by: Oren Segal | September 29, 2016 The Guardian Pepe the Frog originated as an innocuous cartoon character in 2005. This week, he was added to the Anti-Defamation League’s Center database of hate symbols. At first glance, it may seem more than a little strange that the image of a cartoon frog could end up alongside such infamous symbols as the Blood Drop Cross of the Ku Klux Klan. But the evolution of Pepe the Frog actually illustrates a key aspect of hate symbols:…
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by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | September 23, 2016 JTA Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ statement before the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday revived old hatreds more than it broke new ground. It was little more than a rote diatribe against Israel and a call for international pressure to coerce the Jewish state in place of the hard give and take that happens at the negotiating table. It shed light on why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has endured so long through…
by: David Robbins September 13, 2016 By Jonathan Greenblatt
CEO of the Anti-Defamation League
This article originally appeared on The Times of Israel blog with the headline "Even the UN is Fighting Anti-Semitism"
“The fight against anti-Semitism is not a Jewish problem but one for governments and civil society.”
That was the central message of a day-long, historic conference on anti-Semitism held at the United Nations on…
by: Marilyn Mayo September 09, 2016 Fifteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC, anti-Semites continue to spread conspiracy theories blaming Jews and Israel for the events of that day. Anti-Semites Christopher Bollyn, Ken O’Keefe, and Kevin Barrett are three such conspiracy theorists who spread the theory that 9/11 was a “false flag” operation by Israel and the Jews to control world events and create wars for their benefit.
Christopher…
August 12, 2016 Introduction and Overview of the Guide
Anti-Semitism and The Merchant of Venice: A Discussion Guide for Educators (Grades 10-12) is a tool for teachers presenting The Merchant of Venice to their students. This guide is not intended as an exhaustive study of the play. Rather, it is a supplement intended to guide an exploration of the problematic issue of anti-Semitism as part of the broader discussion of the play.
The initial sections of this guide provide important…
by: Kenneth Jacobson | July 27, 2016 The Times of Israel Upon hearing the initial report that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was asking the Arab League to sue Great Britain for its Balfour Declaration of 1917, I thought this must be a satire of the sort put out by The Onion. I was wrong as it turned out. Apparently, Abbas is serious. So let’s treat his initiative seriously.
The Balfour Declaration, a statement by the then Foreign Secretary of Great Britain, Lord Balfour,…
by: Jonathan Greenblatt July 07, 2016 This blog originally appeared in Medium.
As we approach the first anniversary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) it is an appropriate time to reassess the merits of the deal. ADL was among the nuclear deal’s critics.
Beyond the nuclear restraints it would impose on Iran, our concern is that it would normalize an expansionist, militant regime whose unrepentant and fundamentalist ideology was not tamed by the deal.
Unlike…
by: Shaya Lerner Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, which takes place on the last Friday of Ramadan, was initiated in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic revolution in Iran, as a show of solidarity with the Palestinians and to assert the Islamic claim over Jerusalem. While events are held around the world, in Iran, it is often marked by a hateful demonstration of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment, manifest in government organized rallies and other activities. Before this…
by: Jinnie Array June 01, 2016
Beginning on Memorial Day and for four consecutive evenings this week, the History Channel will air its 2016 version of ‘Roots,’ a remake of the 1977 television miniseries based on Alex Haley’s classic novel Roots: The Saga of An American Family. The book is an historical portrait of American slavery based on Haley’s heritage dating back to 1750 in the West African village of Juffure and how his family’s saga unfolded over…
by: Oren Segal May 19, 2016
The 15th issue of Inspire, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)’s English language magazine, released on May 14, provides readers with instructions for murdering “the intelligentsia, economic and influential personalities of America.” Such attacks, claims the magazine, are “easy options that do not require huge efforts or man power, but the result is parallel to the big operations or…
by: Shaya Lerner Iran’s newest “Holocaust contest” exhibition opened on May 14 in a gallery in Tehran. According to Iranian news reports, the contest received over 864 submissions from participants around the world. Of those, 150 cartoons from 50 countries were accepted, with representation of cartoonists from Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Peru, Syria, Turkey and Yemen, among others. Contest organizer Masoud Shojai Tabatabaei insisted the event was not to…
by: Shaya Lerner On May 14, 2016, the second international Holocaust Cartoon Contest exhibition will open in Iran, with the first place winner – reportedly to be announced in June – receiving a large cash prize. According to reports in the Iranian press, the May 14th date was chosen to coincide with Nakba Day (catastrophe day), the term used by Palestinian to refer to the events surrounding Israel’s independence in 1948. The contest reportedly received over 800…
June 10, 2016 What’s it like to be a Jew in Norway? Frankly, it’s complicated.
