Twitter CEO dismisses Ayatollah’s threats to Israel as ‘saber-rattling’

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sparred with Republican lawmakers over his company’s decision to permit tweets from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for the destruction of Israel and denying the Holocaust at a raucous Senate committee hearing on Wednesday.

During the Commerce, Science, and Transportation committee hearing, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) pressed Dorsey on why Twitter had not taken action against tweets from Khamenei threatening Israel. The Twitter founder responded that the company does not see the tweets as an immediate threat to Israel or its citizens’ safety.

“We did not find those to violate our terms of service because we considered them saber-rattling, which is part of the speech of world leaders in concert with other countries,” Dorsey said. “Speech against… a country’s own citizens, we believe, is different and can cause more immediate harm.”

Dorsey’s explanation echoes a letter from the company sent to Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen earlier this year. 

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt disputed Dorsey’s argument.

“Whether ostensibly aimed at Jews or Israel, his rhetoric is more than saber-rattling — it is antisemitism, pure and simple,” Greenblatt said in a statement. “We firmly believe that Twitter needs to apply its policy on hate speech against Khamenei as it would against anyone else who espouses antisemitism. His position is irrelevant when he is spouting prejudice — if anything, it makes his hate even more consequential.”

In response to a query from Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) over the company placing misinformation warnings on some tweets sent by President Donald Trump while allowing Khamenei’s tweets, Dorsey emphasized that Twitter does not have an overarching policy against misinformation or against Holocaust denial.

“It’s misleading information, but we don’t have a policy against that type of misleading information,” Dorsey said, specifying that the platform only bans misleading information relating to the coronavirus and voting, as well as manipulated media.

But Greenblatt highlighted that Twitter told Bloomberg earlier this month that it would remove Holocaust denial content under the company’s hate speech policy. 

“Jack Dorsey’s statement today was confusing, because it appears to be in opposition to his company’s publicly stated policy and policy rationale regarding Holocaust denial,” Greenblatt said. “Twitter should clarify that their policy is that Holocaust denial is not just a form of misinformation, but an antisemitic conspiracy theory that is used to spread hatred of Jews.”

A Twitter spokesperson told JI that Holocaust denial is banned on the platform, and that the Bloomberg article was correct.

“Our Hateful Conduct Policy prohibits a wide range of behavior, including making references to violent events or types of violence where protected categories were the primary victims, or attempts to deny or diminish such events,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We also have a robust glorification of violence policy in place and take action against content that glorifies or praises historical acts of violence and genocide, including the Holocaust.”

Twitter did not respond to a question from JI about why Khamenei’s tweets about the Holocaust were not removed or labeled under this policy.

This post was updated on Friday, Oct. 30 to include a response from Twitter.

Congressional Dems urge Biden to continue campus antisemitism protections

As the presidential election draws near, at least one House Democrat — Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) — is hopeful that a potential Biden administration will maintain protections for Jewish college students, introduced by President Donald Trump in a 2019 executive order on antisemitism.

Speaking during a webinar on antisemitism alongside State Department Special Envoy Elan Carr on Tuesday, Gottheimer expressed support for continued action from the executive branch to address antisemitism and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which has become widespread on U.S. college campuses.

“As a policy matter, whether it’s through executive action or other forms of standing up to the BDS movement, I would hope that the next administration continues that effort, because the BDS movement is antisemitic,” said Gottheimer, who attended the executive order’s signing ceremony last year.

In December 2019, Trump signed an executive order adding antisemitism to a list of punishable offenses included in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The executive order originated as guidance in the George W. Bush and Barack Obama Departments of Education, but was made official by the president’s signature.

Since the executive order’s implementation, one school — New York University — has reached a settlement with the Education Department over its handling of antisemitism on the campus. It was announced last week that a similar complaint had been filed against the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, due to years of unchecked antisemitic activity at the school.

Gottheimer also spoke about legislative efforts to address antisemitism, emphasizing that the 2019 House resolution condemning the BDS movement received broad bipartisan support, which he believes will serve as a signal to a potential Biden administration.

“I would hope, given the strength of that message and that resolution, that it would be carried forth as policy in the next administration,” he continued. “I think it’s very important that we remain vigilant. Regardless of who is the next president, I believe this must continue in force… I wouldn’t see any reason why we wouldn’t continue that posture in the years ahead.”

Few congressional Democrats have explicitly praised the executive order, but many legislators who have spoken to JI indicated that they hope more will be done to address the uptick in antisemitism around the country

In a statement to JI, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) skirted directly addressing the administration’s executive order, but highlighted the importance of applying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism in the Department of Education. 

