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