SPACE Caribbean Museum Presents Women Warriors Of Social … – Island Origins Magazine

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Island SPACE Caribbean Museum, a museum dedicated to celebrating and preserving the cultural heritage of the Caribbean community, will present a Women Warriors of Social Justice event series. From now through May 14, 2023, Island SPACE will celebrate the accomplishments of exceptional Caribbean women with exhibits and program activities including a fine art show, a one-woman play on the life and times of Shirley Chisholm, and speaker and performance events. The series will be based at Island SPACE Caribbean Museum, Broward Mall, 8000 W Broward Blvd #202, Plantation, FL 33388.

Women Warriors of Social Justice is made possible by the following funds at the Community Foundation of Broward: Mary N. Porter Community Impact Fund, Jack Belt Memorial Fund, Ginny and Tom Miller Fund, Stearns Weaver Miller Fund for the Arts, Harold D. Franks Fund.

Events will be set against the backdrop of two installations. Earth, Water & Skin: Caribbean Women in Art is a fine art show featuring the work of multimedia creatives Michelle Drummond and Krystle Sabdul of Jamaica, and Sonya Sanchez Arias of Trinidad. Their stunning, multidimensional pieces are portrayed in yarn, charcoal, paint and found objects hanging from the walls and ceiling of the Island SPACE gallery. The Caribbean Sheroes exhibition features female leaders of Caribbean descent, including the stories of 14 inspirational changemakers from South Florida and the Caribbean.

On Sunday, March 19, Island SPACE will host a Womens History Month Celebration featuring guest speaker Dr Patricia Morris, president of Equilo Foundation, presenting a talk on 7 Steps to Womens Empowerment, as well as live dance, spoken word performances and other cultural entertainment. Learn more at http://www.islandspacefl.org/womensmonth.

A second event at Island SPACE on Sunday May 7th, one week before Mothers Day, Honoring HERS will recognize some of the women on display in the museum, feature curated spoken word performances by Caribbean woman poets and help women learn how to take care of themselves. The live segment of this event will be curated by Frankie Red Wordz. Learn more at http://www.islandspacefl.org/sheroes.

Finally, to mark Mothers Day on the afternoon of Sunday May 14, Island SPACE will present a one-woman play titled Unbossed and Unbowed which tells the story of Shirley Chisholms life. The play, performed by Ingrid Griffith at the Pompano Beach Center for the Performing Arts, explores Chisholms pioneering political career and tireless social justice advocacy. Learn more at http://www.islandspacefl.org/mothersdayshow.

As a Caribbean woman who cares deeply about the people who share my heritage Women Warriors of Social Justice at Island SPACE Caribbean Museum means a great deal to me, said Island SPACE board president Calibe Thompson. The event series celebrates women so many of us respect and admire, and it will provide an opportunity for our community to learn about their incredible legacies.

Key Dates:

March 18 May 14: Earth, Water & Skin: Caribbean Women in Art | A fine art exhibition, free with museum entry fee.

March 18 May 14: Caribbean Sheroes | A profile exhibition, free with museum entry fee.

Sunday, March 19 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.: Womens History Month Celebration | Inspirational guest speaker and live cultural performances.

Sunday, May 7 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.: Honoring HERS | Recognizing phenomenal contemporary Caribbean women, with a poetry and music showcase and self care instruction.

Sunday, May 14 from 2:30 5:00 p.m.: Unbossed and Unbowed | A one-woman show on the life of Shirley Chisholm.

For more information about the Women Warriors of Social Justice event series, visit islandspacefl.org or contact 954-999-0989.

About Island SPACE

Island Society for the Promotion of Artistic and Cultural Education (Island SPACE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of arts, culture, history, and educational initiatives that represent the Caribbean region, in South Florida and the broader diaspora.

The public is invited to visit the museum Thursdays through Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. General museum entry is $10 per adult and $5 per child. Visit islandspacefl.org to learn more.

Find information on ways to give at islandspacefl.org/giving, GoFundMe, Benevity for corporate giving and Facebook, donate directly through PayPal or Zelle to [emailprotected], or email the museum for details at [emailprotected].

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SPACE Caribbean Museum Presents Women Warriors Of Social ... - Island Origins Magazine

Chemical labs in Latin America and the Caribbean prioritise safety … – Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

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THE HAGUE, the Netherlands 10 March 2023 Chemistry professionals from Latin America and the Caribbean enhanced their understandings of safety and security in chemical laboratories during a course held from 24 27 October in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Ambassador Claudio Rozencwaig, representing the Argentinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated in his opening remarks that the course is an excellent initiative, which allows knowledge acquisition and sharing, contributing to the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

During the training, participants examined various policy and practical aspects of the management of chemical lab infrastructure. Particular emphasis was given to waste management, personal protection measures, emergency management, toxicology regulations, management of toxic chemicals, and the Global Harmonized System (GHS).

The event was attended by 14 participants from eight Member States, and a number of local participants. All participants were professional chemists specialised in occupational safety in public and private sector labs attached to such institutions as customs, police, relief agencies, chemical industry and the academia.

The course was jointly run by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Instituto Nacional de Tecnologa Industrial (INTI), and the Argentinian Government.