Rosen pointed to the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, which she is cosponosoring, that would codify the Department of Education’s use of the IHRA definition. “To protect Jewish students and others on campus from antisemitic hate, we must have the tools to enforce federal antidiscrimination laws in education,” she said.

Malcolm Hoenlein on his burgeoning friendship with Nick Cannon

Three months after coming under public scrutiny — and his highly publicized firing from ViacomCBS — for making antisemitic comments on his podcast, actor Nick Cannon has worked to make amends with the Jewish community: He has devoured Bari Weiss’s How to Fight Anti-Semitism, hosted rabbis on his podcast and toured a Holocaust museum. 

While much of Hollywood has moved on from the scandal, Cannon has continued his outreach to the Jewish community, including a growing friendship with Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

The pair first began talking, Hoenlein said, shortly after controversy erupted over Cannon’s podcast with rapper Richard Griffin, who was kicked out of Public Enemy in 1989 for making antisemitic comments. Cannon and Griffin engaged in back-and-forth commentary that included clear antisemitic tropes. 

“Somebody close to him connected us, and then he reached out to talk to me and to begin a dialogue that has continued steady throughout this kind of for months now,” Hoenlein told Jewish Insider on Monday of their connection. “It’s led to many hours of discussion. He came even to Friday night dinner at my daughter’s house.” The Shabbat dinner in Teaneck, N.J., Hoenlein believes, was Cannon’s first. “He spent hours talking with my family — my children, grandchildren.”

Since then, Hoenlein has met with the actor numerous times, including a dinner at Manhattan’s UN Plaza Grill last week. Hoenlein and Cannon were also photographed holding up a poster that read “stop Jew hatred.”

In the interview with JI, Hoenlein praised Cannon for his commitment to not only engaging with the Jewish community, but also learning from his missteps. “He made a mistake,” Hoenlein said, “but he has faced up to what he did and publicly spoke about doing t’shuvah.” 

“This guy is anything but an antisemite,” Hoenlein added. “He fasted on Tisha B’av. Because he didn’t know it started at night, he fasted until the next morning.”

“He speaks whole Hebrew sentences, because he studies it,” Hoenlein said of Cannon. “I have fought antisemitism for five decades. I see one and I know somebody who is not.”

Hoenlein was hopeful Cannon could help not just educate younger generations about antisemitism and stereotypes, but also encourage other influencers to use their celebrity status to raise awareness about antisemitism. 

The Jewish communal leader cautioned against the reaction, observed in the aftermath of Cannon’s controversial comments, to immediately cast the actor as an antisemite. 

“We all react to these things, as we should, and we have to condemn antisemitism in whatever way when it appears,” Hoenlein suggested. “But not to jump to a conclusion that this is some ingrained ideology or hatred of a [certain person]. We have to be very careful about the use of the term and not have the term so misused and thrown around in careless ways.”

Members of Congress launch international task force to combat online antisemitism

A bipartisan group of members of Congress will announce on Tuesday the creation of a new global inter-parliamentary task force to combat digital antisemitism. 

Members of the task force include Reps. Ted Deutch (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), along with elected officials from major parties in Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Another member of the panel is member of Knesset Michal Cotler-Wunsh from Israel’s Blue and White Party, the daughter of former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler. In July, Cotler-Wunsh challenged a Twitter spokesperson during a Knesset hearing over the company’s decision not to delete or flag a post by Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that she said was “calling for genocide.” In a May tweet, Khamenei called for “firm, armed resistance” to bring about the “elimination of the Zionist regime.”

In an interview with Jewish Insider, Deutch said the lawmakers coalesced around the issue of online antisemitism because as social media continues to grow, “it’s unfortunately more and more being used to spread hatred and antisemitism. And we know that what may begin as online threats in the virtual world can lead to violence in the real world.” 

Deutch said conversations about combatting global antisemitism began when he attended the World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem earlier this year, and felt “compelled to move forward” with more action after social media platforms — including Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Google — failed to counter it. “We are aware that there are efforts by multiple groups, and non-governmental organizations who are trying to address this,” Deutch said. “We think that it’s important for elected officials from countries that are experiencing concerning and really upsetting increases in antisemitism to speak out.” 

The goals set by the task force, as reviewed by Jewish Insider, include raising awareness about online antisemitism and establishing a consistent message in legislatures across the world to hold social media platforms accountable. The group will also work to adopt and publish transparent policies related to hate speech.

