The Nation of Aztlan (NOA), first organized in the early 1990s, is a California-based Hispanic nationalist organization that claims to represent the desires and aspirations of the Hispanic community. The organization calls for the United States to return "Aztlan" territory - Aztlan being the mythic homeland of the Mexican people, or Aztecs, which according to legend is found in the American Southwest or Northern Mexico. The group's nationalist message is blurred by frequent appeals anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, homophobia and other expressions of hatred.

The NOA has posted numerous anti-Semitic articles and editorials on its Web site, La Voz de Aztlan. Many of these articles allege Jewish control of the U.S. government (one described the Monica Lewinsky affair as a plot involving the Mossad and, by extention, Israel.) The NOA has exploited the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to further extend its anti-Semitic and anti-Israel conspiracy theories.

On September 13, 2001, Hector Carreon, NOA founder and editor of La Voz de Aztlan, which the NOA describes as an online news service, wrote: "There is no doubt that our foreign policy in the Middle East has contributed to the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Is not our support of Zionism too high a price to pay? Why are we supporting an Israeli apartheid policy that has made all of Islam our mortal enemy?"

Carreon published an essay on Oct. 9, 2001 titled "Anthrax Terrorists May Be Zionists," in which he claimed that the anthrax outbreak in Florida may have been the work of Jews. Carreon claimed that in July 2001 he received an anonymous letter containing a "small amount of a yellowish white substance" and text claiming that "Jews had an illustrious history in biological research." Carreon claimed he developed "flu like symptoms" after receiving that letter. This made him suspicious of the Boca Raton anthrax case; Carreon claims that "the laboratory engineered Anthrax spores came in the mail in an envelope that included a 'Star of David' charm." Carreon wrote, "We believe that the terrorists are actually Zionists." Everyone assumes that "the dangers we face" come from Islamic terrorists, stated Carreon, "but our experience has been different. We fear Zionist terrorists more. They have been trying to take away our constitutional right of freedom of political expression through acts of terrorism."

The Syria Times Daily Politic News Online (Oct. 16, 2001) reprinted the article under its original headline, "Anthrax Terrorists May Be Zionists."

Another essay in La Voz de Aztlan titled "Anthrax Letter Messages Seem Contrived" suggested that anthrax-laced letters addressed to NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw and U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle were possibly sent by "Zionists." According to the essay, "Zionists have been worried because they perceive that the American public is wavering in their support of Zionist racist polices against the Palestinians. They are desperate and will do anything to manipulate U.S. public opinion. This is one of their favorite tactics."

Ernesto Cienfuegos, La Voz de Aztlan staff writer, suggested that Zionists were responsible for the October 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi, claiming that Israelis were attempting to "frame" the terrorist group that immediately accepted responsibility for the killing, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. According to Cienfuegos, "The Zionists needed to create a situation in order to relieve the great pressure and to find a new excuse to attack the Palestinians. This has now happened."

The NOA is sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, often likening the Palestinians’ goals with their own: "La Raza's struggle for the land and for political and economic self-determination is not different from the struggle of the Palestinian people in Zionist Israel. We live in Aztlan under Anglo domination as the Palestinians live under Jewish domination."

"La Raza," meaning "the nation" or "the race," is a term used by some mainstream Hispanic organizations like the National Council of La Raza, which the NOA is not affiliated with and does not represent.

Hector Carreon is the head of the NOA and founder/editor of La Voz de Aztlan ("The Voice of Aztlan"), an Internet "news service" which debuted in January 2000. According to the La Voz de Aztlan, "Hector is a graduate in Civil Engineering from California State University at Long Beach where he was a founding member of the Society of Mexican-American Engineers and Scientists (MAES). He served honorably for two year [sic] as a Vietnam-era soldier in the U.S Army's 2nd Armored Division and is a graduate of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund's Advanced Leadership Program."

Carreon may have been introduced to Hispanic nationalism during his time with the Brown Berets, a group that came into existence in 1967 in Los Angeles soon after the Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland, California. Similar to the Panthers in organization and ideology, the Brown Berets focused on the mobilization and unification of "Chicanos for Self Defense" against police brutality, with a strong emphasis on youth in the "Barrios" and on education.

La Voz de Aztlan and the group’s e-mail service are published from Los Angeles; staff writers include Miroslava Flores and Ernesto Cienfuegos. In fall 2001, the group described plans to improve its Web site: "Shortly we will be implementing more advanced Internet technologies that will enable us to reach more people in a more efficient way. We also plan to add more sophisticated audio and video capabilities to the website." In addition to the anti-Semitic nature of NOA, the group has posted several virulently homophobic articles editorials and articles on its Web site.

Prior to the September 11 attacks, the NOA announced that it created a "La Raza Education Project on Palestine" and that it was forming an alliance with the "international community that is seeking peace and justice in Palestine." Despite such pronouncements, the level of the NOA’s non-Internet based activity remains unclear.

In 1998, a group of ten people wearing masks, including Juan "Ralphy" Avitia, a spokesman for the Nation of Aztlan at the time, burned a U.S. flag in front of city hall in Fresno, California. In 1999 Carreon’s Imapcto2000, which calls itself "a web site dedicated to the political and economic empowerment of La Raza through the effective use of the World Wide Web," sent an anti-Semitic e-mail to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Hispanic rights activists revived the story of Aztlan in the 1960s. Beyond a mere physical site, Aztlan has become a metaphor for the geographic, historical and spiritual home of many indigenous people in the Southwest. The NOA seeks to create a separate nation in the area now "occupied" roughly by California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Some white supremacist movements have provided a degree of aid and comfort to the NOA by endorsing its material and publishing statements seemingly sympathetic to its positions. Several white supremacist Web sites include links to the NOA.

White Aryan Resistance (WAR), led by white supremacist Tom Metzger, posted articles by the NOA on its e-mail list service. The anti-Semitic and racist hate group World Church of the Creator has showcased NOA anti-Jewish articles on Chandra Levy and the Mossad on its e-mail list. The neo-Nazi National Alliance says that the NOA "publish a lot of truth about our common E. [enemy]." Another National Alliance message says, "Everyone should check out this site. There are several articles which speak truthfully about the Jews. Yes, Aztlan would kill or deport all Europeans, but they would kill or deport all Jews, too." The white supremacist site vanguardnewsnetwork and the Nation of Islam Student Association feature links to the NOA Web site.

Meanwhile, anti-immigration groups such as American Patrol have pilloried the NOA with equally charged rhetoric, claiming the group is part of a Hispanic plot to "invade" or "conquer" the Southwestern U.S.

• November 7, 2001 – "It is very sad that the American public continues to be deceived by Zionists. The sophisticated and powerful Zionist machine is not only sucking billions per year in military aid to Israel, but is also sucking millions through deception and chicanery."

[Article by Hector Carreon]

• October 23, 2001 – "Don't allow Zionist to place a ‘guilt trip’ on you because of the holocaust. This has been a principal tactic that Zionists have used to manipulate American public opinion. Also, do not be concerned about being called anti-semitic when you start questioning the use of your tax monies to support racist Israeli policies. The Zionists have loaded the anti-semitic label with the guilt feelings and pity normal people feel through the images in our memories of the pictures of gas chambers, piles of corpses, and concentration camps that we have been shown through the efforts of Jewish institutions such as the Museum of Tolerance and through countless books and films on the subject."

[Article by Ernesto Cienfuegos]

• July 24, 2001 – "Powerful Jewish interests in Hollywood, television and other media promote the idea that it is ‘politically correct’ to accept the gay lifestyle…"

[Letter by Hector Carreon]

• July 15, 2001 – "La Voz de Aztlan has just received a report that missing Washington D.C. intern Chandra Levy was seen yesterday afternoon entering an Israeli government building in Tel Aviv which reliable sources believe houses the ‘Institution for Intelligence and Special Assignments’. The ‘Institution’ is the official ‘spy’ agency for the Israeli government and is more commonly known as the Mossad…. The Israeli Mossad's primary ‘modus operandi’ is to work through high level appointed and elected American Jews in the U.S. government. They also work through the ‘U.S.A. Government Internship Program’ to place personnel in key positions. Young bright and well educated American Jews are first indoctrinated, trained and then placed in key U.S. government agencies in order to carry out specific intelligence operations."

[Article by Miroslava Flores]

• July 12, 2001 – "We have here two young pretty Jewesses with access to high level Democratic elected officials in the U.S. Government. Monica Lewinsky ended up in the Pentagon with the highest type of secret government clearance. Who knows what government military secrets she was able to obtain and for whom. If Bill Clinton would have predicted the trouble Monica Lewinsky would cost him, she may have disappeared too. Like Monica Lewinsky, perhaps Chandra Levy was playing the same game with Congressman Condit but in her case she met a different fate. Two Jewess interns in national sexual scandals in the highest levels of government calls for a lot of speculation. There seems to be some kind of pattern here. These two incidents and many other makes this Mexican think that ‘something is definitely rotten in the state of Denmark.’"

[Article by Ernesto Cienfuegos]

• June 20, 2001 – "For many years, extremely wealthy and powerful Jewish interests have been investing in the development of a cadre of ‘puppet’ Chicano political leaders and in the formation of Chicano ‘front’ organizations."