As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Conventions entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

Over 99% of all declared chemical weapon stockpiles have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

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Chemical labs in Latin America and the Caribbean prioritise safety ... - Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

03/10/23 NEW CORAL DISEASE IS KILLING CORALS QUICKLY … – Department of Land and Natural Resources

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JOSH GREEN, M.D.GOVERNOR

DAWN CHANGCHAIRPERSON

For Immediate Release: March 10, 2023

NEW CORAL DISEASE IS KILLING CORALS QUICKLY IN FLORIDA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Hawaii Planning Action to Prevent Spread to Pacific Corals

To view video please click on photo or view at this link: https://vimeo.com/766719685

(HONOLULU) Insidious is the best way to describe Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). First discovered off the coast of Florida in 2014, it has now spread along the entire coast of the Sunshine State and has been detected in 23 countries and territories in the Greater Caribbean Basin. This disease kills coral tissue at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per day, which quickly kills the coral, and can affect more than 30 different species of coral.

Brian Neilson, Administrator of the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) said, The coral loss that Florida and the Caribbean are experiencing is devastating. We want to take every measure we can to prevent this coral disease from spreading to Hawaiis reefs.

Research has shown that disease-bearing microbes can be carried in vessel ballast water and that ballast water management systems that use ultraviolet lightthe most commonly-used system to sterilize ballast waterare only 50% effective at killing the pathogen. The pathogen can also remain alive in sediments and may potentially be transported to Hawaii if vessels dont fully remove sediments from anchors, as an example.

With this new information, it is prudent for the State to take action to mitigate the risk of SCTLD entering Hawaii waters. DAR is proposing that vessels that have been to a SCTLD-affected area within the last five ports, to not discharge ballast water within State Waters, and to also send prior notification of arrival, with information about the vessels biofouling prevention practices, so a risk assessment may be conducted.

Biofouling occurs when microbes, plants, and animals attach to the wet surfaces of a boats hull and other areas. Organisms in these biofouling communities may be carriers of this disease, causing SCTLD to be transported with the vessel. Ballast water is the seawater taken up by a vessel to regulate weight and balance and can be discharged in new ports. There is a small number of commercial vessels that arrive in Hawaii that would be subject to any new requirements. The requirements would also apply to private, non-commercial vessels.

There are several standard State and Federal requirements that vessel operators must already follow, Neilson said. These additional measures, narrowly focused to further mitigate risk, will help vessel operators help us protect Hawaii. If a vessel is considered to be a potential spreader of SCTLD, based on risk assessments, it will be red-flagged for further monitoring and preventative actions.

At the 45th U.S. Coral Reef Task Force meeting in Kona in the fall of 2022, Dana Wusinich-Mendez of the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program presented an update on SCTLD, calling it likely the most lethal coral disease ever. Select clips from her presentation are included in the video noted below.

# # #

RESOURCES

(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)

HD video Taking Action to Address SCTLD presentation (Sept. 1, 2022): https://vimeo.com/766719685

Photographs Taking Action to Address SCTLD presentation (Sept. 1, 2022): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5fnm2ndx3wct4xx/AAAS6a0s1qW4GrpYvt9arr8na?dl=0

Media Contact:

Dan Dennison

Senior Communications Manager

[emailprotected]

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03/10/23 NEW CORAL DISEASE IS KILLING CORALS QUICKLY ... - Department of Land and Natural Resources

Better Cruise Stock Buy: Royal Caribbean or Lindblad Expeditions? – The Motley Fool

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Amid the ongoing consumer preference shift from goods to experiences, the cruise industry enjoyed a record booking season. Cruise operators stand to benefit from historically strong demand levels, provided they can contend with inflation, increased costs, and labor struggles.

Today I'll compare two distinctly different companies to determine which cruise line stock makes the better buy in today's market.

Earning six times more revenue in 2022 than 2021, Royal Caribbean (RCL 0.56%) has observed steady demand amid accelerating onboard revenue generation. In other words, vacationers want to cruise more with Royal Caribbean, and their spending while onboard has intensified.

Fourth-quarter revenue landed at $2.6 billion, a 265% year-over-year improvement. Load factor, or the percentage of occupancy aboard ships, reached as high as 110% during peak holiday sailings last December. Despite definitive revenue growth, Royal Caribbean finished Q4 with a net loss of $500 million.

But compared to the $1.4 billion loss endured in Q4 2021, a half-billion-dollar loss doesn't look quite as bad -- and demonstrates a clear course toward profitability. And the loss actually came in smaller than Royal Caribbean's management team expected.

Similarly, 2022's full-year net loss of $2.1 billion marks a significant improvement over 2021's net loss of $5.3 billion. Undeterred by elevated expenses in fuel, food and beverage, airfare, and labor, Royal Caribbean anticipates adjusted earnings per share to hit $3 to $3.60 for the year -- on 14% higher capacity than 2019.

While the company enjoys a record-breaking 2023 booking season and onboard spending skyrockets, Royal Caribbean stock still trades 47% below its pre-pandemic January 2020 high.

Delivering 80% year-over-year revenue growth last quarter, Lindblad Expeditions (LIND 0.57%) benefited from relentless adventure-travel demand. The New York City-based operator's net revenue of $118 million last quarter also marked a 56% improvement over 2019 levels.

An expanded fleet that includes the newly refurbished National Geographic Islander II ship, as well as enhanced land-based offerings, both served as major revenue drivers for the fourth quarter. Having acquired a string of land companies over the past seven years, Lindblad has balanced its ocean expedition offerings with adventures on the ground.

While revenue soared, however, so did expenses. Ultimately, Lindblad ended Q4 2022 with an adjusted loss of $2.7 million on the basis of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). But the loss does mark an $11 million improvement over 2021's fourth-quarter loss.

Surging costs in fuel, labor, and land-based operations all impacted Lindblad's profitability throughout 2022. Overall, last year resulted in 88% higher expenses than 2021. Company initiatives such as digital marketing and fleet improvements also added to expenses.