“Always and at this time in particular as we stand united in fighting a global pandemic, another virus rages that requires global collaboration and cooperation,” Cotler-Wunsh said in a statement. “By working with multi-partisan allies in parliaments around the world, we hope to create best practices and real change in holding the social media giants accountable to the hatred that exists on their platforms.” 

Deutch maintained that “the power of having a group of elected officials” from different parties across the globe come together on this issue “will highlight the need for action by the companies and the need for action by our respective legislative bodies.” He added: “And most importantly, we hope this will help advance the conversation that’s premised upon the fundamental understanding that we just shouldn’t accept this spread of antisemitism that we’ve seen on social media platforms.” 

The Florida congressman told JI that as the group gains traction, its organizers will look to expand “into many more countries.”

Kraft Philanthropies reveals its first antisemitism initiative: ‘Together Beat Hate’

Accepting the Genesis Prize from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a glitzy ceremony in Jerusalem in June 2019, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced his vision to “work to end the violence against Jewish communities.”

The prize, granted annually, has become an aspirational award for accomplished members of the Jewish community, honoring their achievements across a variety of fields. It is intended to have the simultaneous effect of encouraging Jewish activism, awarding a check of $1 million to its laureates who, to date, have shown no personal need for the money.

Before an applauding audience at the Jerusalem Theatre, Kraft used the occasion to announce the formation of the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism, an effort he painted in lofty terms as working to thwart the rise of antisemitism.

“To counter the normalization of antisemitic narratives that question Israel’s right to exist, disguised as part of legitimate debate on campuses and in the media. To educate, to inform, and to heal inter-communal relations,” Kraft said. “In combating the scourge of antisemitism, my solemn ambition is to counter all forms of intolerance in the spirit of the ancient Jewish value of tikkun olam — to heal and repair the world.”

Kraft immediately committed $20 million to the foundation, now a part of the larger Kraft Family Philanthropies. This was joined, shortly after, by a $5 million commitment from fellow billionaire philanthropist Roman Abramovich — all part of an initial plan to raise some $50 million for the new foundation. But despite the high-profile and high-dollar origins, little of the effort has been made public for over a year.

Now, the organization is going public with its first major initiative, [Together Beat Hate], or [TBH], an effort to engage youth in education, conversation, and activism around the meaning and reality of antisemitism.

“We’ve been saying all along, it’s not a Jewish issue, it’s a community and a society issue,” Josh Kraft, president of Kraft Philanthropies and Robert’s son, told Jewish Insider.

Kraft broke the general population down into three segments: those who hold antisemitic attitudes, those who are knowledgeable about and opposed to antisemitism and those with an incomplete or misconstrued understanding of antisemitism. This third group, which he believes is the most susceptible to learn about the issue, has become the focus for [TBH].

“We’re trying to reach that group in the middle specifically,” he explained. “We feel like we can influence their experience with the [Jewish] community.”

Institutional memory of the Holocaust is quickly fading as the number of survivors dwindles. A January study by the Pew Forum found that less than half of Americans can accurately approximate the number of Jews killed by the Nazis. Yet reports released by the FBI and the Anti-Defamation League show a rapid increase in antisemitic hate crimes in the United States.

In January, the foundation commissioned a study on the perceptions and knowledge of antisemitism among American youth — which they defined as those ages 13-35. The findings, according to the group, indicated a particular lack of familiarity with the terminology and history of antisemitism among those aged 13-17. 

This age group appeared especially representative of the middle segment described by Kraft: largely unfamiliar with antisemitism and in need of education, but without any preconditioned antisemitic views.

“They truly just don’t know what we’re talking about when we say antisemitism,” Rachel Fish, the executive director of the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism added. “They say things like, well, ‘what’s a Semite?’ and ‘I’m not really sure what that is, but I’m anti-racist, I’m also against homophobia, I’m against Islamophobia, so I’m probably an antisemite,’ and they don’t understand that they’re actually an anti-antisemite. They don’t even understand the terminology.”

To address the issue, Kraft and Fish turned to Ryan Paul, an expert in digital media, to organize and run the outreach campaign.

Paul’s approach was modeled after the success of groups like Black Lives Matter, which attracted attention to its movement by exposing those without previous experience or knowledge to stories of racism. Through the [TBH] social media channels and website, the group built a platform that it hopes will bring attention to the issue of antisemitism.

“We’re encouraging people who may not be aware of Jew hatred or antisemitism to explore and to learn things, and we’ve provided content starters for them to have conversations with folks to share what those conversations have been like, in order to expose a broader group of people to this topic,” Paul explained.

