Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 18, 2017

Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues center on extremism, told an audience of 140 people at the ADL Cleveland regions annual meeting at The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood on Feb. 16 that by not condemning anti-Semitic and hateful incidents in the U.S., extremists feel emboldened by President Donald Trumps administration.

"They feel like they can spread their messages on campus, they are being interviewed in the media all the time, they feel like the president of the United States is talking to them and saying it's ok, even if he's not really saying that," said Segal, who is based in New York City and visited Cleveland for the event. What the administration is signaling to us is they only care about one form of extremism, maybe that's why they're not answering questions about anti-Semites, I'm not sure.

The talk was hours after Trump, at a press conference in Washington, D.C., was asked by an Orthodox Jewish reporter how the government will act to stop the anti-Semitic incidences across the U.S., specifically the more than 60 bomb threats to Jewish community centers in recent weeks. According to The New York Times, the reporter said he was not accusing Trump of being anti-Semitic, however, Trump called the reporters question repulsive and very insulting and did not address the anti-Semitic incidences.

The focus of Segals talk was The Current Landscape of Hate and Extremism in the U.S, and was also on the same day the ADL released a report that 2016 was the second deadliest year since 1970 (the first year for which the ADL has data) in domestic extremism-related deaths. With 69 recorded deaths related to domestic extremism, 2016 was second only to 1995 the year of the Oklahoma City bombing. That result is largely due to Orlandos Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016.

"It is not good news that all these folks feel emboldened in this time and place right now. White supremacists feel like they have a champion in the highest office, Segal said. He added that although the Islamic State is losing territory, they feel emboldened because they have also in the highest office in this country, somebody who is creating propaganda toward them."

Segal, while noting that all types of extremist groups are responsible for killings in the U.S., data shows white supremacists are statistically more violent in the long term.He discussed how the internet makes it easier for all hate groups to harass and harm people, citing white supremacists harassing Jewish journalists on Twitter and ISIS sympathizers becoming emboldened from afar and carrying out attacks in their own communities.

Discussing the alt-right movement, Segal said much of it is a repackaging of white supremacist hatred and discourse.

They want to normalize their message, he said. "Breitbart is as anti-immigrant, racist and anti-Muslim of an online publication as you can imagine. And when you are anti-Muslim, racist and anti-immigrant, guess what you are an anti-Semite whether it's in there or not, said Segal, who has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Israel and added that, (Breitbart was) actually pretty good on Israel, whatever that means."

Anita Gray, regional director of the ADL, also told the Cleveland Jewish News that the president not knowing about bomb threats to Jewish institutions is sad and a little scary.

Anita Gray, regional director of the ADL Cleveland, speaks at the groups annual meeting.

Is he an anti-Semite? I dont think so. But he puts in Steve Bannon, he doesn't distance himself (from anti-Semitic supporters), he doesn't mention anti-Semitism, he doesn't mention Jews in the Holocaust (speech), and you wonder what's going on."

Earlier in the day, ADL also released a statement condemning Trumps response to the question about anti-Semitic incidents at the press conference, as did the American Jewish Committee.

Also during the event, Jon Wise, chair of ADL Cleveland, during the opening remarks, went off script and voiced his concerns about the immigration ban from seven Muslim majority countries and law enforcement arresting undocumented immigrants in recent days.

Jon Wise, chair of ADL Cleveland, speaks at the annual meeting Feb. 16.

The dreamers that are living here, this is their home, these are our brothers and sisters. They should not live in fear of law enforcement and police," he said.

Wise continued that if there was a Muslim registry in the U.S., he would join it in solidarity as a proud Jew.

"As Jews, we know, we've been there and done that when it came to turning our backs on refugees whose lives were in danger.

See the rest here:
ADL leaders condemn Trump's reaction to anti-Semitic incidents ... - Cleveland Jewish News

Category: Anti-Defamation League
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