As of Lindblad's earnings call late last month, bookings for 2023 outpaced the same point in 2019 by 47%. And company guidance for 2023 shows a positive EBITDA range of $70 million to $80 million. Meanwhile, Lindblad stock trades 58% below its March 2021 high.

Although Royal Caribbean and Lindblad Expeditions are technically in the same sector, they are considerably different entities. For one, Royal Caribbean's market cap is roughly 35 times that of Lindblad Expeditions, making Royal Caribbean a generally more stable, less risky investment.

Since both cruise operators posted a net loss last year, I've compared their price-to-sales ratios (P/S) and one-year revenue forecasts.

Data source: WallStreetZen.

While Lindblad Expeditions sports a lower, more appealing price-to-sales ratio, Royal Caribbean shows a better one-year revenue estimate, according to WallStreetZen analysts.

Since it's a more established company with a much larger market cap, the nod today goes to Royal Caribbean. However, if Lindblad Expeditions continues on course toward profitability, its stock price could also see some upside. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats.

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Better Cruise Stock Buy: Royal Caribbean or Lindblad Expeditions? - The Motley Fool

Smelly seaweed sargassum headed toward Florida, the Caribbean … – USA TODAY

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8.7 million tons of seaweed headed to Florida waters this summer

An 8.7 million ton seaweed blob is expected to arrive on Florida beaches ahead of the summer tourist season.

Anthony Jackson, USA TODAY

Beachgoers in Florida and the Caribbean could be greeted by heavy blankets of smelly seaweedin the weeks ahead as a 5,000 mile swath of sargassum drifts westward and piles onto white sandy beaches.

Sargassum, a naturally-occurring type of macroalgae, has grown at an alarming rate this winter.The belt stretches across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to Florida and the Yucatan Peninsula and is as much as 200-300 miles wide.

"This year could be the biggest year yet," even bigger than previous upticks,said Brian Lapointe,an algae specialist and research professor at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.

It's already beginning to wash upin the Florida Keys and Barbados and elsewhere in the region, but researchers don't know where the bulk of it could wind up.

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READ MORE: Latest climate change news from USA TODAY

The monstrous seaweed bloom is just one more example of a growing global invasion of macro and microscopic algal blooms thriving on an increasing supply ofnutrients such as nitrogen in freshwater and marine ecosystems.

In addition to the unsightly piles of sargassum along the coast, some species produce toxins that affect the food chain or deplete the oxygen in the water when they start to decay, causing fish kills and the die off of other marine species.

Here's what to know:

Not all algal blooms are bad. Many can occur naturally, and can havepositive effects.

FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Huge seaweed blob on way to Florida is 'like a Stephen King movie'

Yes. Christopher Columbus wrote about floating mats of it in the Atlantic Ocean.

"It's not a bad thing to have the sargassum in the ocean," said Brian Barnes, an assistant research professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Sea turtle hatchlings swim from Florida beaches to the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic where they spend their early lives floating and foraging in the grass.

"If it all stays offshore , we wouldn't really have a problem," Barnes said.But the macroalgae has mushroomed in size, over the past12 years or so, making it more likely to see large piles of seaweed that make it difficult to walk, sit or play onbeaches.

The trend was first documented on satellite in 2011.

In some cases, there's so much seaweed, local governments must useheavy equipment anddump trucks to haul it away, LaPointe said.

He has linked the surge in sargassum to flow from the Mississippi River, extreme flooding in the Amazon basin, as well as to themouth of the Congo where upwelling and vertical mixing of the ocean can bring up nutrients that feed the blooms. He said deforestation and burning also may contribute.

DEFINITIONS: Is climate change the same thing as global warming? Definitions explained.

CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSES: Why scientists say humans are to blame.

Blooms of much smaller algae amicroscopic species known asphytoplankton increased in size and frequency around the world between 2003 and 2020, the researchers concluded in the Nature study.

"Weve seen something pretty similar ina lot of the things we study," saidBarnes."Were seeing such massive blooms now."

The coastal phytoplankton study, by Lian Feng at the Southern University of Science and Technology in China, and others, used images from NASAs Aqua satellite. They found:

Blooms have been at least indirectly linked to climate change in several ways, but especially to thewarming temperatures that bring more extreme rainfall that washes silt and pollutants into waterways.

FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Saving endangered right whales pits advocates against lobstermen

GREEN ENERGY: Growing group of mayors at odds with experts over whale deaths and offshore windmills

The authors of the coastal phytoplankton study, Lapointe and other researchers have found the following:

"We can't really say which particular beach at which particular time," Barnes said. The University publishes a regular update on the status of the sargassum bloom.

"We can get an idea of when it will be fairly close," he said. "In general, everything flows west. It will come across the Central Atlantic and into the Caribbean, and into the Gulf of Mexico through the straits of Florida."

Winds, currents and even small storms can influence where the sargassum moves.

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands could get hit pretty hard, Barnes said. But the floating matsalso wind up on beaches in Jamaica and all around the coast of Florida.

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Smelly seaweed sargassum headed toward Florida, the Caribbean ... - USA TODAY

The Caribbean’s Hottest Culinary Event Is Coming to Antigua – Caribbean Journal

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Whether youre having sushi by the pool at Rokuni, savoring Venetian cicchetti on the beach at Wild Tamarind or enjoying grazing boards at the Antigua Vintage Tea House, Antigua and Barbuda is filled with exceptional, unforgettable culinary experiences.

