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Standing Up Against Antisemitism in Education:
At last week’s National Education Association (NEA) Representative Assembly, delegates passed a deeply troubling measure that calls for a boycott of ADL’s educational resources and programs. In response, ADL led a powerful letter signed by 378 Jewish organizations from across the political spectrum, urging NEA leadership to reject the measure and recommit to ensuring Jewish educators and students are safe and supported in schools. The signatories include national and local Jewish organizations, Holocaust museums, schools and synagogues. This diverse coalition recognizes that the NEA vote was an attack not just on ADL, but on the Jewish community and Holocaust and
antisemitism education. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt also conveyed this directly to NEA President Becky Pringle, and kept up the pressure on the NEA in high-profile media including this CNN conversation that we recommend you watch. We will keep pushing back on this harmful action to ensure that antisemitism has no place in our schools or in the unions that support them.
Read the coalition’s letter to NEA leadership.
HOW YOU CAN SPEAK OUT:
“False Flag” Claims Spike on Reddit After Antisemitic Attacks: According to ADL research,
the term “false flag” was among the most popular phrases in a sample of Reddit discussions about two recent antisemitic attacks in the U.S. — the deadly firebombing of an event in Colorado, and the killings outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. A “false flag” is a term adopted by conspiracy theorists to influence people to believe that events such as violent actions or even natural disasters are actually the work of governments or sinister forces. In this case, “false flag” most commonly refers to the idea that the recent antisemitic attacks were orchestrated by another actor, like Israel, to either shift public opinion or advance a
larger objective such as control over the U.S. Read more from ADL’s expert analysts.
Congressional Oversight of Campus Antisemitism:
The House Education & Workforce Committee convened again to examine antisemitism on campus. Witnesses included the leaders of Georgetown, University of California, Berkeley and the City University of New York. Committee members drew heavily on ADL prepared materials and data to question how universities are addressing antisemitism — particularly regarding faculty conduct, institutional funding and campus culture. During the hearing, Georgetown’s Interim President disclosed that Professor Jonathan Brown, who had previously called for a “symbolic strike” by Iran on a U.S. military base, was removed from his position as Chair of the school’s Islamic
Studies Department. This hearing reflects bipartisan concern in Congress and underscores ADL’s role as a key resource in holding institutions accountable and advancing real solutions to combat campus antisemitism. Watch the full recording of the hearing here, and sign up to get ADL’s Campus Alert newsletter when it restarts this fall with the new school year.
Extremist Groups Exploit Texas Flooding for Publicity:
While Texas authorities respond to the devastation from recent flooding, the Texas-based white supremacist group Patriot Front is using the disaster to generate positive publicity under the guise of disaster relief and the Nation of Islam claims to be seeking supporters to assist with recovery efforts. Both groups have a history of spreading antisemitic messages. Their activity in Texas is not unusual; many groups have a history of exploiting natural disasters or tragedies for their own political or ideological gain.
Read more ADL insights about how these extremists are trying to benefit from a disaster.
Bigotry in Psychology:
A special edition of the flagship journal of the American Psychological Association (APA) advances a biased narrative that depicts the State of Israel — and by extension, those who support it — in a profoundly negative light. ADL has joined the Academic Engagement Network and Psychologists Against Antisemitism to express our deep concern; the APA is already facing intense scrutiny for repeatedly falling short in acknowledging and responding to reports of antisemitism. ADL and its allies are calling for immediate corrective action from the APA, as well as a commitment to a professional environment free from bias and bigotry of all forms — including antisemitism.
Read more about this APA misstep.
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