united states 2009

 

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, Los Angeles, Southeast Florida, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco Bay, Philadelphia and Cleveland.

            Extremist-related violence rose sharply in the United States in 2009, with acts ranging from hate crimes to terrorism. The number of such murders in 2009 more than doubled the 2008 totals; the majority were perpetrated by right-wing extremists. A notable trend in 2009 was the rise of “lone wolf” incidents, in which the perpetrators were individual extremists unconnected to any organized group. There were a number of such events in 2009, some of which were directed at Jews or Jewish-related targets, and others of which included Jews among their intended victims. “Lone wolf” incidents are among the most frustrating type of extremist-related criminal acts, because they tend to be exceptionally violent and are very hard to prevent.

            On January 21, 2009, a young white supremacist named Keith Luke went on a violent rampage in the Boston suburb of Brockton, Massachusetts, killing two people and raping and wounding a third. All the victims were immigrants of West African descent. Following a chase, police arrested Luke before he could carry out what authorities say was going to be the climax of his murderous spree: he had allegedly planned to open fire into a nearby synagogue during a bingo night that very evening. After his arrest, Luke carved a swastika into his own forehead.    

            On April 4, a young white supremacist named Richard Poplawski allegedly ambushed and killed three Pittsburgh police officers who were responding to a domestic disturbance call from Poplawski’s mother, with whom he lived. Poplawski had been growing increasingly extreme since the election of Barack Obama. In January 2010, a police report connected to the investigation of the shootout revealed that weeks before the incident, Poplawski had purportedly discussed a “hit list” on an internet radio show, in which he was going to “take out” a police officer, an African-American, a Jew, and his ex-girlfriend and her parents.

            One of the gravest incidents of antisemitism in the United States in 2009 was the shooting at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC in June. One person was killed and another wounded when James von Brunn, 88, entered the museum and opened fire. Von Brunn was stopped when he was shot by security guards. He was later charged with first degree murder, and died while awaiting trial in January 2010. Von Brunn was a neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier who maintained a website called Holy Western Empire and published an antisemitic book, Kill the Best of the Gentiles. The shooting in the museum attracted national press coverage and brought home the existence of Holocaust denial and antisemitic violence to large numbers of Americans.

            Muslim terrorism has also continued to pose a great threat. A potentially violent antisemitic plot was disrupted in 2009 when four Muslim converts were arrested for planning to attack two synagogues in Riverdale, New York. In April 2009, the men allegedly planted what they believed to be bombs in cars outside several synagogues and a Jewish community center and planned to detonate them remotely via cell phone. They also intended to shoot down a US military airplane at a New York airbase. US law enforcers, however, had uncovered the plot and made sure the car bombs would not detonate. The men were arrested on May 20. An alarming number of American Muslim extremists arrested in 2009 on terror-related charges, ranging from bomb plots and attacks to providing material support to terrorists, expressed hatred of Jews and Israel.

            Several major Muslim-American organizations vowed to root out radicalization in their community in response to the number of American Muslim extremists arrested in 2009. But the initial effort proved to be a sham and a cover for antisemitism and extremism. The Muslim American Society (MAS) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) held a major community convention in Chicago in December 2009 where the chair called for an Islam “clean and clear of all extremism.” But the event, which attracted more than a thousand participants, served as a forum for religious scholars and political activists to rail against Jews, call for the eradication of the State of Israel and accuse the US government of waging a war against Muslims at home and abroad.

            Earlier in the year, ICNA organized a national campaign under the banner “Why Islam,” intended to educate the general public about Islam through a series of advertisements on buses, subways and billboards in Washington, DC, Chicago, New York and San Francisco, among others. Although the “Why Islam” campaign was described by its sponsors as an effort to promote interfaith dialogue, educate the public and clarify misconceptions about Islam, its website includes links to sites promoting antisemitism and hatred of Israel.

            Thousands of Americans were affected in 2009 by numerous protests of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), a small, virulently homophobic and antisemitic group, based in Topeka, Kansas. As of April 2009 the group demonstrated at dozens of Jewish institutions across the country, from Israeli consulates to synagogues to Jewish community centers, and distributed antisemitic fliers prior to the rallies planned at these sites. WBC also sent faxes and emails (in some cases dozens over the course of a week) with antisemitic and anti-gay messages to various Jewish institutions and individuals. At the protests, church members held signs stating that “The Jews killed Jesus,” “God hates Jews” and “God hates Israel.” They also sang parodies of Jewish songs, replacing the regular lyrics with messages such as “You killed the savior, for this crime you all must pay.”

            Numerous anti-Israel demonstrations, both on and off campus, and yearly events such as Apartheid Week, held in 2009 were rife with extreme anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and antisemitic messages, as well as offensive Holocaust imagery likening Jews and Israelis to Nazis. Many of the events were held outside Israeli embassies and consulates, US federal buildings, and elsewhere around the country.

