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JAMES D. BESSER
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

lir hat if they
built an In-
formation
Superhigh-
way — and nobody had
anything interesting to
say? Or worse, what if
the new global computer
grid also provided a pow-
erful new platform for
every bigot, anti-Semite
and zoned-out conspiracy
theorist with access to a
personal computer?
Welcome to cyberspace,
the global web of comput-
er networks that is prov-
ing a mixed blessing for
the Jewish community.
Jews have been quick
to adapt networks, such
as Internet, the global
maze of linked computer
systems, to serve an as-
tonishing range of com-
munity needs. But this
technological revolution
also has heightened reli-
gious and political divi-
sions that lurk behind the
facade ofJewish unity.
And it has given a new
outlet to everivariety of
anti-Semitism known to
man.
Abraham Foxman, ex-
ecutive director of the
Anti-Defamation League,
is especially exercised
about the hate-mongers'
entry to the Information
Highway, which he says
"is spreading anti-Semi-
tism and bigotry. Access is
easy, communication is
fast. There's a sense of
greater legitimacy if you

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see something over the E-
mail rather than in writ-
ing."
ADL first raised the is-
sue of electronic hate-
mongering three years
ago when it attacked anti-
Semitic and anti-Israel
messages sent on the
Prodigy network. "Our
main concern," said Mr.
Foxman, "is that young
people, in particular, have
been targeted [by hate
groups via computer net-
works]."
Alan Stein, an associate
professor of mathematics
at the University of Con-
necticut at Waterbury
and head of the American
Jewish Information Net-
work, said, "Internet of-
fers anti-Semitic groups
an effective way to orga-
nize their partisans and of
disseminating informa-
tion. Fortunately, the
`nets' offer us the same op-
portunities, which we
need to take better advan-
tage of."
Prof. Stein urged Jew-
ish leaders to accelerate
their on-line efforts so
they "can use [the net-
works] to counter anti-Is-
rael propaganda, to
educate ourselves and to
increase the effectiveness
of all sorts ofJewish orga-
nizations."
Anti-Semites, he
warned, can win the bat-
tle to use cyberspace effec-
tively only if Jews forfeit
the game.

One lane of the Information Highway spreads hate,
another brings the Jewish community together.

CON:

Computer Networks Empower Hate

H

ate-mongers traveling down tremists hook up with their brethren
throughout Europe and the former
Soviet Union.
Jewish leaders in the United
States also worry that hate groups
in this country are linking up with
their European counterparts
through the "nets," as well as seek-
ing converts among the young, im-
pressionable computer users who
dominate cyberspace.
When officials of the Simon
Wiesenthal Center re-
cently met with FBI Di-
rector Louis Freeh, at the
—top of the agenda was a
plea for greater federal
surveillance of this po-
tentially 'disastrous
melding of high-tech
communications and
age-old patterns of ha-
tred. _
One cyberspace en-
thusiast at the Wiesenthal
Center, Rick Eaton, has im-
pressive anti-extremist creden-
tials: Last year, he
infiltrated neo-Nazi
groups in Germany
3 12■ C-0 \
c=, c. and Argentina for
°
the Los Angeles-
\
based group. He is
,
k
now urging Jew-
\ ish groups to pay
close attention
c:,0
to some unsa-
-- vory travelers on
the emerging infor-
mation turnpike.
"Many topics [on
various computer net-
works] I don't consider
`dangerous,' " he said.
"They're just an aggravation,
such as the Liberty Lobby
crew and those who sup-
port the Palestinian

the Information Highway is
not exclusively an American
problem. German officials, for
example, have warned that inter-
national computer networks are a
key tool in spreading neo-Nazism
among that nation's young people,
especially since they let German ex-

I

----

cause. But those who deny or mini-
mize the Holocaust are a major con- (
cern."
In fact, he said, the "nets" have be-
come the most effective tool to Holo-
caust deniers. A recent series of
messages on Internet, for instance,
attacked the "lies" in Steven Spiel-
berg's film, "Schindler's List." And
on an Internet "conference" (that was
dubbed, in computer-lingo, "ALT.RE-
VISIONISM"), technical analyses
were presented "proving" that mass \I
killings never took place at Nazi con-
centration camps.
This was recycled material, but
aimed at a new, fresh audience. As
Mr. Eaton said: "We're most con-
cerned about the `hirkers,' the hun-
dreds of people that read the topics
and never say anything. The deniers
are good at what they do. To some-
one who may be on the fence, they

can sound quite convincing."
Computer "nets" are great level-
ers: The rantings of hate-mongers
look the same on-screen as do rea-
soned responses from scholars.
"People increasingly look to their
computers to get news about
what's happening around the world,"
said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the,-/
Wiesenthal Center's associate dean.
"But there's a kind of implied legit-
imacy to what people read over their
computers. It's unfiltered informa-
tion, but it looks legitimate."

Conspiring
To Mislead

A

nother concern is the strange
world of conspiracy theories,
an intellectual growth in-
dustry, thanks to the power
of the "nets."
Consider ALT.CONSPIRACY, a