Last week, [TBH] published its website, featuring glossy black-and-white photos and call-to-action quotes like “hatred is not a given.” The centerpiece of the site is a five-step plan for visitors to educate and raise awareness for themselves and others. 

Step five — called “Act Together” — encourages visitors to submit their ideas for future campaigns or partnerships. Though the team did not mention any specific groups or opportunities, they repeatedly emphasized an interest in working alongside organizations dedicated to fighting other forms of hate.

The organizational and educational work — fueled primarily through social media — will be supplemented by a digital command center currently under construction in Gillette Stadium, the headquarters for the Patriots and other Kraft-affiliated organizations. There, a team will track more than 300 million websites and social media platforms across the internet and dark web, compiling data on incidents and trends in antisemitism.

Though other longstanding organizations monitor and compile similar information, Fish claims [TBH] will be the first to tie that data directly into social media campaigns aimed at youth. The real-time information gathering will also work as a rapid-response effort, determining which sites and patterns to target.

Fish and Paul admitted this real-time and far-reaching approach straddled the line between drawing attention to the hatefulness of the content and providing emerging movements with undue publicity. But while the organization works to define that standard, Fish argued the information would still prove useful in dissecting the methods of their internet opponents.

“What we want to do is understand that messaging, so that we can refine the way in which we engage with our target audience so that they won’t be seduced by that messaging, but rather, would be positively predisposed to the kind of framing that we’re putting out there,” she said.

The foundation — which has also consulted with experts on youth psychology and the effects of social media — will use the resulting research to furnish its partnerships with similar groups.

Given the logistical restrictions of the ongoing pandemic, the team seemed unsure of an exact timeline for their work. Still, only a few weeks into the project, Kraft, Fish and Paul are impressed with the response from groups seeking to partner with [TBH].

“I really feel very strongly that it relies on people to use their voices right and it’s people from many different backgrounds,” Paul added. “And I can tell you as somebody who’s not in the Jewish community, this is new. It’s a learning experience for me.”

Lee Zeldin claims he’s never experienced antisemitism from the GOP

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) defended the Republican Party against allegations of antisemitism in its ranks during a web event Monday held in conjunction with the Republican National Convention, which kicked off today in Charlotte, N.C.

“I, personally, haven’t encountered any antisemitism within the Republican Party,” Zeldin, who is one of two Jewish Republican members of Congress, said. “From a personal perspective, I can tell you — from kindergarten through 12th grade, college, law school and four years of active duty, I never once experienced antisemitism at all.”

The New York congressman said during Monday’s call, which was hosted by the American Jewish Committee, that he’s only faced antisemitism in recent years, something he attributes to the current political atmosphere. He estimated “several thousand” instances of being called a Nazi or a Nazi sympathizer but added, “I’m not aware of any of it coming from within the Republican Party.” 

Zeldin instead assigned blame to the Democratic Party, pointing in particular to comments made by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in 2019. ”I spent four years in the New York State Senate, and through my first four years in the U.S. House of Representatives, I didn’t experience it inside the actual chamber until the beginning of 2019,” Zeldin said. “That became an issue within the House Democratic Caucus in the first half of 2019.” He recalled that the House of Representatives passed a watered-down resolution against hate following Omar’s comments regarding AIPAC and lawmakers’ support for Israel. Zeldin noted that a few months earlier, in January 2019, the House voted in near unanimous fashion on a resolution to condemn Rep. Steve King (R-IA) following comments from the congressman that appeared to defend white nationalists and white supremacists. Republicans “named names, there was a resolution that passed, that member lost his committee assignments,” said Zeldin. “We shouldn’t have double standards, we shouldn’t have moral equivalencies.” 

Zeldin suggested that if Omar’s statements had been made by a Republican legislator, “I guarantee you that we would have passed a resolution that singularly, emphatically and forcefully condemned antisemitism. There would have been no moral equivalencies, that member would have been removed from her committee assignments, and it would have been basically a unanimous effort in doing so.”

A number of Republican candidates have faced criticism this cycle for promoting antisemitic stereotypes. Georgia Senator David Purdue, who is facing a tough reelection challenge from Jon Ossoff, came under fire last month for a campaign advertisement that appeared to enlarge Ossoff’s nose. In the state’s 14th congressional district, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has made claims about George Soros and the Rothschilds, won her party’s runoff and is all but guaranteed a seat in the next Congress.