With a population of less than 2,000 Jews, Norway is a place where “Jew” is a curse used frequently against Jewish schoolchildren. Yet it’s also a society where Jewish life proceeds freely, and the Norwegian government works to end anti-Semitism.
“We’re not finished with anti-Semitism in Norway,” says Rabbi Joav Melchior, rabbi of the Jewish Community of Oslo. …
by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | March 16, 2016 New York Daily News On many occasions in recent years, the Anti-Defamation League I lead has spoken out as politicians, celebrities and other public figures tried making a point about a controversial subject by invoking the Holocaust. The analogy has shown up inappropriately in countless discussions of public policy because it is the most available historical event illustrating right versus wrong.
Abortion? It was said to be an “ongoing…
by: Shaya Lerner Despite the international community’s reengagement with a more “open” and “moderate” Iran, some things in Iranian society haven’t changed, including the prevalence of Holocaust mockery and denial. While President Rouhani hasn’t touted the issue like his predecessor Ahmadinejad had, recent announcements indicate that the questioning of the Holocaust is very much alive and well within Iranian society. In December, the Tehran…
by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | February 28, 2016 CNN.com Donald Trump claimed he is not familiar with David Duke. It is hard to believe, but we will choose to take him at his word and use this opportunity to explain in detail to him -- and indeed all candidates -- who David Duke really is.
It seems that Trump did have a change of heart after a public outcry over his comments about not knowing who Duke was. Trump later tweeted his disavowal of Duke. Still, we believe Trump and the…
by: Oren Segal February 18, 2016
Nation of Islam (NOI) leader Louis Farrakhan was provided with an opportunity to promote his typical anti-Semitic conspiracy theories last week in Iran.
Farrakhan was a “special guest” at multiple high-level events and met with current and former Iranian government officials including Grand Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati and former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati. Farrakhan was also reportedly the guest of honor at a ceremony unveiling a new…
by: Oren Segal January 22, 2016
Over the past month, escalating tension in the Middle East between Iran and the Arab Gulf States helped fuel a resurgence of anti-Semitic statements and conspiracy theories about a supposed link between Israel and Jews to Iran.
Angered by Iran’s increasing influence in the region, prominent Arab figures including politicians, religious leaders and journalists have accused Jews and Israel of secretly supporting Iran and Shi’a Muslims in their war…
December 07, 2015 The Killing of Laquan McDonald
In October 2014, Laquan McDonald was shot and skilled by police officer Jason Van Dyke. Thirteen months later, the recorded incident was released to the public. The day before its release, Van Dyke was arrested for first-degree murder.
The disturbing video shows seventeen-year-old McDonald being shot for fifteen seconds—the majority for which he was down on the ground. At the time of the shooting, a spokesperson for Chicago…
by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | October 27, 2015 PBS - Religion & Ethics Newsweekly The promulgation, on October 28, 1965, of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Church’s Relations with Non-Christian Religions, may be the most important moment is post-Holocaust Jewish-Christian relations and interfaith relations writ large.
In its fourth chapter, Nostra Aetate effectively overturned centuries of what the noted French Jewish historian…