Indeed, Antigua and Barbudas dynamic food scene might just be one of the Caribbeans best-kept secrets.

But now Antigua and Barbuda is letting the secret out with a major new Caribbean culinary experience: Antigua and Barbuda Restaurant Week a 14-day culinary event celebrates the destinations spectacular food scene.

The landmark new event covers 14 days in May, from May 7 to May 21, with eateries all over the island participating.

Throughout the two weeks, eateries on the island, from fine-dining restaurants to delicious local food spots, will be offering prix fixe lunch and dinners with set prices of either $25, $50 or $75.

And thats just the beginning: many eateries will be creating special menus, adding new tasting options and bringing in celebrity chefs for the occasion.

Participating restaurants include Wild Tamarind, Rokuni, Like a Latte, Sheer Rocks, Maia, The Chimney, The Larder, Big Banana, Catherines Cafe, Spices of India, the Vintage Tea House Cafe and Anas on the Beach.

RestaurantWeekis an exciting opportunity for Antigua to showcase and celebrate its various culinary experiences, at a wide range of prices, said Alex Grimley, managing partner of Rocks Group, which has three restaurants participating: Sheer Rocks, Catherines Cafe and Rokuni.

All three of Rocks Groups eateries, for example, are putting their own spin on the event: at Catherines Cafe, the eatery will showcase ifs French-inspired dishes on the beach. Rokuni, the spectacular new Asian fusion eatery on the island, will offer Asian-inspired sharing menus.

Experiences will be available at a variety of price points and we will be running some exclusive special events with guest chefs and winemakers throughoutRestaurantWeek, Grimley told Caribbean Journal.

The event culminates with the Antigua and Barbuda Food and Art Experience on May 21, which will fuse cuisine and art native to Antigua with a multi-sensory event.

A number of the destinations top hotels and resorts are also getting in on the action, including the Elite Island Resorts portfolio, which includes Antiguas Hammock Cove, St Jamess Club, Galley Bay, The Verandah and Pineapple Beach Club.

May is a fantastic time visit Antigua. The water is spectacular, the scenery is amazing and enjoying the islands best restaurants during an event like Restaurant Week is just a great opportunity for travelers to get the most out of their Caribbean vacation, said Larry Basham, chief operating officer of Elite Island Resorts. Antigua is one of the best culinary destinations in the Caribbean.

Elite Island Resorts is including a $500 air credit valid for Antigua Restaurant Week vacations if reserved before the end of March. For more, call 800-858-4618.

For more, visit Antigua and Barbuda Restaurant Week.

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The Caribbean's Hottest Culinary Event Is Coming to Antigua - Caribbean Journal

How French-Caribbean Artist Julien Creuzet Uses Creole Hymns and Digital Avatars to Retrace African Ancestry – artnet News

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Virginie Ribaut. Courtesy High Art, Paris/ Arles

On the wall of Julien Creuzets exhibition at High Art in Paris is a 1976 newspaper article about the only voodoo temple in Europe. Published in Le Monde, the story describes a dinner at a time where white Parisians were served by Black boys and girls before participating in a frenetic, drum-beating voodoo ceremony. The event took place in the Pigalle district, where High Art is coincidentally located.

This article, with its condescending tone of exoticism, is one of two references points in Creuzets exhibition title, The Possessed of Pigalle or the Tragedy of King Christophe. The second is a satirical 1963 play by Aim Csaire, the Martinican poet, playwright, and politician, which focuses on a Haitian hero who is crowned king following the countrys independence from France in 1804. In his quest to imitate the ruling style of a European monarch, he becomes despotic and, faced with an uprising, takes his own life.

Through these disparate points, the 36-year-old Creuzet, who was recently named to represent France at the Venice Biennale in 2024, has reflected upon the the painful colonial history, landscape, and culture of the Caribbean, from Haiti to Creuzets homeland, Martinique, one of Frances 12 overseas territories. The large solo exhibition (running until April 8) is nuanced and multilayered, and as brightly colored and exuberant as it is poignant and disquieting.

What I found interesting is how making a gallery exhibition can be something much richer and more intense, almost like a film, with landscapes and characters like in literature, Creuzet told me as we meandered through the exhibition that seems to hover between the past, present, and future. I like the idea that the exhibition can be a sprawling cinema [narrating] a documentary fiction between whats real and what isnt.

Installation view of Julien Creuzets The Possessed of Pigalle or the Tragedy of King Christophe at High Art, Paris. Courtesy the artist.

The nature of Creuzets work, which is personal, political, and biographical, has caused him to ponder as he faces the major platform of the Venice Biennale. He is carefully evaluating what he wants to share in an exhibition. I didnt expect it, he said of his nomination. The Venice Biennale is above all a complex economic montage and Im not an artist whose economy is speculative. Its something that one needs to think aboutwhat does that mean for me [], what do I want to profoundly share with the public coming to Venice.

In his Paris show, Creuzet has been open-hearted. In the first of the four rooms, Creole singing and pulsating rhythms emanate from a turntable and large black heads that are festooned with fragments of raffia bags. Nearby, two conjoined forms of concentric circles fashioned from plastic, threads, and beads allude to clouds being bombed with silver iodide molecules to summon the rain during a drought.

In the adjoining rooms, suspended sculptures filled with grains, rice, and beans recall offerings to Demeterthe Greek goddess of the harvest, while amorphous sculptures with trailing threads evoke the detritus, pollution and seaweed of fishing villages and fishing nets. Roosters, which are emblematic of France, have settled on, or become trapped in, one of these intricately-made pieces.

