ADL sees uptick in antisemitic propaganda in 2021

White supremacist propaganda dipped slightly in 2021 after hitting a record high in 2020, but antisemitic speech jumped 27 percent, according to figures compiled by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

The ADL tracked a total of 4,851 incidents of White supremacist hate speech, ranging from content seen on fliers, stickers, posters and even graffiti. The figure represented a drop of roughly 5 percent from 2020, which saw a record-breaking 5,125 incidents. 

But the minimal dip in overall hate speech was coupled with a surge in antisemitic propaganda.

Among the images included in the report are propaganda calling “every single aspect of the Covid agenda” Jewish, incorrectly identifying several public health experts as Jewish.

Jan. 6 and the prosecution of Kyle Rittenhouse have also been popular topics.

“Using main stream issues as talking points to normalize their ideology and try to frame it as what they believe is white victimization or even white genocide,” said Carla Hill, associate director of the Center on Extremism at ADL.

“The end goal is to make people believe they are under such a threat they have to act,” she added, noting it can also serve as a recruiting tool.

The U.S. has seen a startling rise in antisemitic attacks in recent years, and the latest ADL hate speech data is a marked increase from the 294 incidents of antisemitic content it tracked in 2017.

There has been a similar uptick in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.

National security agencies have repeatedly warned about the intensity of the threat coming from white supremacists and lone actors who may be motivated by their ideology.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a new terrorism bulletin in February warning of an uptick in extremist chatter focused on houses of worship like synagogues as well as higher education institutions like historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Jewish communities have also been on high alert since people attending services at a Texas synagogue were taken hostage in January. 

FBI director Christopher Wray has consistently pointed to the danger posed by white supremacists and their outsize status within the bureau’s domestic terrorism portfolio.

“I would certainly say, as I think I’ve said consistently in the past, that racially motivated violent extremism, specifically of the sort that advocates for the superiority of the white race, is a persistent, evolving threat,” Wray said at a hearing last year. 

“It’s the biggest chunk of our racially motivated violent extremism cases for sure. And racially motivated violent extremism is the biggest chunk of our domestic terrorism portfolio, if you will, overall.”

The ADL report attributes the bulk of white supremacist propaganda to the Texas-based Patriot Front, which alone was responsible for 82 percent of the content reviewed by ADL and distributed propaganda in every state except Hawaii and Alaska.

The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Patriot Front as a white nationalist hate group that formed in the aftermath of the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.

The group has stamped its messages over a Black Lives Matter mural and requires a monthly propaganda quote of its members.

Updated 12:34 p.m.