            Activity on the campus of the University of California at Irvine (UCI) further demonstrated how anti-Israel efforts are often marred by antisemitism. Much of the on-campus activity was organized by the Muslim Student Union (MSU), a vocal student group responsible for staging large events every spring featuring virulently antisemitic speakers. Imams Amir Abdul Malik Ali and Abdul Alim Musa, leaders of the Sabiqun movement, an antisemitic Muslim group that advocates the creation of a global Islamic state, and Mohammad al-Asi, a noted antisemite, have spoken at such events.

            Much of the antisemitic commentary found on the discussion boards of anti-Israel Facebook groups in 2009 included motifs and slogans condemning Jewish power and comparing Israelis to Nazis. With antisemitism flourishing on a variety of social networking sites, Facebook, in particular, has become a convenient platform for users seeking to link their antisemitic views to discussions of Israel. While it is not surprising that antisemitic content is posted on Facebook groups with titles like “[expletive] Israel” and “May Allah Destroy Israel,” numerous other groups that claim to be dedicated to criticizing Israeli policy (and even explicitly condemn antisemitism in their self-descriptions) still feature discussion boards filled with antisemitic postings. For example, a Facebook group titled “I Hate Israel,” with more than a thousand members, claims, “We don’t hate Jews or the citizens of Israel.” The group’s wall, however, includes several offensive posts from 2009, including “[expletive] the Jews,” “Hail Hitler!” and “… most of the Jews seems to be brainwashed and not have any morals [sic].”

            Another propagator of antisemitism in 2009 was Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. At the March 1, 2009, Saviors’ Day convention, he implied that the validity of Holocaust records should be subject to debate; he also asserted that a “pro-Israel lobby” controls the US government, that Israelis are “liars, thieves, and murderers,” and that Muslims should not resist suicide bombers until the American Jewish community and the US government condemn Israel’s actions. Farrakhan praised Malik Zulu Shabazz, the antisemitic and racist leader of the New Black Panther Party, as a “profound teacher.” Earlier in 2009, Farrakhan delivered an antisemitic tirade during a speech about the late Michael Jackson, claiming the performer had suffered at the hands of powerful Jews throughout his career.

            White supremacists and neo-Nazis continued their activity in the United States in 2009. Embittered and resentful about an African-American assuming the office of the presidency, some neo-Nazis and other white supremacists conducted symbolic protest activities on Inauguration Day, including the wearing of black armbands and parading through neighborhoods carrying American flags upside down.

            In the wake of President Obama’s nomination of judge Sonia Sotomayor to the US Supreme Court, white supremacists and antisemites responded by claiming that Jewish power was responsible for her nomination and previous career success. They also employed antisemitic stereotypes to argue that Sostomayor is herself Jewish, or as one person suggested, a “cryptojew.” Such allegations appeared, for example, in the white supremacist Stormfront Internet forum and on Vanguard News Network, a neo-Nazi news site.

            Some white supremacist groups, including the West Virginia-based National Alliance, the Arkansas-based White Revolution group, and the New Jersey-based League of American Patriots, sought to channel the populist energy of the Tea Party movement (formed in 2009 and promoting fiscal conservatism) toward racist and antisemitic ends. They attended about a dozen Tea Party events in order to distribute hate literature and recruit new adherents. Most, however, reported failure and even hostility from Tea Party activists.

            By far the most important issue for American neo-Nazis and white supremacists in 2009 was illegal immigration. As many anti-immigrant groups blur the line between discussions of immigration policy and outright bigotry toward non-white immigrants, white supremacists and antisemites have become increasingly supportive of those groups whose rhetoric matches their own anti-immigrant sentiment. Extremists exploit the legitimacy of anti-immigrant groups to advance their own ideology and increase their recruitment. The groups most actively encouraging involvement with the anti-immigrant cause include the hardcore racist skinhead Vinlanders Social Club and the white supremacist European Americans United. The websites of the extremist publications American Free Press and American Renaissance have featured anti-immigrant pieces and links to anti-immigrant groups.

            US college campuses were approached in 2009 by long-time Holocaust denier Bradley Smith to publish advertisements disseminating Holocaust denial in student newspapers. The ads suggested that scholars cannot provide the name of even one Holocaust victim along with proof that s/he was killed in a gas chamber. While many editors rejected his submissions, approximately 20 college newspapers printed the ads. Some editors later apologized for giving Smith a platform to promote Holocaust denial, and many papers featured opinion pieces denouncing Smith’s extremist views and criticizing the decision to publish them. Smith also embarked on several projects to promote Holocaust denial using “new media”: starting several blogs, opening a Twitter account, and posting videos to his YouTube channel. He continued to publish and contribute to Smith’s Report, his monthly newsletter which features articles by international Holocaust denial figures.