August 28, 2020

University of Delaware Chabad Fire Was Arson, Investigators Say

The state’s fire marshal ruled that a fire at the University of Delaware Chabad’s Center for Jewish Life on Aug. 26 was an act of arson.

Delaware Online reported that firefighters were called at around 11:15 p.m. on Aug. 26; it took the firefighters three hours to extinguish fire. No one was inside the building at the time of the fire.

Investigators initially estimated the Chabad sustained $75,000 in damage from the fire, but the estimate has since risen to $150,000-$200,000. Investigators also said they have not seen any evidence indicating that the arson was a hate crime; the investigation is ongoing.

---snip---

“Another Chabad House, this time at Uni of Delaware, has been damaged by arson,” the Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted. “Last week Chabad House in Portland Oregon suffered damage from arson attack. SWC urges Trump/Pence & Biden/Harris to strongly condemn escalating anti-Semitism in our country and both parties and media to loudly denounce virus of Jew-hatred on social media and in the real world.”

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August 11, 2020

(Jewish Group) The latest Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories from the Middle East and far right

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!!)

During times of crisis and uncertainty, it is not uncommon for people to create false narratives and conspiracy theories. This is certainly true in the case of the coronavirus. AIJAC policy analysts Judy Maynard and Oved Lobel wrote about global coronavirus conspiracy theories in April, and Oved Lobel produced an update in May. Meanwhile, academic Ran Porat published some revelations about such conspiracies in the Australian media in Arabic in the Australia/Israel Review.

Whether assigning blame to the West for the creation and spread of the virus or blaming Israel, the Middle Eastern media has continued to be a source of these harmful claims. Meanwhile, the far-right has also been a major source of antisemitic conspiracy theories linking the outbreak of the virus to a Jewish plot, especially online.

Coronavirus conspiracy theories have been spreading as fast as the virus itself and appear to be readily accepted by large minorities in some democratic countries. In fact, an Oxford University study revealed that 1 in 5 people in Britain believe that the Jews are somehow behind the coronavirus.

This blog will report some examples of the more outlandish conspiracy theories emanating from the Middle East and the far-right that have appeared since late May – although of course other sources of such conspiracies also exist, including the far left.

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I have seen more than a few of these pop-up in some of the most unlikely of places, including a queer gossip group!

August 11, 2020

(Jewish Group) White Nationalism and antisemitism

I rarely write a post in this group, usually I post articles of interest in regards to the Jewish community; sadly, many relate to or involve anti-Semitism (despite some not wanting to hear about antisemitism, but that's another post). A post in LBN, Trump-loving GOP candidate rushes to delete vacation pics at Hitler's favorite retreat had me search down the acronym, SPQR and how it related to white nationalism. While I was somewhat familiar with the original meaning (I needed a refresher because I was off a bit), I was not aware of its use by neo-Nazis and other white nationalists. Then I stumbled on this article:

SPQR and White Nationalism

Senatus Populusque Romanus, “The Senate and People of Rome,” was a phrase used to describe the Roman state in Republican and Imperial times. It was and is often abbreviated as S.P.Q.R. Both the phrase itself and the abbreviation have remained in frequent use as a symbol of the city of Rome. It is also a favorite abbreviation of white nationalists, as the following examples demonstrate.

[Update: Scholars Respond to appropriations of SPQR by hate groups]
[Update: Prof. Sarah Bond has written an excellent article on SPQR that expands on many of the points we make in our follow-up to this documentation]

The use of the abbreviation by hate groups first came to Pharos’ attention when a group of Ohio University students attracted protests for flying an SPQR flag. The protestors said “someone at [the house] might be a Nazi” because the SPLC had reported that SPQR flags were flown at the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally of white supremacists and other nationalist groups. The students defended the flag as being simply a “Roman legion flag” and a “party flag.”

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The article, itself, is not long, but there are a multitude of hotlinks, some of which I have read; others, not yet. However, there were other articles which caught my eye, so I thought I would bring them here in a single place. I think this site might be a plethora of interesting items on anti-Semitism, white Nationalism, and other issues revolving around bigotry and hate. So, I will share these two, mainly because of my love of Greek Myths and ancient Roman history.

Monsters from Greek Mythology Inspire White Supremacist Activists -- June 2020

“The Hundred Handers” is a network of white supremacists who post racist stickers in public places. It’s a strategy used by many racist groups, including those who use imagery taken from Greco-Roman antiquity. According to an interview with the network’s anonymous founder on an anti-government website, the goal of the Hundred Handers’ stickers is to reassure the “whole population who aren’t as plugged [into] social media and may feel alone against the tsunami of anti-white hatred that they face daily” that “you’re not alone and there are others like you in close proximity.” The network takes its name from the many-headed and many-limbed monsters who, according to the Greek poet Hesiod’s Theogony, helped Zeus and the Olympian gods defeat the Titans in the battle for control of the universe.