Zeldin also suggested that the reason there’s not a major shift in support for President Donald Trump among Jewish voters is because Israel is “not popping at the top of their list” of priorities. “I’ll talk to a Jewish voter, and it’s possible that if I ask them for their top 15 issues, they might just not mention Israel,” he explained. 

Jared Polis hails increasing visibility of Jewish Americans in politics

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who was elected in 2018 as the state’s first Jewish governor, celebrated the increasing number of Jewish Americans involved in politics, with some rising through the ranks of the Democratic Party. 

“It is very heartening to see the increasing visibility of Jewish Americans throughout politics,” Polis said during a virtual event on Tuesday for Jewish Democrats hosted by the Democratic National Committee during the 2020 Democratic National Convention. “This year, several of the candidates for president of the United States were of Jewish heritage. And of course, with the selection of [Sen.] Kamala Harris, our soon-to-be second gentleman of the U.S., Douglas Emhoff, is Jewish.”

Polis noted Emhoff’s possible role is “another reason” why Joe Biden’s selection of Harris as his running mate “was not just outstanding, but, frankly, groundbreaking.” 

“These are milestones and speak well of the inclusive nature of our nation and of the Democratic Party,” said the Colorado Democrat. 

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who participated in a follow-up panel focused on American Jewish voters, said he was deeply moved to watch “a Jew named Bernie Sanders give, I think, the most enthusiastic speech about a nominee in the nomination that he competed for and came in second place, of any second-place finisher I’ve ever heard.” 

On the webcast, Polis also highlighted President Donald Trump’s comments on the campaign trail on Monday, suggesting that he “moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem… for the evangelicals.” 

“For once, President Trump was honest about his motives. It wasn’t because of a belief that Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel. It wasn’t because of any deeply held belief in the Jewish state. It was simply what he said it was: an appeal to evangelical voters,” Polis stressed. “I have friends on both sides of when or how, or if the embassy should be moved. But it should not be moved — I think we would all agree — simply because evangelical voters in America want it. It should be situated because of where we can best support the peace process, the stability and survival of the Jewish State of Israel.”

Jewish groups condemn conspiracy theorist Marjorie Greene after runoff victory

Controversial congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene appears to be headed for Washington following her victory on Tuesday in the Republican runoff in Georgia’s 14th congressional district. Her win raises concerns among Jewish organizations who have sounded the alarm over her candidacy for months. The district’s overwhelmingly Republican make-up all but ensures that Greene will win the general election in November.

Greene has been a vocal promoter of the QAnon conspiracy theory — which alleges that President Donald Trump is working to take down a network of Democratic politicians and celebrities who practice satanism, pedophilia and cannibalism — and has posted Facebook videos expressing antisemitic, racist and Islamophobic views.

Even after launching her campaign, Greene continued to unapologetically propagate antisemitic conspiracy theories, including falsely accusing Democratic megadonor and Holocaust survivor George Soros of “turning people over to Nazis where they were burned in offices” in a recent television interview. She also dismissed questions about a photo she took with a former Ku Klux Klan leader who described her as a “friend.”

“Ms. Greene has a history of propagating antisemitic disinformation,” Allison Padilla-Goodman, Southern division vice president of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement to Jewish Insider. “ADL previously called on Ms. Greene to disavow her relationship with a prominent white supremacist leader and retract past antisemitic statements. ADL said that ‘failure to do so is a moral failure and unbecoming of someone seeking elected office.’ Ms. Greene’s continued insistence on propagating such antisemitism shows she has decided to double down on hate, which, to say the least, is deeply problematic.”

Republican leaders spoke out against Greene after her Facebook videos surfaced, but only House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) actively worked to boost her opponent, physician John Cowan, frustrating some House Republicans, according to Politico. Scalise, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and the National Republican Campaign Committee did not respond to requests for comment.

The Republican Jewish Coalition opposed Greene during the runoff and endorsed Cowan.

“We are really proud to have endorsed John Cowan. We do not endorse Greene and we think she is the antithesis of what our party stands for,” RJC communications director Neil Strauss said in a statement to JI. “We can hold our heads up high tonight for standing up to Greene, just like we did when we stood up to [Rep.] Steve King by supporting Randy Feenstra.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said he was hopeful that Republican leaders would continue to distance themselves from Greene.

“During the primary campaign, top national Republican leaders in Congress, led by the House Minority Leader, denounced her bigotry with good reason. Some even endorsed her opponent. Yet she will likely be elected to Congress this fall,” Cooper said in a statement to JI.