Some of the sculptures on view gestated in Creuzets studio in Montreuil, a commune east of Paris, for three or four years before coming into being. Its as if the studio were a place of experimentation [and some pieces] need time to find their resolution, Creuzet said. One day, suddenly there are elements that take on all their meaning and end up organizing themselves and writing things. Theres a moment when the sculpture escapes me and I almost no longer have the impression of having been its author. This is the moment when the sculpture is finished and becomes a work for me.

Installation view of Julien Creuzets The Possessed of Pigalle or the Tragedy of King Christophe at High Art, Paris. Courtesy the artist.

Born in 1986 in Le Blanc Mesnil, a suburb north-east of Paris, Creuzet moved to Martinique with his parents at the age of four. His father, an assistant nurse, loved art and took the artist and his younger brother to see exhibitions and cultural events taking place on the island. At the age of 20, Creuzet returned to France to study art. An epiphany was visiting Documenta 13, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev in 2012, featuring works by, among others, Ryan Gander, Anri Sala, and Pierre Huyghe. I discovered the curatorial beauty of an exhibition and it made me want to do my job, he reminisced.

Over the last decade, Creuzet has developed a transdisciplinary practice that encompasses poetry, performance, singing, and composing as well as visual art. An early start was his exhibition Opra-archipel at Frac Basse Normandie in 2015, named in homage to the Martinican poet douard Glissant; in the show, Creuzet explored how the ocean links the archipelago of Caribbean islands.

A big break came in 2021, when he was nominated for the prestigious Prix Marcel Duchamp. For the show, he presented a sweeping installation at the Centre Pompidou that reflected upon slavery while interweaving vibrancy and poetry. Then last December, Creuzet won the first edition of the tant Donns Prize awarded by CPGA (French Professional Committee of Art Galleries) and Villa Albertine to a living artist active in France and exhibiting at Art Basel Miami Beach. Creuzets work was on display at High Art and Andrew Kreps Gallery from New York.

Installation view for Prix Marcel Duchamp at Centre Pompidou in 2021. Photo: Bertrand Prvost

Concurrently with the show at High Art, Creuzet has an exhibition view at Luma Westbau in Zurich (running until May 21). He will also participated in the Liverpool Biennial, opening in June.

His attachment to poetry leads him to intertwine stories and navigate in time and space, said Bernard Blistne, who was director of the Centre Pompidou when Creuzet was nominated for the Prix Marcel Duchamp. Colonial history is [] underground, unforgivable, and unforgiven, leading Creuzet to combine politics and poetry through stories from the past and stories to be written.

Creuzet flew back to Martinique for the first time in a decade that same year. Seeing how much it had changed and realizing how out-of-step he felt linguistically was like a shock, he said. I understood that I should go home more often, because thats where my emotions, imagination, and family come from, he noted.

For his exhibition at High Art, Creuzet has returned to his contemplation of the ocean with regard to the displacement and migration of the African diaspora. In his hybridized painting-sculptures, the cruciforms of the chassis have been removed and replaced with vegetal forms, featuring barely perceptible, indistinct figures among swirling aquatic shapes, threads, and beads. Creuzet likens the figures to extras in a filmunknowable, background characters who are nonetheless crucial to a scene.

Installation view of Julien Creuzets The Possessed of Pigalle or the Tragedy of King Christophe at High Art, Paris. Courtesy the artist.

From a distance, I manage to identify or project myself into the stories or lack of them [of the figures], Creuzet said. When I say lack, Im thinking of this unresolved quest of an Afro-descendant who cant trace his family tree. Its as if my forefather were the sea, mon arrire-arrire-arrire-la-mer, mon arrire-arrire-arrire-ocan, he said mournfully. The poetic words translate to my great, great, great sea, my great, great, great ocean, in reference to ancestry.

It was perhaps thinking about a figure who traverses time and space that inspired Creuzets avatar-like character that reappears and evolves in his exhibitions. At Camden Art Centre in 2022, where Creuzet had a show after winning its Emerging Artist Prize during Frieze London, it also appeared. Martin Clark, director of Camden Art Centre, noted that the character was pulling books from their head that formed a bibliography of diaspora, African, and Caribbean writers which had informed Juliens thinking in one video work and dancing a very particular Caribbean dance of protest, independence and resistance in another.

At High Art, this as-yet-unnamed character, which has grown protrusions of feathers at the tips of their hands, appears in a wallpaper piece and an animated video work. In the latter, the figure performs the bl dance, which developed in Martinique during slavery, against a changing, blue-hued backdrop interspersed with bountiful flowers and man-made elements. It is accompanied by Creuzet singing in Creole.

Julien Creuzet The Possessed of Pigalle or the Tragedy of King Christophe: RAFT-KEEPER CAPTAIN: Well its there that we have to push hardest. And we got no choice. On the Great Salty, someone will throw you a rope. If you catch it, thats fine, youll reach land and moor there. If you fail, God help you! Then all you can do is throw yourself in the arms of Mama Water., (2023). Courtesy of the artist and High Art, Paris / Arles

Creuzet is evidently excited by the new exhibition. Yet he regrets that some of his works cannot easily reach a public in Martinique. For instance, in 2019 he made a video work, Mon corps, carcasse [], about chlordecone, a pesticide that was used in banana plantations in the French Caribbean from 1972 until 1993, three years after it was banned in France in 1990. According to Frances health ministry, around 90 percent of the population in Martinique and Guadeloupe were contaminated. Following a 16-year-long investigation, a French court decreed the closure of proceedings in a case about contamination in January.

