UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2008/9

 

A total of 1,352 incidents of vandalism, harassment and physical assaults against Jewish individuals, property and community institutions were reported in 2008, representing a decline for the 4th consecutive year. The antisemitic rhetoric of anti-Israel groups was especially marked in connection with the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence, and with Israel’s military operation in Gaza. With the onset of the world financial crisis, antisemites across the ideological spectrum increased their propagandizing on the classic theme of Jewish control of banks and governments. The year 2008 saw a remarkable resurgence of the long-running antisemitic canard that Jews are more loyal to the State of Israel than to their own country. White supremacists accused election candidates John McCain and Barack Obama of being pawns of American Jews.

 

the jewish community

The Jewish community in the United States − the largest concentration of Jews in the world outside Israel − numbers 5.2 million, or 2.2 percent of the total population of 282.1 million. The bulk of American Jewry live in major metropolitan areas and their environs, including New York (1.45 million), Los Angeles (519,000), Southeast Florida (498,000), Chicago (261,000), Boston (227,000), San Francisco Bay (210,000), Philadelphia (206,000) and Cleveland (82,000). The intermarriage rate is high, accounting for more than 50 percent of all unions involving a Jewish partner.

Leading national Jewish organizations include the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), Anti-Defamation League (ADL), B'nai Brith, Hadassah, Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Jewish War Veterans (JWV), American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and many other religious, fraternal and Zionist groups. The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations acts as the domestic and foreign policy umbrella group for 52 member organizations. The United Jewish Communities (UJC) represents Jewish community federations and independent Jewish communities throughout North America.

There is an active Jewish press and almost every community with a large Jewish population supports its own English-language weekly.

 

racist organizations and groups

White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis

The year 2008 saw the continued decline of US neo-Nazi groups, which have been plagued by infighting and a lack of leadership. In general, white supremacists are attempting to exploit important social issues such as immigration, black-on-white crime, and the country’s economic crisis to strengthen their groups, increase their appeal to potential recruits, and push their antisemitic themes into mainstream circles.

A major focus of white supremacists in 2008 was immigration of Latin Americans, and especially Mexicans, into the United States. Antisemites, including Indiana-based neo-Nazi Tom Metzger and Michigan-based neo-Nazi Jeff Schoep, stoked the anti-immigration message that was present in both mainstream and extremist circles. Blaming Jews for promoting diversity and multiculturalism, they argued that Jews have engineered an open immigration policy in order to diminish the power of white Americans. Anti-immigrant rallies attracted the attendance and support of antisemites and neo-Nazis, who claimed they were able to recruit individuals into their movement at these events. However, their efforts to inject antisemitism into the more mainstream anti-immigrant movement has been largely unsuccessful.

White supremacists also promoted antisemitism in connection with the 2008 US presidential race. They accused both John McCain and Barack Obama of being pawns of American Jews, and alleged that each of the presidential candidates was pursuing goals which, at the behest of Jews, would undermine the culture and security of the United States. In October, former Klansman David Duke warned on his website that both McCain and Obama “are simply in the pockets of the Jewish extremist financial network, the all powerful Jewish Lobbies like AIPAC, and the Jewish-dominated mass media.” A typical post on the white supremacist website Stormfront stated, “I don’t want McCain or Obama to be the president. They’re both New World Order candidates and are on the payroll of the Jews…the Zionist have [sic] set it up where either person will take us further into bondage.”

In November 2008, just days after Barack Obama won the presidential election, David Duke convened a conference in Memphis, Tennessee, for fellow extremists to discuss their movements’ plans. In a speech to white supremacists from the US, Canada and Russia, Duke blamed Jewish control of the media and Hollywood for brainwashing white people into accepting Obama as their president.

Another noteworthy development in the world of white supremacists in 2008 was the censuring of Kevin MacDonald, a tenured antisemitic professor of evolutionary psychology at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), who serves as an ideologue for white supremacists and extremists. MacDonald has long argued that antisemitism, including the anti-Jewish hatred exhibited by the Nazis and the perpetrators of the Spanish Inquisition, is a “rational” response to Judaism. He also claims that Jews are attempting to undermine white Americans and destroy the European heritage of the United States. In October 2008, CSULB’s Academic Senate voted to “firmly and unequivocally disassociate itself from the antisemitic and white ethnocentric views” of MacDonald. The previous month, F. King Alexander, president of CSULB, released a statement saying he considered MacDonald’s views “deplorable and reprehensible.” These statements will not diminish MacDonald’s influence on the white supremacist movement, but may help marginalize him as a mainstream academic now that his views have become public.

