Views

W

hite suprema-
cists continue 
to pose a seri-
ous threat to Jews in the 
United States — as they 
do to African Americans, 
Muslim Americans, Latinx 
Americans, immigrants, 
LGBTQ Americans and other 
communities.
In the year since the dead-
ly rampage at Pittsburgh’
s 
Tree of Life synagogue, at 
least 12 white supremacists 
have been arrested for their 
alleged roles in terrorist 
plots, attacks or threats 
against the Jewish communi-
ty specifically.
Many of the offenders were 
inspired by previous white 
supremacist attacks; on the 
six-month anniversary of the 
Tree of Life attack, a gunman 
opened fire at a synagogue 
in Poway, Calif., leaving one 
worshipper dead and others 
injured. 

In addition to the 12 white 
supremacist incidents, there 
were two additional inci-
dents targeting Jews, which 
were attributed to people 
inspired by an extremist 
interpretation of Islam, one 
of whom referred to Tree of 
Life shooter Robert Bowers 
as his inspiration. Islamist 
extremist Daniel Joseph was 
arrested by the FBI after he 
unwittingly worked with an 
undercover agent to plan 
an attack on a synagogue 
in Toledo, Ohio. He was 
active online, posting photos 
and messages in support of 
ISIS. In Basking Ridge, N.J., 
an Islamic extremist was 
arrested for making violent 
threats. Many of those arrest-
ed cite — and apparently 
seek to mimic — previous 
anti-Semitic murderers.
Since Oct. 27, 2018, white 
supremacists have targeted 
Jewish institutions’
 proper-

ty on at least 50 occasions. 
From the Poway synagogue 
attack to a religious service 
interrupted by shouts of 
“Heil Hitler,” white suprem-
acists have presented very 
real threats to Jews across 
the country. This includes 12 
instances of vandalism using 
white supremacist symbols 
and 35 distributions of white 
supremacist propaganda, 
according to ADL Center on 
Extremism research. 
Four days after the Tree of 
Life attack, a synagogue in 
California was defaced with 
obscene anti-Semitic slurs. 
In November 2018, a New 
York synagogue was vandalized 
with the phrase “Jews Better Be 
Ready 
” and references to Hitler.
White supremacists have 
also demonstrated outside 
AIPAC offices and Israeli 
consulates, and even disrupt-
ed a Holocaust remembrance 
event in Arkansas by wav-

ing swastika flags, holding 
anti-Semitic posters and 
shouting anti-Semitic slurs 
and phrases, including, “Six 
million more.”
There have been at least 
30 additional incidents 
in which individuals (of 
unknown ideology) commit-
ted arson, vandalism or dis-
tributed propaganda against 
Jewish institutions that was 
anti-Semitic or generally 
hateful, but not explicitly 
white supremacist in nature. 
These incidents include 
the shooting of an elderly 
man outside a synagogue in 
Miami, fires set at multiple 
Jewish institutions in New 
York and Massachusetts, 
Molotov cocktails thrown 
at synagogue windows in 
Chicago, damaged menorahs 
in Georgia and New Jersey, 
as well as a wide range of 
anti-Semitic graffiti.
Meanwhile, analysis from 
ADL’
s Center on Extremism 
points to continued high 
numbers of anti-Semitic inci-
dents nationwide; prelim-
inary reporting shows 780 
anti-Semitic incidents in the 

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How to reach us see page 12

8 | OCTOBER 31 • 2019 

1942 - 2019

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week
jn

commentary
One Year Aft
 er the Tree of Life Attack
American Jews Face Signifi
 cant Threats

ADL BLOG

continued on page 10