The Hundred Handers’ promotional materials (above) describe how the many-handed monsters from Greek mythology provide the inspiration for the anonymous structure of the group, in which participants work independently and anonymously as “hands” on behalf of the whole. It’s a strategy that the network’s founder, or “Head,” formulated “to get a message out into the real world while mitigating risk” of “violence and harassment” that he claims “people engaged in white advocacy” face. The idea is that “hands” can anonymously obtain approved stickers from “The Archive,” print them, and post them, thereby recruiting new members to the network and promoting white supremacist ideology in the real world, not just online.

In the interview quoted above the “Head” argued that the time had come to advocate for white supremacy “IRL,” because “chances are, if you’re online and open to our ideas you’ve found one of our content creators or thought leaders.” He then likened white supremacy’s supposed domination of the online space to ancient empire-building: “There’s a quote that’s attributed wrongly to Alexander the Great but I believe it applies to the online front in which we fight, ‘‘he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer‘.” The network’s founder was not, however, content with white supremacy’s conquest of the online world. “The battlefield is broader,” he said. “We can shout all day into social media but our enemies are active in the real world and we must meet them there.” According to Aristotle Kallis, a historian of fascism, the spread of such “real world” activism “underline[s] how ill-prepared the mainstream is with dealing with this kind of threat.”

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Anti-Semites Enlist Cicero Against Anti-Racism -- May 2020

“The Noticer” is an anti-Semitic Telegram channel that collects screenshots of anti-racist tweets from people who self-identify as Jewish in order to intimidate them and target them for racist harassment. The avatar for this channel features a bust of the ancient Roman politician Cicero with glowing, laser-like eyes in imitation of a popular photoshop effect found in memes. As of this writing over eleven thousand people subscribe to “The Noticer”.

The sinister and violent history of such lists of Jewish people and other targeted groups is well-known, even though “The Noticer” is careful not to call for violence in order not to fall afoul of Telegram’s permissive terms of service. But just because it doesn’t mention violence doesn’t mean it isn’t promoting violence: when a list similar to “The Noticer’s” was proposed on 4Chan an anonymous response called for “Kike genocide.”

“The Noticer” moved to Telegram after it was banned from Twitter, where it had begun its list under the handle @TheEuropeanMan1, a name chosen in keeping with the anti-Semitic belief that Jewish people are somehow racially different from “European” people. This belief, in turn, underlies the conspiracy theory that Jewish people seek to infiltrate and destroy “white” power and culture. “The Noticer’s” focus on anti-racist tweets by Jewish people attempts to cast anti-racism as part of this supposed plot.

Why Cicero? On one level it must be the same impulse that leads many white supremacist writers to adopt Classical pseudonyms: they want to tap into the prestige that ancient writers enjoy in the popular imagination. But Cicero seems to have a special appeal for racists. For example, Pharos has documented that neo-Nazis have made Cicero an early exponent of anti-Semitism by modifying a passage about Jewish people from one of his speeches.

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As aware as I am of antisemitism, it's history, and the current climate, which I try to bring here for more to see, much to the chagrin of some, I was completely blindsided by the depths and levels of organization and new ways of expressing themselves, as well as, hiding in plain sight! I hope you take a moment (actually, a few moments), to read these articles and the supporting links. If you find something of interest in relation to white nationalism and anti-Semitism, please let me know.

August 5, 2020

Jewish and Black historical cemeteries vandalized in Virginia with Nazi symbol

Two historic cemeteries in Virginia, one Jewish and one African-American, were vandalized with graffiti featuring “777,” shorthand for the triskele hate symbol.

The vandalism was discovered Monday at Richmond’s Evergreen Cemetery and at the Sir Moses Montefiore Cemetery in Henrico County on the border with Richmond, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

The triskele, or triskelion, looks like three interlocking sevens and was one of many ancient European symbols appropriated by the Nazis and later by white supremacist groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The “777” stand-in for the symbol was spray-painted throughout the Montefiore Cemetery, which was founded in 1886 and is the burial place of many Jewish immigrants from the former Russian Empire, according to the Times-Dispatch. Evergreen Cemetery houses multiple African American leaders “from the post-Reconstruction and civil rights eras,” including Maggie Walker, the first African American woman to charter a bank in the United States.



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August 3, 2020

Causes of death for Americans: Six down, closing in on 7 in just under 6 months.

