THE PARADOXES OF ANTISEMITISM: 🧵

Antisemitism's ability to adapt to its environment has allowed it to thrive across centuries, societies & demographics. Like a biological organism, antisemitism evolves, taking on forms that have the greatest power in every new era and context. As a result, antisemitism often appears paradoxical, even contradictory in the narratives it weaponizes against the Jewish community. Here are just a few of these contradictions...

ADL and @brandeiscenter urge universities to investigate the activities of their Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) campus chapters, including for potentially violating the prohibition against materially supporting a foreign terrorist organization. 🧵 adl.org/resources/lett…
In the wake of Hamas’s Oct 7 massacre of over 1,400 people in Israel, many SJP chapters have explicitly endorsed Hamas’s actions & their armed attacks on Israeli civilians, voicing an increasingly radical call for “dismantling” Zionism on US college campuses.

After viewing videos from the Nakba Day event at the U.S. Capitol hosted by @RepRashida, we found that our concerns were well-founded, and we are extremely troubled by what transpired. Read on for some notable moments.🧵 Rep. Tlaib fallaciously referred to Israel as an apartheid state & claimed the Nakba never ended. Meanwhile, Academic Yousef Munayyer depicted Zionism as a nefarious ideology and accused Israel of ethnic cleansing.

Today’s conviction of Enrique Tarrio and three other Proud Boys leaders for seditious conspiracy is another critically important step towards justice and accountability and a significant victory for democracy. Read on for more info 🧵 These convictions highlight the Proud Boys’ key role in the attack on the Capitol and send a clear message to members of the group who continue to threaten, disrupt and intimidate local communities that violent extremism will not be tolerated.

🧵 Carrying a banner that read, “There will be blood,” armed neo-Nazis harassed & threatened attendees at a drag brunch in Columbus, OH, on Saturday. This chilling display comes at a time when the LGBTQ+ community in Ohio—and nationwide—is already on edge. dispatch.com/story/news/202… Just a month ago, a white supremacist was arrested for allegedly firebombing an Ohio church, angry they were hosting a drag event. The show went on, but extremists still showed up to protest. Extremists have protested at least 35 drag shows since June 2022, according to @glaad.

NEW ADL survey found a strong correlation between conspiratorial thinking and antisemitic attitudes. Researchers looked at correlations between antisemitic beliefs and factors such as education, conspiratorial thinking and personal connections.🧵 They found that believing more anti-Jewish tropes is strongly correlated with not knowing the number of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust as well as overestimating and underestimating the number – underscoring the complex dynamics at the heart of antisemitism.

🧵 NEW: White supremacist propaganda distributions hit an all-time high last year, according to a new ADL Center on Extremism assessment. With more than 6,700 incidents, there was a 38% increase over 2021 and the highest number of incidents we’ve ever recorded. Even more concerning – antisemitic propaganda more than doubled from 2021 to 2022. The surge was largely because of the GDL’s growth and initiation of propaganda campaigns, but the formation of several new white supremacist groups also contributed.

Despite concerns over increased antisemitic activity, 2/25 has so far been a pretty typical Saturday in America, w/ white supremacist protests in Florida & Georgia, antisemitic propaganda in TX, CA, FL & AZ — & white supremacists monetizing their hate-filled online livestreams.🧵 Increased law enforcement presence as well as heightened community awareness helped to ensure this was a #ShabbatOfPeaceNotHate.

NEW: The data is clear year after year. Right-wing extremists present an urgent and persistent violent threat in the US. Our just-released annual report on extremist-related murders provides the key data and analyzes the important trends. 🧵 📈 Increased mass killings are one of the most alarming recent developments in extremist violence. Domestic extremists killed at least 25 people in 12 separate incidents in the US in 2022 – but 60% of those killed were victims of mass shooting attacks.

📢 A new report from the ADL Center on Tech & Society finds deplatforming extremist websites reduces online hate and harassment. A 🧵 for #SaferInternetDay. Our research shows that it’s harder for extremists to spread their ideologies, recruit adherents, and profit from hateful content without their websites. And it shows how unexpected deplatforming makes it difficult for extremist websites to build and retain followers.

