot Front, which uses Texas as its base of operations. Other notable extremist incidents include the hostage crisis at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville and the mass shooting in Allen, which were perpetrated by individuals who subscribed to extremist ideology.

Texas also experienced two extremist murders, 28 extremist events, 32 recent anti-LGBTQ+ incidents and six extremist terror plots, and Texas saw the fifth-highest number of total antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2022.

In addition to the policy recommendations geared to government leaders in this report, ADL reminds everyone that the seemingly small act of speaking up when confronted with intolerance can make a big difference.

What’s News

‘Dear Campus Leaders’: As the semester begins, we're connecting with campus administrators with recommendations to help create an equitable, welcoming and safe environment on campus at a time of rising antisemitism in higher education.
→ Read the Open Letter that ADL and partners are sending out to college and university leaders.

Shaking Hands, Changing Policies: ADL leaders are meeting this week with dozens of heads of state and foreign ministers who are in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. We are discussing best practices in combatting antisemitism, and how governments and the international community can best implement a whole-of-society approach to fight hate.
→ For more on the challenges of international antisemitism, read the ADL Global 100 Report.

State Hate is Televised: This week, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Iran's regime-controlled Press TV for using social media to evade local broadcast bans and wage an antisemitic foreign influence campaign. The ‘State Hate’ report that ADL and the Center for Countering Digital Hate released earlier this year dives into this spreader of dangerous antisemitism.
→ READ the full report.

The Best Place to Learn: In a reminder about the impact of education on fighting antisemitism, a recent study by the ADL Center for Antisemitism Research found that respondents who indicated their school taught specifically about the Holocaust endorsed fewer anti-Jewish statements than those who got their information about the Holocaust from social media, movies, TV, friends, family or somewhere else.
→ READ the report.

‘Hate Parties’: A new report by the ADL Center for Technology and Society explores how hate purveyors amplify each other’s hateful content within and across different platforms. Our investigation found that antisemitic comments spiked on some YouTube videos within 48 hours of their links being shared on a fringe platform. This spawned what we are calling “hate parties” — comments and replies that promoted antisemitic tropes, conspiracy theories, and hateful worldviews that can inspire offline incidents.
→ READ the report on ‘hate parties.’

@ ADL’s Incident Tracker

The @ADL_tracker feed of news and developments in antisemitism activities.

Bomb Threat Forces Evacuation of Fair Lawn Synagogue Amid Nationwide Rise in ‘Swatting’ Calls
Fair Lawn police evacuated a local synagogue and the immediate area after a caller claimed to have planted two pipe bombs there...

— September 18, 2023 VIEW full Tracker post

The German government “banned the neo-Nazi group Hammerskins Germany” and “raided the homes of dozens of its members.” At this point, there are about 130 Germany-based members of the organization.

— September 19, 2023 VIEW full Tracker post

Social Spotlights

@JGreenblattADL

In a moment when antisemitism has reached an indisputably historic level, it’s mind-boggling to think that @Penn is hosting this gathering of anti-Israel and anti-Zionist activists, some of whom have a long history of antisemitic statements and comments. READ the full post.

@ADL

On the anniversary of #UnitedWeStand, ADL is encouraged by the @WhiteHouse’s progress in countering hate-fueled violence, including the historic National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and the @USMayors’ Compact to Combat Hate and Extremism. READ the full post.

@JGreenblattADL

With the launch of @ADL’s new Media & Entertainment Institute, @JeffreyAbrams discusses the potential for the entertainment industry to be an “avenue for Jews to be celebrated & seen for our gifts, our culture, our humor — & most importantly, our humanity.” READ the full post.