It would have been good if this work about chlordecone had been visible to people who were contaminated, Creuzet said. Referring to how a limited-edition work acquired by a museum tends not to be diffused via YouTube or other virtual channels, he added: These systems could be tested and modified. Im interested in NFTs in terms of how a work has a digital code and identification that enables it to be shown more widely.

For now, at least, he focuses on his largely European and American-based audience. As Creuzet surveyed the show at High Art, he emphasized how he wanted visitors to live an experience in his exhibitions. When one leaves, one will have gone through sensations and emotions, joyful and tense moments, without it becoming something heavy and sad, he said. Theres joy and emancipation in the atmosphere that I want to share.

The Possessed of Pigalle or the Tragedy of King Christophe is on view at High Art, Paris, until April 8, 2023.

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How French-Caribbean Artist Julien Creuzet Uses Creole Hymns and Digital Avatars to Retrace African Ancestry - artnet News

Twitter drops off the dark web after Tor service expires – Yahoo News

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The Twitter logo at their offices in New York City on 12 January, 2023 (Getty Images)

Twitter no longer has a presence on the dark web after the company allowed its Tor onion service certificate to expire.

The platforms onion service allowed people to access Twitter through the dark web - a section of the internet that is only accessible through specialist web browsers like Tor.

Other mainstream websites that host their services on the Tor browser include BBC, Facebook, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe and Reddit.

The Tor version of Twitter was launched last year in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine as an anti-censorship tool. Twitter was among several sites banned by Russia in retaliation to the platform placing restrictions on state-owned media like RT and Sputnik.

The dark web service meant that people could log in and visit Twitter anywhere in the world, even in Russia and other countries where it was banned.

It also provided an extra level of privacy for Twitter users who did not want to have their online activity tracked by governments, companies or hackers.

The onion site is no longer available seemingly with no plans to renew. The Tor Project has reached out to Twitter to look into bringing the onion version of the social media platform back online, a spokesperson for the Tor Project said in a statement.

People who rely on onion services for an extra layer of protection and guarantee that they are accessing the content they are looking for now have one fewer way of doing so safely.

Software engineer Alec Muffett, who helped launch the service, said at the time that the Tor version would provide greater privacy, integrity, trust, and unblockability for people all around the world who use Twitter to communicate.

Following the expiry of Twitters Tor certificate, Mr Muffett offered his help to restore the service.

Remediating this is a reasonably straightforward, cheap, and politically popular aspect of the extant Twitter service, running on a small docker tier, he tweeted, tagging Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

Im happy to advise any Twitter engineers who would like to fix it.

The expiration of Twitters Tor onion website comes after Mr Musk laid off thousands of workers following his takeover last year, leaving roughly 1,300 employees at the company of an original 7,500.

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Twitter drops off the dark web after Tor service expires - Yahoo News

Twitter makes shocking decision to cut off access to its platform on … – Softonic EN

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Twitter continues to remove useful features and security features for its users. Under Elon Musk, the social network recently announced that it would eliminate two-step verification via SMS, and now Twitter has reportedly not renewed the certificate for its onion site, which allows users in countries that have censored the social network to access it through the Tor browser.

Also known as The Onion Router, the Tor browser encrypts Internet traffic through many layers (like an onion, hence the name) and routes it through thousands of servers around the world, allowing its users to surf anonymously and bypass censorship systems set up by governments and Internet providers.

According to the TechCrunch portal, the certificate for Twitters onion site expired on March 6, shortly before the sites one-year anniversary. In statements to the media, the Tor Projects director of strategic communications, Pavel Zoneff, commented that the site is apparently no longer available with no plans for renewal.

Twitters onion site, which is part of the notorious Deep Web, now shows those who want to access it through the Tor browser a warning that its certificate has expired and an error message can be seen if you continue beyond this point.

The Tor Project has contacted Twitter to explore the possibility of bringing the onion version of the social network back online, Zoneff said. People who rely on onion services for an extra layer of protection and assurance that they are accessing the content they seek now have one less way to do so securely. Lets be clear, the need for onion services, the use of privacy-centric browsers that protect peoples anonymity and other forms of encryption still persist.

Now defunct, Twitter launched its Tor service after the platform was blocked in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Although the company did not confirm whether the launch of its onion site was related to Russian censorship, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch at the time that making its service more accessible was an ongoing priority for the company. A priority that would no longer exist under Musk, whose cuts have already put more than 60% of its original workforce on the street.

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Google One is bringing its VPN and new dark web monitoring … – Chrome Unboxed

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Previously, only Google One subscribers who paid for the 2TB plan could access a VPN service that ensured better online security and privacy. However, Google announced today that this tool is becoming available to all paid tiers for the service in the U.S. at no additional cost!

The decision to expand its VPN to everyone signed up is a welcome one as it gives users more flexibility and value for the monthly cost theyre shelling out. Heres how it works you connect the VPN to your device (yes, Chromebooks are included!) through a secure, encrypted tunnel, and your online presence is better protected from prying eyes.

Google is also introducing a new tool called Dark web reports to help prevent online identity fraud. This tool alerts users if their personal information appears on the dark web, which is a hidden part of the internet that requires the use of the Tor browser to access (This is not to be confused with the deep web!). Criminals and hackers often use the dark web to sell stolen data, including credit card and social security numbers, as well as other sensitive information.The Keyword

I didnt expect Google to add this to One, but its a pleasant surprise. Users who set this up will gain an added layer of protection against online identity theft, and the dark web itself is something most average users simply arent aware of. The tool, which is rolling out over the next few weeks to all paid tiers as well, monitors personal information such as your name, address, email address, phone number, and social security number. If any of this information is, in fact, found on the dark web, youll get a notification via a new Monitoring profile (see above). Google will then suggest steps you can take to report the incident to the government and protect your credit, privacy, etc.