COVID-19...it's a hoax!
COVID-19...it's no worse than the flu!
COVID-19...a few people will, of course, die!

Well folks, in 2018, the top 10 reasons for Americans' deaths were as follows:

10. Suicide
2018 incidence: 48,344
Rate: 14.2 per 100,000
US standard population Percentage of total deaths: 1.7%

9. Kidney disease
2018 incidence: 51,386
Rate: 12.9 per 100,000 US standard population
Percentage of total death: 1.8%

8. Influenza and pneumonia
2018 incidence: 59,120
Rate: 14.9 per 100,000 US standard population
Percentage of total deaths: 2.1%

7. Diabetes
2018 incidence: 84,946
Rate: 21.4 per 100,000 US standard population
Percentage of total deaths: 3%

6. Alzheimer disease
2018 incidence: 122,019
Rate: 30.5 per 100,000 US standard population
Percentage of total deaths: 4.3%

5. Cerebrovascular diseases
2018 incidence: 147,810
Rate: 37.1 per 100,000 US standard population
Percentage of total deaths: 5.2%

4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
2018 incidence: 159,486
Rate: 39.7 per 100,000 US standard population
Percentage of total deaths: 5.6%

3. Accidents/unintentional injuries
2018 incidence: 167,127
Rate: 48.0 per 100,000 US standard population
Percentage of total deaths: 5.9%

2. Cancer
2018 incidence: 599,274
Rate: 149.1 per 100,000 US standard population
Percentage of total deaths: 21.1%

1. Heart disease
2018 incidence: 655,381
Rate: 163.6 per 100,000 US standard population
Percentage of total deaths: 23.1%

(source)

As of today, 3:30pm CST, there are over 157,000 AMERICANS DEAD due to COVID-19! These deaths didn't start until February, so we are just 6 months in!! The totals above are from the ENTIRE year of 2018 (deaths in 2019 didn't change much)! Of course, it is important to remember that it isn't just deaths which are the problem as it now seems some of those who were infected are having other problems related to the infection, including possible long-term damage and effects.

Do you think COVID-19 will surpass cancer? What about heart disease, making it the largest killer of Americans in 2020?

July 28, 2020

Remains of 286 Jewish Holocaust victims uncovered in 2 basements in Ukraine

The remains of 286 Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust were found in two basements in a town in southwest Ukraine.

The remains, mostly women and children, will be buried in a mass grave in the ancient Jewish cemetery in Sataniv, Ynet reported.

The town had an organized Jewish community for about 500 years before the Nazis captured it in 1941 and began systematically killing its Jews, according to the Yad Vashem website.

On May 15, 1942, Nazi troops and Ukrainian military police locked the 286 Jews in the cellars and suffocated them.

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July 22, 2020

UK leader promises conversion therapy ban as Israel moves forward with its own bill

Conservative U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to ban conversion therapy, calling the practice “absolutely abhorrent,” while Israel’s legislature has moved forward with a ban.

Johnson said that the government will bring forth a bill after a study on the subject has been completed.

“On the gay conversion therapy thing, I think that’s absolutely abhorrent and has no place in a civilized society, and has no place in this country,” Johnson said.

“What we are going to do is a study right now on, you know, where is this actually happening, how prevalent is it, and we will then bring forward plans to ban it.”

---snip---

Other countries are also working on potential conversion therapy bans, including Canada, France, and Norway.


In May, Albania and Germany joined Malta, Taiwan, Brazil, Argentina, and several other countries in banning the practice. Currently, 20 U.S. states have banned conversion therapy.

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July 22, 2020

Transgender man named Michigan Teacher of the Year

The state of Michigan has honored a transgender educator as teacher of the year.

The Michigan Department of Education announced at a virtual meeting on Friday that Owen Bondono is Michigan’s Teacher of the Year. He teaches ninth grade language arts at Oak Park High School near Detroit.

Bondono said that his perspective as a transgender and queer man has helped him help students feel safe in school.

“My goal is to always make sure students whether they are marginalized because of their race, their ethnicity, or their gender identity, their sexual orientation, that they feel safe in school,” he told Fox 2 Detroit.

“I know from a personal standpoint how vulnerable you feel when you’re not safe and how when you feel that vulnerable everything else takes a back seat.”

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July 17, 2020

(Jewish Group) I'm a Jew of color. I won't be quiet about anti-Semitism.

I still remember the look of discomfort my friend Danielle Scruggs shot me as our professor went on an extended rant in an undergraduate journalism class at Howard University.

He’d started by bitterly complaining about a white editor who’d insisted on characterizing Louis Farrakhan as anti-Semitic in a story the professor had written. He was allegedly informing us Black would-be journalists of the importance of protecting our work from white editors who would sully it with cultural ignorance. But he soon spiraled into a larger rant about “the Jews,” assuming he was speaking to an audience who shared his opinions.

Silently, Scruggs caught my gaze and grimaced. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed silently. I grimaced, too. Neither of us really knew what to do or say in the moment, but we knew he was in the wrong.

“I remember feeling really taken aback, because there’s a Black-and-Jewish person right in front of you,” Scruggs said when I called her this week. “I should have said something instead of looking around in horror. Even if you’re part of a marginalized class, you can still have prejudices that can be really harmful and that’s something we should keep in mind.”

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A rather long article, but an excellent read! She has a voice we don't often hear, even in situations like this. I hope we hear more from her.

July 17, 2020

(Jewish Group) Tlaib or Not Tlaib? Detroit's Jews Aren't Sure (Three articles)

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!!!)

The Aug. 4 primary offers a path to oust the outspoken, pro-BDS congresswoman, but Jews are staying out — or backing her.

Many Michigan Jews are unhappy with Rashida Tlaib. But they’re not mobilizing against her in the upcoming primary.

When Tlaib was elected to represent Michigan’s 13th district in the House of Representatives in November 2018, she made history as the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress. Along with Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, she is also one of the first two Muslim woman to serve. And since her election a year and a half ago, Tlaib has made headlines time and time again — often for her vocal criticism of Israel.

Tlaib, whose grandmother still lives in the West Bank, publicly supports a one-state solution and the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement. In 2019 she and Omar were denied entry into Israel for their views, making international headlines.

All of this has created a fraught relationship between Tlaib and the American Jewish community. Even before Tlaib was elected, she made waves when J Street, a nonprofit group that advocates for a two-state solution in Israel, pulled its endorsement of her.

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Companion pieces:

Editor’s Note: The Question

“When are you going to do something about Rashida Tlaib?”

The Jewish News receives some variation of this question from our readers about once a week. Usually it’s tied into something the Detroit Congresswoman has said or tweeted about Israel, but the message is always the same: We are Detroit’s Jewish publication of record. If a notable community figure has sparked a contentious national debate about Jews and Israel, it should be our responsibility to address this person in our pages.

Well, this week, on the occasion of her looming primary, new PBS documentary and various other news items involving her and her district, we have indeed “done something” about Rashida Tlaib. We have conducted our first-ever interview with her and prepared a separate feature about the local Jewish reaction to her.

I don’t know if this will fit every reader’s definition of “doing something” about a local member of Congress who expresses vocal support for the global BDS movement and isn’t shy about criticizing (some would say slandering) Israel on the national stage. But this fits my definition and the publication’s; the JN has been trying to talk to Rep. Tlaib since she assumed office in 2018. We often interview polarizing figures in these pages. Because this is what we do when we confront something difficult in our community. We talk about it.

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Rashida Tlaib: “It’s The Same Folks Coming After All Of Us” (An Interview)

The polarizing Congresswoman sits down with the Jewish News for the first time.

Rashida Tlaib is all smiles as she drives up to our designated interview spot. We’re in Stoepel Number 1 Park, in Detroit’s historic Rosedale Park neighborhood. It’s part of Michigan’s 13th Congressional district, which Tlaib is trying to defend in her August 4 primary. She steps into the park’s tennis courts, which have weeds poking through them, gives an elbow-bump greeting and happily poses for photos.

This is the first time Tlaib has talked to the Detroit Jewish News. She and her staff claim this is the first time they were aware the JN had tried to contact them; but in fact, the JN has made several interview offers to her since 2018, when she became the first Palestinian woman elected to Congress and began making headlines for her vocal criticism of Israel. As a member of “the Squad,” a group of progressive women legislators of color that also includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, Tlaib’s words echo far beyond Detroit.

Now, Tlaib’s district (which includes large portions of Detroit and Dearborn Heights, as well as communities like Romulus, Ecourse and Inkster) is dealing with high rates of COVID-19 and ongoing protests against racism and police brutality. “Have you seen the marches?” she asks. “Jews and Muslims holding signs together… It makes me smile.”

Tlaib’s primary race, against Detroit City Councilwoman Brenda Jones, is competitive, and some Detroit-area Jews see danger no matter who wins. At the same time, Tlaib has many Jewish supporters, and says she wants to have a respectful dialogue with everyone. “I have an open-door policy,” she says. “Even when we disagree, if we can look at each other in a way that at least we feel heard, that’s all I ask.”

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Take the time to read them all.