Teach students about the U.S. women’s soccer team’s lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation and explore how sexism manifests in a variety of ways in women’s sports.
DoED Decision Will Require Taxpayers to Fund Discrimination
Article
March 20, 2019 The U.S. Department of Education (DoED) recently announced that it will ignore a longstanding requirement of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) limiting federally funded contracts, which provide schools with services such as special education or instruction, to secular vendors. As a result, religious organizations, including houses of worship, are now eligible to be such contractors. This decision is not legally required, will compel taxpayers to fund…
White Supremacy is a Transnational Threat. Here's Why.
News
by: Jonathan Greenblatt | March 19, 2019 As we count the dead massacred while worshipping in mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, it’s time to recognize a painful and obvious fact – white supremacy is a transnational terrorist threat that could engulf us all.
To some, this might sound like an exaggeration. For the past two decades, law enforcement officials worldwide primarily have been focused on the Islamist extremist threat. They have pursued terror organizations like Al…
Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events Topic SummaryOn March 8, 2019 (International Women’s Day), the U.S. women’s soccer team filed a gender discrimination suit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, which governs soccer in the U.S. The soccer team’s complaint alleges pay inequities and inferior support and working conditions. In their statement released by the team, the twenty-eight players described “institutionalized gender discrimination” that…
by: Jonathan Greenblatt | March 08, 2019 The Forward Can it happen here?
It’s a question that Americans, and particularly Jewish-Americans, have asked over the decades when looking to Europe. We see the ocean that separates us as an impenetrable barrier that keeps the pathologies that may plague the old country far, far away from us.
Yet, having spent some time last month meeting with Jewish communities across the continent, I saw in the rising anti-Semitism there glimmers of…
White Supremacist Terrorist Attack at Mosques in New Zealand
Article
In the latest indication that violent white supremacists pose an international terrorist threat, an apparent white supremacist went on a shooting rampage at two mosques in central Christchurch, New Zealand on Friday, reportedly killing 50 people and wounding many others.
Australian police have identified the alleged shooter as Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian-born man.
This latest white supremacist violence underscores the fact that white supremacy is a…
March 13, 2019 Could anti-Semitism, which drove Jews out en masse 500 years ago, drive Jews back to Portugal?
By Andrew Srulevitch, Director of European Affairs
With all of the bad anti-Semitism news coming out of Europe these last few weeks, it’s time for some good news.
About a month ago in Porto, Portugal, I listened to Rabbi Abraham Levy of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue of London recount the story of Torah ornaments that had traveled from Barbados,…
Coalition Letter to Indiana Governor Regarding Inclusive Hate Crime Legislation
Letter
March 13, 2019 In a letter to the Governor of Indiana, ADL and a broad coalition of national civil rights advocacy organizations expressed deep concern with Senate Bill 12, which if enacted, would create a weak, vague and unacceptable state bias crime law. March 7, 2019
The Honorable Eric J. Holcomb
Office of the Governor
200 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Dear Governor Holcomb:
We, the undersigned organizations, are part of a broad-based coalition of…
March 13, 2019 When the U.S. Supreme Court last summer ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple based on religious beliefs, its decision was a wake-up call – and underlined the need for further legislative action by elected officials and communities. While disappointing, the Court’s narrow decision reaffirmed the right of LGBTQ individuals to be free from discrimination, and left in place statewide nondiscrimination protections…
When Twitter Bans Extremists, GAB Puts Out the Welcome Mat
Article
March 11, 2019 The first in a series of reports co-authored by the Network Contagion Research Institute and ADL’s Center on Extremism
The toxicity on social media creates victims online and online ecosystems that breed real-life hatred. Gab, a self-described “free speech” platform largely used by right wing extremists, has been the preferred platform for hatred and vitriol. Users include Robert Bowers, who posted on the site just before he massacred congregants …
Letter to Reps. Raskin and Richmond Regarding Anti-Hate Resolution
Letter
March 07, 2019 In a letter to Representatives Jamie Raskin and Cedric Richmond, ADL thanked the members for introducing a Resolution strongly condemning anti-Semitism and all forms of hate. March 7, 2019
The Honorable Jamie Raskin
412 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Cedric Richmond
506 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representatives Raskin and Richmond:
Thank you for the important efforts exerted by you, Chairman…
Letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Regarding Recent Anti-Semitic Comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar
Letter
March 04, 2019 In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, ADL asked for the passage of a resolution that would reject Rep. Ilhan Omar's recent anti-Semitic comments. March 4, 2019
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
204 Capitol Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker Pelosi:
I am writing to you regarding the recent comments made by Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
At a public forum in Washington, DC, on February 27, 2019, Rep. Omar…
Computational Propaganda and the Democratic Process
Article
March 01, 2019 By Samuel Woolley | ADL Center for Technology and Society Belfer Fellow
On October 27, 2018 Robert Bowers shot and killed eleven people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Bowers was at least partially radicalized online. He made regular use of the extremist-friendly social media platform Gab. After months of anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant posts on the site he even wrote that he was “going in” shortly before the massacre.
