Instagram ‘freeze’ joined by celebs; Survey finds 'shocking' lack of Holocaust knowledge among Millennials and Gen Z; Israel, UAE, Bahrain sign peace deal

September 18, 2020

THE WEEK’S BIG 3

Kim Kardashian West, Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Campbell and more than 50 other celebrities joined in a 24-hour Instagram “freeze” on Wednesday organized by the Stop Hate for Profit coalition to protest against parent company Facebook’s failure to tackle violent and hateful content and election misinformation. A nationwide survey released Wednesday shows a "worrying lack of basic Holocaust knowledge" among adults under 40, including over 1 in 10 respondents who did not recall ever having heard the word "Holocaust" before. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday signed historic and groundbreaking normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the third and fourth ever between Israel and Arab states.

Read on for more on these headlines, news you can use to fight hate and the latest info about ADL from around the country.

1) Celebs Join Instagram ‘Freeze’ to Protest Facebook Inaction

“Hollywood stars and influencers are lending their backing to the “#StopHateforProfit” movement’s latest campaign. The movement asks people to put up a message highlighting what they called the damage Facebook does but otherwise refrain from posting on Instagram for a day.” Associated Press: READ MORE

+ READ: Stop Hate For Profit Week of Action

+ WATCH: ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt on CNBC’s Squawk Box

+Full list of celebs

2) Survey Finds 'Shocking' Lack of Holocaust Knowledge Among Millennials and Gen Z

“The survey, touted as the first 50-state survey of Holocaust knowledge among millennials and Generation Z, showed that many respondents were unclear about the basic facts of the genocide. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and over half of those thought the death toll was fewer than 2 million. Over 40,000 concentration camps and ghettos were established during World War II, but nearly half of U.S. respondents could not name a single one.” NBC News: FULL STORY

+ Jonathan Greenblatt tweet: “Disturbing. Disappointing. Wholly unsettling…”

3) Israel, UAE, Bahrain Sign Peace Deal in Washington

“The two Gulf States become only the third and fourth countries in the Middle East to recognize Israel and establish formal diplomatic relations with the Jewish state since Egypt did so in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, drastically re-drawing the political map in the region.” The Jerusalem Post: FULL STORY

+ READ: ADL Marks “Historic Day” of Signing of Israel-UAE/Bahrain Agreement

+ Jonathan Greenblatt tweet thread: “… this once unimaginable accord presents a vision with the potential to resolve even the most daunting impasses and uplift people around the region…”