Antisemitism is on a terrifying rise these days. When you give to ADL, you help us fight back. 🧵 In 2022, our Center on Extremism sent intel on antisemitic and extremist threats 1354 times to law enforcement agencies nationwide.

BREAKING: Our new report on online multiplayer games revealed that exposure to white-supremacist ideologies in online gaming more than doubled in 2022. 🧵 15% of young people ages 10-17 reported exposure to white-supremacist ideologies. Even more, 1 in 5 adults experienced the same exposure.

Sounds like a great idea, but our research this week shows that not only do you not have the resources, but you’re also not prioritizing what’s needed to make good on this… We suggest you read on. 🧵

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593673339826212864

ADL Center for Tech & Society reported two batches of antisemitic tweets to @Twitter as a trusted flagger on November 2 and November 17.

In two weeks, Twitter went from taking action on 60% of antisemitic tweets to taking action on only 30%.

🧵 The #MidtermElections2022 last week made one thing clear: we’ve held off an existential threat to our democracy – for now. Overall, more than 19 million people voted for extremist candidates nationwide. Out of the 49 major extremist candidates tracked by our Center on Extremism, 17 won their race, collecting more than 6.7 million votes.

Today, we are joining dozens of other groups to ask advertisers to pause Twitter spending because we are profoundly concerned about antisemitism and hate on the platform. Here's why we're asking advertisers to #StopHateForProfit and #StopToxicTwitter🧵stophateforprofit.org/statement-call… This past Tuesday, @Twitter’s new owner @elonmusk met with representatives from U.S civil society organizations, including @JGreenblattADL and @YaelEisenstat. Following that meeting, Musk pledged that "Twitter will continue to combat hate & harassment," including antisemitism.

Five years ago today, “Q” posted for the first time. Since then, QAnon has evolved into a global conspiracy movement that poses a serious threat to democracy – both in the U.S. and abroad. 🧵 While QAnon may have begun as a fringe, internet conspiracy theory, it has migrated into the mainstream, becoming a powerful force in American politics.

Putin’s false accusation that Ukraine has a Nazi regime is just the latest example of #RussianPropaganda that involves #antisemitism or Holocaust distortion, often in the form of unfounded Nazi comparisons. A thread: The most famous Russian #antisemitic propaganda is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forgery first disseminated in Russia in 1903, which blames a secret cabal of Jews for much of the world’s problems.
antisemitism.adl.org/power/

.@RepMTG, who spread QAnon conspiracies, #antisemitism & Islamophobia, was temporarily suspended from @Twitter. Actions have consequences, especially when it comes to spreading dangerous conspiracy theories. cnbc.com/2021/01/17/twi… While her time in the political spotlight has been brief, Marjorie Taylor Greene has proven to be a dangerous purveyor of #antisemitic QAnon conspiracies, Islamophobia and racism. A brief background ⬇️ adl.org/qanon

Following the seditious riot at the U.S. Capitol building, ADL conducted a survey to measure Americans’ concerns about the extremism and violence that was on full display January 6th.
See the full findings here: adl.org/american-attit… Most Americans now see the connection between the dangerous rhetoric from the President and the far-right to the violence at the US Capitol.

Over 60% believe President Trump bears responsibility for what happened on Jan 6th.

Full survey results: adl.org/american-attit…

BREAKING: ADL’s Survey of American Attitudes toward Jews found that, amid the worst outbreak of anti-Semitic violence in decades, 11% of American adults--28M people--harbor deeply ingrained anti-Semitic attitudes. Read the full survey: adl.org/survey-of-amer… 61% of American adults agree with at least one or more classic anti-Semitic canards, whereas 11% agree with six or more of them.

Joyce Fienberg
Richard Gottfried
Rose Mallinger
Jerry Rabinowitz
Cecil Rosenthal
David Rosenthal
Bernice Simon
Sylvan Simon
Daniel Stein
Melvin Wax
Irving Younger

11 lives were lost on October 27, 2018. We honor their memory by taking action — join us: adl.org/11actions We commit to strengthening the Jewish community by coming together for Pause with Pittsburgh, a collective moment of solidarity to memorialize the 11 lives lost. Join us on Sunday 10/27 at 5pm ET. #FightHateForGood #TreeofLife #Pittsburgh
pausewithpittsburgh.com