H EADLINES
Propaganda Continued from Page 1
Th e rise in propaganda may
be attributable to the presiden-
tial campaign and election,
according to the ADL. In the
months leading to the vote,
government offi cials and groups
including the ADL warned
repeatedly of extremist activity
surrounding the election.

Th ose warnings came to bear
with the Jan. 6 insurrection at
the U.S. Capitol, which led to
fi ve deaths. Th at event, and the
white supremacist groups and
symbols present there, was not
included in the 2020 tally as it
took place in 2021.

But while the “charged
political climate” may have
been conducive to propaganda,
propaganda did not signifi -
cantly increase as the election
neared, and much of the
content of the propaganda was
unchanged from previous years
and did not reference the vote or
COVID-19, said Jessica Reaves,
the editorial director of the
ADL’s Center on Extremism.

“We can’t know for sure
what moves the needle when
it comes to propaganda
numbers,” she said.

Goodman said fear and
anxiety typically coincide with
a rise in hate and scapegoating.

“We have the pandemic,
we have economic anxiety, we
have the political anxiety of the
election, and all of those kind of
exacerbate underlying tensions
and biases and hate,” she said.

Reaves said the pandemic
had a mixed eff ect on white
supremacist propaganda
eff orts. COVID-19, she said,
“may have slowed distribution
on college campuses, while it’s
possible lockdowns provided
white supremacists with more
cover and anonymity to post in
cities and towns.”
Despite the overall increase
in white supremacist propa-
ganda, the ADL found that it
dropped by more than half on
campuses, to 303 last year from
630 incidents in 2019.

Th e report found that the
two groups most active in the
Greater Philadelphia area are
Patriot Front and the New
Jersey European Heritage
Association. Th e former is a
Texas-based white supremacist
group that plays on tradi-
tional patriotic language and
graphics with red, white and
blue images and slogans like
“Reclaim America.” Patriot
Front was responsible for 80%
of nationwide propaganda
distribution incidents in 2020.

The latter was respon-
sible for 508 incidents in
2020, representing 10% of
the national total. Some
of its materials referenced
Chart showing increase in white supremacist propaganda distribution
Courtesy of the Anti-Defamation League
We can’t know for sure what moves the needle when it comes to
propaganda numbers.”
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racial justice protests and the
pandemic as well as conspiracy
theories about Jews. “Antifa is
a Jewish communist militia,”
“Black Crimes Matter” and
“Stop Corona Virus, Deport
All Illegal Aliens, Close the
Borders, Stop Immigration
Now,” were among the slogans
members distributed.

Other propaganda from
NJEHA reads, “Small HATS
BIG problems” alongside the
image of a kippah and “America
is under occupation,” with an
image of the Star of David.

Together, these organiza-
tions accounted for 99% of the
activity in Philadelphia and
southern New Jersey.

Goodman said propaganda
distribution incidents are
tracked as clusters of activity
rather than individual sticker
or fl yer sightings. Many of the
JEWISH EXPONENT
Anti-Semitic propaganda created by the New Jersey European
Heritage Association
Courtesy of the Anti-Defamation League
incidents involve members
of white supremacist groups
placing propaganda, taking a
picture of it and posting the
image on social media to brag.

“It kind of is a nexus between
online and offl ine activity that
they use to recruit and to talk
about what they’re doing and to
get people more engaged,” she
said. “But they’re very low-risk
activities, because it’s generally
going to be a protected activity,
unless you cross the line into
harassment or vandalism or
trespass.” Goodman said ADL responds
to these incidents by working
with local groups like Jewish
Federations, houses of worship,
LGBTQ centers and interfaith
alliances to create statements
and strategies to counter hate,
including virtual town halls to
inform people how to look out
for violence.

Th e goal is to make sure
people from marginalized
groups who encounter this
propaganda know they are
supported by their communities.

“It sends the message that
this is not what our commu-
nity stands for, this fl yer does
not represent the feelings of
people in the community and
we’re going to try and drown
out those hateful messages
with better speech,” she said. ●
spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM