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



H eadlines
Election Exclusive Women’s Apparel Botique
Continued from Page 1
13 parties are projected to make
it into Knesset. Each party’s
share of the parliament could
change slightly after absentee
ballots are counted.

To lead Israel’s government,
a candidate must assemble a
majority coalition of at least
61 lawmakers, which is gener-
ally made up of several parties.

Should no candidate be able
to assemble a coalition, which
occurred twice in 2019, Israel
holds a repeat election. The
results don’t point to any
obvious majority coalition.

Several local scholars said
that the likelihood of another
election in the near future
remains high.

“I would not rule that out
at all,” said Michal Raucher, a
professor in the Department
of Jewish Studies at Rutgers
University. Lior B. Sternfeld, a professor
of history and Jewish studies at
Penn State University, believes
that the Knesset will dissolve
itself again with the next four
to five months.

“There is a very good chance
that there will be a fifth election,”
said Asaf Romirowsky, execu-
tive director of Scholars for
Peace in the Middle East and
a fellow at the Philadelphia-
based Middle East Forum.

Netanyahu’s Likud is
expected to be the largest
party, with around 30 seats —
smaller than its current size
of 36. Raucher explained that
the comparatively smaller
number of right-wing parties
that took part in the most
recent election could make it
easier for Netanyahu to form
a coalition this time around,
though nothing is guaranteed.

The process of building a coali-
tion is like entering a “bazaar
in Tehran,” in Romirowsky’s
words, and the haggling over
concessions and policy prefer-
ences is about to begin.

The next-largest party is
projected to be the centrist
Yesh Atid, an opponent of
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Lior B. Sternfeld, a professor of
history and Jewish studies at Penn
State University
Photo by Michael T. Davis
message is being received by
more Israelis this time around,”
Raucher said, referring to the
Labor leader.

Romirowsky, on the other
hand, was more skeptical
about the prospects of the left
in Israel.

“They don’t amount to,
really, any counterweight to
Netanyahu and [Leader of
the Opposition Yair] Lapid,”
he said.

On the far right, Religious
Zionism, a party that includes
anti-LGBT politicians and
extremist settlers, was set to
win six seats. Shas, the Sephardi
haredi Orthodox party, was
projected to win nine seats,
while the Ashkenazi haredi
party, United Torah Judaism,
was set to win seven.

Two men who had hoped
to become prime minister saw
disappointing results.

Gideon Saar, a former
member of Likud who broke
away to challenge Netanyahu,
is set to win only six seats.

And Naftali Bennett, a former
Netanyahu deputy, is projected
to win seven seats. Bennett is
largely ideologically aligned
with Netanyahu but has had
a series of disputes with him
and has not committed to
joining a government under
his leadership.

Following the publication
of the final results, Israeli
President Reuven Rivlin will
ask each party to recommend
either Netanyahu or one of his
opponents to form the next
Israeli government. Whoever
gets the most recommenda-
tions then gets several weeks to
assemble a majority coalition.

If they cannot, another party
leader generally gets to try.

So the shape of the next
Israeli government, and the
identity of the person who
leads it, may be unclear for
quite some time. l
Netanyahu, with 17 seats, also
slightly smaller than its current
19 seats.

Blue and White, the party
that nearly beat Netanyahu
last year before joining him in
an ill-fated unity government,
is set to drop from 12 seats
to eight.

The Joint List, an Arab-Israeli
party made up of multiple
factions, is also expected to fall
from 15 seats to six, because
one party broke away this year.

Sternfeld sees this as Arab
voters voicing their displeasure
with the break-up.

Raam, the breakaway, is
an Islamist party that had
discussed allying with either
Netanyahu or his opponents.

It is projected to win as many
as five seats after exit polls
had predicted that it would
fall short.

Israel’s two Jewish left-wing
parties both grew. Labor, the
shrunken party of Israel’s
founders, was projected to win
seven seats, a large jump from
its current two. The left-wing
Meretz was also projected to
grow slightly from four seats
to five.

“Meirav Michaeli’s bold
and outspoken opposition
to Netanyahu and the right jbernstein@jewishexponent.com;
wing parties indicates that her 215-832-0740
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