The dark web reports tool is said to be handled according to Googles privacy policy, so once it rolls out, you can delete information from your profile and stop monitoring at any time. These two updates to Google One are a positive move toward a safer and more secure online experience, especially for less tech-savvy users. I want to hear from you in the comments do you think its interesting that Google is providing dark web scans? Will you use this at all or are you using something like Experians free tool?

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Social Media Influencer Pleads Guilty to Stealing IDs to Get $1.5 … – Best Life

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Danielle Miller admits she's all about the opportunity to take advantage of others and pleaded guilty on Monday to using identities she stole to receive almost $1.5 million in pandemic relief to fund her lavish lifestyle of flying on private jets, buying designer bags and staying at fancy hotels. "If there's something that I want, I'm getting it," she told New York Magazine in a lengthy interview last year.

The self-proclaimed "con artist" said that she treated each fraud opportunity like a wave, and "COVID was a huge wave." But this isn't the first time the 32-year-old influencer has been in trouble with the law. Over the last decade, she's been arrested in five different states, the Metro reports and has done time in Rikers.

The Instagram influencer took others' identities in several states and in various ways, including using the online Massachusetts driver's license portal. Between July 2020 and May 2021, the New Yorker stole more than ten people's identities and set up bank accounts, where she then received pandemic-related loans meant for small businesses.

TODAY reports, "According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. Victims also came from Wisconsin and Arizona, a criminal complaint filed in the case noted. Federal officials say hers is one of the more egregious cases of fraud that emerged from government efforts to recharge the economy in the wake of a pandemic that locked down communities and businesses starting in 2020."

According to Miller, it's pretty easy to become a criminal. When asked how she learned to be a scammer, Miller told New York Magazine, "I literally just researched on the internet. It was very readily available to me. No one taught me it. I just overheard some things while I was in Rikers Island," she says. "And then I read everything on Telegram. Telegram is really where they talk about a lot of illegal s**t."

She added, "You can literally go to a dot-com website. You don't even need to go to the dark web. You don't need a Tor browser. You don't need any of those things," Miller says. "You can go on Telegram and join a group of scammers, and they're all just bragging and sending pictures. You just put in the search for whatever you're interested in. So say it's SBA loans you type in E-I-D-L or just S-B-A. And then there's a bunch of chats of people just selling SBA information."

But that's not all. According to Miller, she's very much in demand on social media, with people asking her to spill her criminal secrets. "I'm so sought after it's insanity," she told New York Magazine. "My Instagram account from me being locked up has thousands, thousands of DMs asking me what my Telegram name is to work with me. Thousands."

Miller got on the radar of federal investigators in 2021 when a Massachusetts woman filed a complaint after realizing her identity had been stolen when she discovered someone applied for a lease in her name. Authorities learned that $102,400 in Small Business Administration loan funds had been deposited in a bank account in the victim's name without her knowledge, TODAY reports. ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb

"Authorities zeroed in on Miller by linking the network used to access the victim's information on the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles site to a Miami high rise." In total, Miller was able to secure almost $1.5 million in pandemic funds under victims' names unbeknownst to them.

Miller has taken accountability for her criminal actions, according to Mitchell C. Elman, her attorney, and is currently free on a $100,000 bond. She's living in the New York City area, according to court documents. The sentencing is scheduled for June 27th, and if convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Miller grew up wealthy, living a block away from Central Park, and attended the prestigious Horace Mann School. Her father, Michael Miller, is a high-powered real estate attorney and the former president of the New York State Bar Association and her mother was a Rockette for 20 years but retired to raise her kids. Her parents did help her financially until she was accused of stealing money from a friend.

Quentin Esme Brown made headlines when Tiffany Trump served as her flower girl in her wedding to P.C. Peterson, a former Bravo reality star and grandson of Pete Peterson, the founder of the private-equity firm Blackstone. Brown told New York Magazine, "I went to the bank, and I was with my roommate at the time, and we asked them to print out every check that had come out of my checkbook," Brown says. "All of a sudden, five checks came through that said 'Danielle Miller.' She had written them to herself."

Yet, she still spent money as she had it. According to Brown, Miller would pick up the tab for expensive restaurants. Occasionally, we would go out with a bunch of friends, and we'd all put our credit cards down, and she would try to be like, 'No, I got this,'" the former friend says. "We'd be like, 'What? It's hundreds of dollars. Where are you getting this money from?'"

Miller'sreal troubles began when she made three sex tapes for a boy she had a crush on in the eighth grade. He dared her to prove she wasn't a "prude" and according to New York Magazine, "She disrobed, picked up the handle of a Swiffer mop, and pressed record. She made three sexual videos in all and emailed them to the boy. The boy forwarded the clips to Miller's best friend, who sent them to two people, and soon it had reached everyone that they knew. It spread rapidly from there." She was forever known as "Swiffer Girl," a name and reputation that followed her everywhere, even when she moved to California.

On a separate charge, Miller found herself thrown in Rikers, where she met Anna Delvey, a known scam artist who pretended to be a wealthy heiress to get access to NY's socialite scene and gave Miller tips on surviving prison. Miller also met another scammer named Ciera Blas, and the two would get into more trouble together once they were released. "She was so confident in her fake faade, but it was really interesting because she was trying so hard to have all the things that I've always had," Miller told New York Magazine. The two would go on to engage in more fraudulent and criminal schemes. "I was interested to know why this mean girl wanted to be friends with me," Miller told the outlet. "And in the end I think it was because she wanted to use me for whatever crimes we were accused of."