 

antisemitic activity

The number of antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2008 declined for the fourth consecutive year. A total of 1,352 incidents of vandalism, harassment and physical assaults against Jewish individuals, property and community institutions were reported to the ADL  in 2008, representing a 7 percent decline from the 1,460 incidents reported in 2007.

There were 37 antisemitic assaults on Jewish individuals (or individuals thought to be Jewish). These included attacks with baseball bats and BB guns, punching, and rock-throwing. In some cases victims were hospitalized. There were no antisemitic homicides.

Leading Jewish community institutions and communal properties were among the targets of 702 cases of antisemitic vandalism. Dozens of graves at a Jewish cemetery in Chicago were defaced with swastikas and symbols of hate groups (see below for further examples).

There were 613 cases of antisemitic harassment, including verbal attacks and slurs against Jewish individuals (or individuals perceived to be Jewish); antisemitism conveyed in written or electronic communications, including antisemitic cyberbullying; and antisemitic speeches, picketing and events. Among them were a small number of left-wing protests containing antisemitic elements (see below).

In some cases, anti-Israel sentiments may have led to the targeting of Jewish institutions. One of the repeated defacements of the San Francisco Holocaust Memorial, for example, included the phrase “Israel, their blood is on your hands.” In May, an Israeli flag was burned in front of a synagogue in Brooklyn, NY.

When Israel’s Gaza operation began in late December, signs containing Jewish stars and swastikas, and the phrases, “Israel: How many innocents will you kill... Stop the cold blooded murder” were left on the door of Temple Beth El in Dalton, GA. Also, 22 Chicago Jewish institutions received a letter threatening bomb attacks unless Israel left Gaza. At least five other Gaza-related incidents of harassment or vandalism against Jewish institutions took place in January 2009 (see below).

 

Antisemitism and the Economic Crisis

With the onset of the world financial crisis, antisemites across the ideological spectrum increased their propagandizing on the classic theme of Jewish control of banks and governments, and alleged that Jews and Zionists were responsible for the US economic recession. Publications such as American Free Press, an extremist tabloid published by the notorious white supremacist Willis Carto, accused Jews of “pillaging” the American people and concluded that Jews “should be treated as the traitors they are.” Some postings to online discussion groups blamed the financial crisis on “Zionist Robber Barons” and called on ordinary Americans to “reclaim their country from rapacious Zionism.” Some antisemites tried to connect the financial crisis with another perennial favorite − 9/11 conspiracy theories. The antisemitic website Rense.com, for example, run by Oregon-based conspiracy theorist Jeff Rense, posted an essay alleging that the fiscal crisis and the 9/11 attacks were both part of a vast Jewish conspiracy to control the United States. The essay has since been reposted on numerous sites across the Internet.

An original antisemitic conspiracy theory that developed out of the crisis alleged that Lehman Brothers, a Wall Street investment firm, sent $400 billion to Israeli banks shortly before it declared bankruptcy. This theory, which has no basis in reality, originally appeared on a website associated with noted US antisemite Willis Carto and was disseminated widely on other sites.

A surprising amount of anti-Jewish rhetoric regarding the economic crisis also appeared on popular websites and venues such as YouTube, Yahoo! Groups, and the comments sections of online mainstream newspaper sites. A September video on YouTube entitled “The Court Jewsters” conflated photos and clips of failing banks with those of former Federal Reserve chairmen Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan, as well as other Jews. Another YouTube video entitled “We the People” blames Jews for “enslaving” non-Jews to serve their own interests and greed. The video stated, “…the same Jewish bankers have been robbing us in this same manner for nearly an entire century now…” Thousands of antisemitic comments were posted on online discussion boards run by Yahoo! Finance. After receiving numerous complaints, Yahoo deleted most of those posts.

Following shortly after the onset of the US recession, the revelation of a $65 billion Ponzi scheme run by Jewish Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff led to yet more antisemitic rhetoric about Jews and money. “Ho hum, another Crooked Wall Street Jew. Find a Jew who isn’t Crooked. Now that would be a story,” wrote one anonymous poster on a mainstream financial discussion site. “The greed and corruption of the Jews has brought the financial system and the American economy low,” wrote another.