Cooper called on Republican leaders to marginalize Greene within the Republican caucus as they did with King after he questioned why white supremacy was considered offensive.

“If Ms. Green[e] doesn’t change course,” Cooper said, GOP leaders “may have to apply [the] same standards to her.” 

In Georgia’s deep red 9th district, State Rep. Matt Gurtler, who also refused to apologize for taking a photo with the same former KKK leader, lost his runoff race against gun store owner and Navy veteran Andrew Clyde.

New York lawmaker’s office vandalized in antisemitic attack

Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright (D-Manhattan) called on the New York Police Department’s hate crimes unit to investigate the antisemitic vandalization of her office in New York’s 76th Assembly district.

Seawright’s office, located on Park Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, was sprayed with white paint overnight on Monday. A vulgar and antisemitic message alluding to Jewish donors was written on a large poster and slid under the door. 

“I want to speak loud and clear today that we will never be intimidated by this criminal act,” Seawright said during a press conference, flanked by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and faith and community leaders, outside her office on Tuesday. “We will stand together, speak up, and remain vigilant against this violence and antisemitism.” 

Though not Jewish, Seawright is a member of the Assembly’s Jewish Legislative Caucus. Her husband, Jay Hershenson, who serves as vice president for communications and marketing at Queens College of the City University of New York, is Jewish.

Seawright, who has represented the district since 2015, was knocked off the ballot’s Democratic line last month after missing a key deadline during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak. Following the ruling, she gathered more than 5,000 signatures to get on the November ballot on the “Rise and Unite” independent party line. 

Maloney, who represents the neighborhood as part of the 12th congressional district, told JI that the incident was “extremely disturbing.” Maloney pointed out that the Never Again Education Act, which she sponsored in the House and which allocates resources to Holocaust education, is aimed “to stop this kind of hatred.” 

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik of the New York Board of Rabbis, who participated in a virtual town hall on combating antisemitism hosted by Seawright’s office last month, said that it’s important that people of all faiths speak out against acts of antisemitism. ”The truth is that antisemitism is anti-Christianity, is anti-Islam. A person who hates me today is going to hate you tomorrow,” he explained. “You scratch the skin of an antisemite and you will find a racist and many other layers of bigotry.”

Twitter unlocks frozen accounts featuring Stars of David, clarifies ‘hateful conduct’ policy

Following complaints that Twitter locked the accounts of some Jewish users in the U.K. who displayed images of the Star of David, the social media company sought to explain its procedures for determining hateful conduct. 

In a statement released Wednesday morning, Twitter clarified, “We categorically do not consider the Star of David as a hateful symbol or hateful image. We have for some time seen the ‘yellow star’ or ‘yellow badge’ symbol being used by those seeking to target Jewish people. This is a violation of the Twitter Rules, and our Hateful Conduct Policy prohibits the promotion of violence against — or threats of attack towards — people on the basis of categories such as religious affiliation, race and ethnic origin.”

“While the majority of cases were correctly actioned, some accounts highlighted recently were mistakes and have now been restored.”

In the statement, Twitter thanked the U.K.-based organizations Campaign Against Antisemitism and Community Security Trust, as well as the Anti-Defamation League, for “bringing this to our attention and for their partnership in tackling antisemitism.”

In a statement to Jewish Insider, Stephen Silverman, Campaign Against Antisemitism’s director of investigations and enforcement, said, “Only one of the accounts locked featured a yellow star, and it very clearly did so as a means of reclaiming the yellow stars used by the Nazis. This is precisely the kind of inept response to antisemitism that we have come to expect from Twitter, which just last week tried to convince us that the viral antisemitic #JewishPrivilege hashtag was legitimate.”

Users reported their accounts were locked by Twitter for depicting the Star of David.

Silverman continued, “We would happily help Twitter, but they largely ignore us when we approach them, which we take as a reflection of their inconsistency in addressing this,” Silverman continued. “It seems that Twitter prefers to go after Jewish users who proudly display their identity but not after antisemitic users who unabashedly promote anti-Jewish vitriol.”

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt welcomed Twitter’s response, praising the social media platform in a tweet. “Good to see Twitter clarifying the difference between images used to harass and when used to express identity and empathy. The Star of David is an ancient symbol that represents all Jews and our solidarity,” he tweeted.

“Upon learning of the situation, ADL reached out to Twitter and worked with the company to help them get it right. Notable that they moved swiftly to correct this problem,” Greenblatt wrote, adding, “Kudos to Twitter for doing this here and elsewhere recently.”