[Article by Hector Carreon]

• June 6, 2001 – "A growing number of us are fed up with the rigged political system and the corrupt candidates the Jewish dominated Democratic Party choose for us…. La Raza will eventually takeover [sic] the government of the City of Los Angeles. It is just a matter of time…. We need a candidate that is going to tell it like it is and not pussyfoot around town ‘romancing’ all the other ethnic and racial groups. With 315,000+ registered voters in the city, we don't need the Jews nor the Whites to win. We need a real leader, a fearless leader with courage and conviction that can unite all of La Raza of Los Angeles."

[Commentary]

• May 25, 2001 – "Just a few hours ago something extraordinary occurred in Jerusalem that makes one wonder if God is again punishing the Jews as in ancient times…. The Lord has punished the Jews throughout history when they have drifted into sinful lives. This has been documented in the Torah or the first five chapters of the Old Testament. There are now large number of Jews in Israel as well as all over the world that live by exploiting other people. Many have also lost their religion and have become perverted."

[Email]

• May 5, 2001 – "Most U.S. based Raza are not aware that ‘Cinco de Mayo’ is not celebrated in Mexico as it is in Aztlan. Why and how did this day become so celebrated in the southwestern part of the United States? There are many reasons, but one of the principal ones is its ‘marketing’ by the mostly Jewish owned alcohol industry. Take for example the multi-billion dollar Jewish brewery by the name of Anheuser-Busch. The corporation which is, presently controlled by August Busch IV, learned that marketing Budweiser beer and other alcohol products to both the Black and Mexican communities could be highly profitable…. The devastation to both communities, has in many cases, been worse than the crack-cocaine epidemic."

[Editorial]

• April 16, 2001 – "After the downfall of Nazi Germany, the German people ‘washed their hands’ of any complicity in the Jewish extermination camps by pleading ignorance…. Today, in the Holy Land, the Zionist Jews, with the support of the majority of Israel's population are themselves perpetuating a holocaust against the Palestinian people. After the bodies are counted and the atrocities documented, how will the Jews excuse themselves for committing these crimes against humanity?"

"It is incredible that some Jews are now doing worse things to the Palestinians than the Nazis ever did to them. If there are any good Jews left in the world, they should speak out loudly against these atrocities."

"Jews have the diamond industry cornered. They control the diamond mines in Africa and the diamond merchants in Amsterdam and pretty much everywhere else…. La Raza buys diamonds principally on wedding rings. We have been brainwashed to believe that diamonds have intrinsic value. The slogan ‘diamonds are a girl's best friend’ was invented by Jews. There are other beautiful gem stones that we could learn to cherish, for example emeralds and rubys. This would entail minimal cultural re-orientation as Chicanos and Mexicanos but perhaps we may lead a world movement to de-value diamonds for the cause of saving the Palestinians. As the world Jewry starts losing more and more money as diamond sales decrease, they would be pressured to agree on an equitable peace with the Palestinians. Don't buy Jewish diamonds!-Justice for the Palestinians."

[Editorial]

• April 11, 2001 – "…we are publishing the controversial ‘Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion’ for your review and analysis. We ask that you read the ‘Protocols’ and determine for yourself whether they are legitimate. We ask that you study them carefully in order to be educated and informed. Do political and economic events around the world conform to what the ‘Protocols’ set out to do? You judge for yourselves."

[Letter]

• March 2001 – "The Jews of California, about 3% of the state's population, have an overwhelming and disproportionate share of the state's wealth which they utilize effectively to wield immense influence on the state's political apparatus principally through dominance of the Democratic Party. Both U.S Senators of the state are ladies of Jewish descent and there is no sector of California society, either private or public, in which Jews are not significant policy makers. The sectors that they can not control directly, they will do it indirectly through the purchase of influence as well as the cunning manipulation of ethnic and other minorities."

[Editorial]

• October 18, 2000 – "La Raza's struggle for the land and for political and economic self-determination is not different from the struggle of the Palestinian people in Zionist Israel. We live in Aztlan under Anglo domination as the Palestinians live under Jewish domination…. La Raza is a victim of the same political and economic forces that are oppressing the Palestinian people and other people of color around the world. We must awaken to this fact and understand the hidden strategies and tactics being utilized to subjugate our people in order to devise effective counter-measures to neutralize them."

[Article]

• August 21, 1998 – "National Magazine [sic] and Newspapers are owned or controlled by American Jews. There are American Zionists now in control of many agencies in the U.S. Government. The U.S. State Department is in complete control by the American Jewry. This takeover began with Henry Kissinger and is now in the hands of Jewess Madeleine Albright."

[Press Release]