Although Jews are always a convenient scapegoat in times of crisis, the Madoff scandal, and the fact that so many of the investors he defrauded were Jewish, created an environment in which antisemitic expressions could flourish.  For weeks, the mainstream news media featured stories that dealt, at least tangentially, with the impact of Madoff’s embezzlement on Jewish institutions and their management of financial portfolios. For some Americans, this may have reinforced the allegations of antisemites that Jews are obsessed with money.

 

The Disloyalty Charge

The year 2008 saw a remarkable resurgence of the long-running antisemitic canard that American Jews are more loyal to the State of Israel than to their own country, and that they willingly sacrifice the best interests of the US in favor of their own interests or those of Israel. An extreme formulation of this allegation in 2008 was a meeting organized by the small Muslim Jamaat al-Muslimeen (JAM), which took place in Baltimore, Maryland, in August. Present were antisemites of various ideological stripes. JAM leader Kaukab Siddique, an associate professor of English at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, told the audience that the US was “under the grip of a Jewish Zionist power structure,” which included a “Zionist-controlled media.” Holocaust denier Mark Weber, director of the Institute for Historical Review, stated that the US had been pressured into the Iraq war by a “Jewish cabal,” which was now seeking to embroil the US in a similar war with Iran. Other participants in the conference were former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, and antisemitic ideologues Mark Glenn, Hesham Tillawi, Charles E. Carlson, and Maulana Ehsanullah.

More troubling however, has been the increasing mainstream prominence given to this accusation in recent years, due in large part to the “Israel lobby” writings of University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer and Harvard University professor Stephen Walt (see ASW 2007). Most anti-Israel activists now actively promote these academics’ claim that Zionists and Jews have influenced the US, especially in its Middle East policy, in deleterious ways. Such ideas also crop up with increasing frequency in op-ed pages and in mainstream magazines.

A noteworthy variant of the disloyalty charge is the allegation that American Jews are attempting to embroil the United States in a war with Iran, ostensibly in order to strengthen Israel’s regional power. Such a claim has been expressed by a diverse range of individuals, including former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, former UN Iraqi weapons inspector Scott Ritter, journalist Alexander Cockburn, pro-Palestinian activist Mazin Qumsiyeh, and retired sociology professor James Petras. Some of the promoters of this theory accuse American Jews and friends of Israel of “sedition and treason,” of “espionage and interference in domestic policies,” and of “controlling the communications media,” another classic antisemitic stereotype.

 

Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism

The rhetoric employed by anti-Israel groups in 2008 frequently slid into antisemitism. In texts and numerous rallies throughout 2008, such groups supported terror and violence against Israelis; depicted Israelis as Nazis; claimed that Israel has no right to exist; and described Zionism as an inherently racist ideology. Since such messages effectively demonize Jews and deny Jewish aspiration to self-rule, they may be characterized as antisemitic.

Anti-Israel groups were mobilized to employ such rhetoric twice in 2008: first in connection with the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence, and then toward the end of the year (and continuing into 2009) in connection with Israel’s military operation in Gaza.

Groups bent on criticizing the founding and existence of the State of Israel organized events around the US, focusing on the notion that it has been 60 years since the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe” or “disaster,” referring to the 1948 war and the establishment of the State of Israel). A leading group involved in this activity is Al-Awda, The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, a grassroots organization that opposes Israel’s right to exist and which openly supports terror groups that target Israelis. Al-Awda's sixth annual international convention, labeled a "Nakba" commemoration and held from May 16-18, in Anaheim, California, featured speakers who used particularly virulent anti-Israel rhetoric. Al-Awda co-founder Salman Abu Sitta referred to the Nakba as the "largest, longest operation of planned ethnic cleansing in history" and referred to Gaza as "the new Auschwitz." A Jerusalem-based bishop, Atallah Hanna, spoke of the need for Palestinian Muslims and Christians to unite against the "one enemy [Zionism]."

The convention was endorsed by a wide array of groups, including the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) coalition and the International Action Center (IAC). Arguing that all of Israel should be returned to the Palestinians, IAC representative John Parker, said, "From the river to the sea, we will not stop until all of us are free" (see also General Analysis).

Numerous rallies organized around the country commemorating the Nakba were marked by denunciations of Israel's existence. For example, on May 16, demonstrators at Dag Hammarskjold Park, New York City, held placards reading, "Palestine Peace not Ethnic Cleansing," among other slogans. A banner signed by Al-Awda proclaimed, "Return Resistance Liberation/ By Any Means Necessary." Another poster declaring "Zionism is Nazism," displayed a drawing of a Star of David equated with a swastika. Demonstrations organized specifically to counter celebrations of Israel's 60th anniversary were also widespread throughout the US on Israel’s Independence Day.

