THE WEEK’S BIG 3

At least nine people were killed when a white supremacist opened fire at a hookah bar and other sites in Hanau, Germany. A religiously observant teenage table tennis star, who observes the Jewish sabbath, will be unable to participate in upcoming Olympic trials because the event partially falls on a Saturday. ADL has called on the annual carnival in the Belgian city of Aalst to withdraw the antisemitic caricatures which – as in previous years – are scheduled to appear at the 2020 event beginning this weekend.

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. Nine Killed After White Supremacist Gunman Opens Fire in Hanau, Germany

“A 43-year-old German who posted a manifesto calling for the ‘complete extermination’ of many ‘races or cultures in our midst’ shot and killed nine people of foreign background, most of them Turkish, in an attack on a hookah bar and other sites in a Frankfurt suburb…” Associated Press: READ MORE

+ ADL Resource: Hate Beyond Borders – The Internationalization of White Supremacy

2. Teenage Orthodox Pingpong Phenom May Have to Skip Olympics Because Trials Are on Shabbat

“Estee Ackerman, who won the women’s division at the 2018 Table Tennis U.S. Open, reached out to USA Table Tennis via her father in January requesting to reschedule the matches to another day… but the request has not been approved.” JTA: FULL STORY

+ ADL Calls on USA Table Tennis to Accommodate Orthodox Jewish Player at Upcoming Olympic Trials

+ Read ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt’s Letter to USATT CEO

3. ADL Calls on Belgian Carnival to Remove ‘Anti-Semitic Caricatures’ from Parade

“In March 2019, the Aalst Carnival had a float featuring ‘effigies of grinning Jews holding money, one carrying a rat on its shoulder,’ the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. Aalst Mayor Christoph D’Haese defended the effigies as satirical and said they will be used in the Feb. 23 carnival…” Jewish Journal: FULL STORY

+ Jonathan Greenblatt tweet: “These #antiSemitic caricatures should not be part of this carnival to begin with…”

KEY ADL SOCIAL STATEMENTS

IN THE COMMUNITY

Racist acts by Seattle-area students made news last year. Here’s how schools responded. (The Seattle Times)
Robotics Judge Says ‘G—D—Jews’ at Student Tournament (Jewish Journal)
Senior associate director Sara Scheinbach aims to expand ADL’s reach (Cleveland Jewish News)

ADL IN THE NEWS

Tracking the disturbing rise of white supremacist propaganda (CNN – Jonathan Greenblatt interviewed)
Swastikas Found at Columbia (Jewish Journal)
Amazon and Neo-Nazi Books (The New York Times – Jonathan Greenblatt letter to the editor)

Deadly White Supremacist Attack in Germany; Jewish table tennis star faces barrier to competing at US Olympic trials