The day before the…
The Dangers of Mainstreaming Otzma Yehudit, Israel's Jewish Power Party
Article
February 27, 2019 Many American Jewish organizations generally refrain from commenting on Israeli electoral issues. The fact that so many felt they had no choice but to condemn the agreement to include Otzma Yehudit Party (Jewish Power) on a mainstream party list in advance of the April 9, 2019 national elections demonstrates the level of concern with which American Jews and pro-Israel groups view this development and its implications -- both in Israel and abroad -- for how Israel…
Anti-Semitism in Venezuela: Maduro Regime Traffics in Hateful Conspiracies
Article
February 25, 2019 As the political crisis continues in Venezuela, the hardline regime of Nicolas Maduro, whose power is currently being challenged, is promoting hateful anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and allegations of Jewish or “Zionist” plots to take over the government.
As declared interim President Juan Guaidó – whose bid to take over the government is supported by more than 50 countries – challenges Maduro’s power, the resulting political, social…
February 25, 2019 Mya and Deanna Cook, 15, were both excellent students, but they had been kicked off school sports teams, banished from prom, and sentenced to hours of detention for refusing to change their hair. When these twin sisters were punished by their Boston-area high school for wearing braided hair extensions, ADL helped them change their school’s controversial hair and makeup policies, which unfairly targeted students of color.
ADL’s New England office received a…
Why We Need Legislation to Ensure the Holocaust is Taught in Schools
Article
February 21, 2019 One would think that teaching the lessons of the Holocaust in schools would be a given in the United States. After all, it is an essential component in learning about world history, the rise of fascism, World War II, and genocide, all of which are already part of any respectable high school history curriculum.
But recent incidents of students appropriating and abusing Holocaust imagery have served as a reminder and a wake-up call for the need to teach the universal…
France's Anti-Semitism Problem is Escalating and Can't Be Ignored
Article
February 20, 2019 It shouldn’t come as a surprise anymore that France has a serious anti-Semitism problem. Since 2000, there’s been attack after violent attack against the French Jewish community, with only the most shocking ones – from the horrific murder of a Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll last year to the deadly terrorist shooting at the Hyper Cacher kosher market – making headlines and raising perennial concerns about the safety and long-time viability of…
Anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan Teams Up With Notorious Holocaust Denier at Saviours' Day 2019 Conference
Article
February 18, 2019 Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam teamed up with a Holocaust denier and anti-Semitic ideologue to attack the Jewish religion and blame numerous ills of modern society on Jews, during the keynote event at the Nation of Islam’s annual Saviours' Day conference in Chicago.
Speaking before a crowd of several thousand at the United Center and an unknown number on a livestream, Farrakhan was preceded by Michael A. Hoffman II, who suggested that ancient…
The Historical Harm of Blackface: How to Talk with Young People
Article
February 15, 2019 Blackface has taken center stage in our public discourse. Again.
Virginia is embroiled in a controversy based on admissions by Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring to wearing blackface in the past. The list of celebrities and other public figures who publicly condone blackface is growing and there are others entering the spotlight. Just a few months ago, NBC host Megyn Kelly set off her own controversy when she defended blackface as a Halloween costume…