In response to Israel's military action in Gaza, ANSWER and the Muslim American Society helped organize a “National Day of Action” on December 30, 2008, in more than 30 locations around the country. Many of the demonstrations, which were held in front of Israeli embassies and consulates and US Federal buildings, as well as at Holocaust museums and memorials, were marked by offensive Holocaust imagery comparisons of Jews and Israelis with Nazis, and anti-Zionist and antisemitic rhetoric, as well as expressions in support of terror. One demonstrator in Ft. Lauderdale appeared in a YouTube video screaming, “Jews go back to the ovens.”

Approximately 200 anti-Israel rallies were documented in various US cities in the first weeks of January 2009. On January 10, at least 10,000 demonstrators picketed in Washington DC, where signs read “Jewish Run Media Hides Jewish Terrorism,” “Hitler was Right. Jews are blood suckers,” and “Stop Israel’s Nazi Genocide.” At one point the crowd chanted, “Hitler, Olmert they’re the same. The only difference is their name.”

A sign at a January 19 rally in Chicago read, “Death to Jews and the State of Israel,” while others at an earlier demonstration in San Francisco on January 10, proclaimed, “Target all Zionist Businesses,” and “Globalize the Intifada.” A placard at another rally on January 10 in Los Angeles described Israel as a “cancer upon the World.” A day before, a sign at a Chicago demonstration claimed the Mossad was responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In San Francisco, on January 5 Jews were presented as “the first terrorists.” Other major anti-Israel protests took place in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Perhaps even more troubling was the antisemitic targeting of Jews and Jewish institutions. Synagogues and Hebrew schools in Dalton, Georgia; Irvine, California; New York City; and Wilmington, Delaware, reported receiving threatening messages referring to Israel’s operation in Gaza. On December 31, 2008, more than 22 Jewish institutions in Chicago, Illinois, received letters warning that they would be bombed if Israel did not exit Gaza immediately. On January 10, 2009, vandals broke windows at three Chicago synagogues and a Hebrew school and spray-painted the walls with anti-Israel graffiti, including “Death to Israel” and “Free Palestine.” A Holocaust memorial in San Francisco, California, was defaced with red spray paint reading “Israel, their blood is on your hands.” Each of these incidents was decried by community leaders and investigated by the law enforcement agencies.

 

Web 2.0

The year 2008 saw the continued maturation of user-generated online content and forums (generally described as “Web 2.0”), where private individuals can interact with one another, form groups and online communities, and share multimedia content. Social networking sites serve as a large mixing bowl where antisemites from a variety of backgrounds and locations can meet, share opinions, and encourage one another. It is not uncommon, for example, to see antisemites of Arab or Muslim backgrounds linked to those with right- or left-wing ideologies. Antisemites may post essays or information derived from a variety of very different antisemitic sources, or read and appreciate the same from others. “We receive nothing but propaganda from Zionist media,” wrote one conspiracy theorist from Oregon to a Palestinian activist. “Your integrity and humanity shine the light of truth into the dark heart of Zionist occupied Amerika.”

“It is an honor to have [you] as a friend,” a Palestinian-American with the screen name of “Palestine Forever” told “Goyim Pride” in October 2008. “Almost all Muslims now [sic] the truth, especially Muslims in the Middle East… our Quran tells us about the Jews or as they call themselves (Zionists)…” “Ace” is an openly white supremacist Myspacer from California whose heroes include Jesus, Hitler, and “all men who stood up against Jews.” Among the 100 “friends” on his profile are many Palestinian-American activists as well as a number of left-wing conspiracy theorists. Whatever their ideological background or national origin, they share an extreme hostility toward Jews.

 

For more details on some of the issues discussed in this chapter, see the following ADL documents:

“Immigrants Targeted: Extremist Rhetoric Moves into the Mainstream,” 2008

“Barack Obama Targeted by Extremists on the Internet,” October 2008

“David Duke Hosts White Supremacist Conference,” November 2008

“Extremism in America,” 2008

“2008 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents”

“Financial Crisis Sparks New Wave of Antisemitism,” October 2008

“Antisemitism and the Madoff Scandal,” December 2008

“Far-Right and Muslim Extremists Gather in Baltimore” August 2008

“Manufacturing the Next Big Lie: The ‘Israel Lobby,’ Jews and Iran, ” November 2008

“The ‘Nakba’: A Driving Force Behind U.S. Anti-Israel Activity in 2008,” June 2008