The two weathered the COVID lockdown together in Florida, and when things reopened, they started stealing again and going on extravagant shopping sprees. This time, Miller was accused of using an L.A. woman's identity and was arrested along with Blas. "She and Blas rented a Jaguar and rolled up to a Chase drive-through in Sarasota, where Miller allegedly pulled out a fake passport card with her own photo under the L.A. woman's name and tried to withdraw $8,000 from the woman's account," according to New York Magazine.

"The hijacked phone account passed a verification attempt made by Chase, but the bank was still suspicious enough to call a backup number. The next number the bank called was 911. When the cops arrested Miller and Blas, they reported recovering three Illinois driver's licenses under different names with Miller's photo, along with credit cards to match; six separate cell phones; and $25,000 in cash. They were arraigned, and both pleaded not guilty."

RELATED: Woman Who Allegedly Used Aunt's Debit Card for Over $12,000 in DoorDash Orders is Held on $18 Million Bond

Miller isn't the only one accused of stealing COVID funds. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) states that from March 2020 through January 13, 2023, at least 1,044 individuals pleaded guilty to or were convicted at trial of federal charges of defrauding COVID-19 relief programs. This includes the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (COVID-19 EIDL) program, the Department of Labor's (DOL) Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs, and economic impact payments issued by the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service."

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Texas led nation in white supremacist propaganda in 2022, report … – The Texas Tribune

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Texas led the nation in white supremacist propaganda incidents last year, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League.

All told, Texas accounted for 527 of the 6,750 incidents tallied by the ADL in 2022 a 61% increase statewide and a 38% jump nationally since 2021. The total, which hit an all-time high last year, includes the distribution or display of antisemitic, racist or anti-LGBTQ stickers, banners, graffiti, posters and laser projections.

The rise corresponds with a wave of antisemitic and extremist violence that has steadily grown in recent years, driven by white supremacist groups and worldviews that have been increasingly popularized online and in conservative politics. Reported incidents of explicitly antisemitic propaganda more than doubled last year, according to the ADL.

The Texas-based extremist group Patriot Front was responsible for roughly 80% of all propaganda incidents nationally, according to the report. Two other groups Goyim Defense League and White Lives Matter accounted for a bulk of the remaining propaganda incidents and were also active in Texas.

Hardly a day goes by without communities being targeted by these coordinated, hateful actions, which are designed to sow anxiety and create fear, said Oren Segal, vice president of the ADLs Center on Extremism. These actions are also being documented by the extremists themselves in order to signal back to their communities online, which provides an on-ramp to further engagement with white supremacy and hate.

Extremism experts have warned for years that white supremacist groups have been targeting Texas communities for recruiting, particularly those in urban areas where they believe they can exacerbate racial tensions and create a broader climate of fear among communities of color.

Last year in Austin, Dallas and Houston the latter being one of the most diverse cities in the country white supremacists repeatedly peppered Black and Jewish neighborhoods with antisemitic and racist flyers. Across the state, they flew banners over major highways and defaced schools and homes with swastikas and other hate symbols. And they continue to coalesce around anti-LGBTQ events, including drag show protests, where theyve sought to recruit and slowly mainstream their more radical views.

Extremism experts and longtime antifascist activists say such groups have been emboldened by the Republican Party and its amplification of things such as great replacement theory, a longtime white supremacist worldview that claims there is an intentional, Jewish-driven effort to destroy white people through immigration, interracial marriage and the LGBTQ community.

That conspiracy theory has been aided by frequent depictions of immigrants as invaders on the right, including by Gov. Greg Abbott and Fox News star host Tucker Carlson.

Meanwhile, Republican Party leaders continue to cozy up to outright fascists and white supremacists. Last year, former President Donald Trump met with Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust-denying Christian Nationalist who wants to expel Jews from the United States, and other top GOP figures including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have appeared at conferences with Fuentes and other extremists.

Such normalization has increased the likelihood that propaganda campaigns could lead to actual hate crimes, experts said.

Mark Toubin, the Houston-based director of the ADLs southwest region, said propaganda campaigns have long been favored by white supremacist groups because they allow a small group of people to have an outsized effect with little fear of being arrested because their actions are often protected under the First Amendment.

He noted that the ADLs annual figures are likely only a small fraction of the total nationwide incidents because of how few law enforcement agencies report hate crimes or propaganda incidents to national databases. Still, he said, its crucial for law enforcement to stop treating propaganda campaigns as harmless words and to investigate them to see if there were any crimes committed in the process.

It does lead to violence, he said. People will be hurt and people will die.

We cant wait to welcome you Sept. 21-23 to the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival, our multiday celebration of big, bold ideas about politics, public policy and the days news all taking place just steps away from the Texas Capitol. When tickets go on sale in May, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.

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Three hate groups drove spike in antisemitism and racist … – Baptist News Global

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Incidents of racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ propaganda increased substantially in 2022 as major white supremacist groups boosted disinformation campaigns in numerous U.S. states, according to new research by the Anti-Defamation League.

The March 8 report documented spikes in the distribution of fliers, stickers, banners, graffiti, posters and laser projections to promote hate and neo-fascist ideologies.

Our data show a 38% increase in incidents from the previous year, with a total of 6,751 cases reported in 2022, compared to 4,876 in 2021, the ADL said. This is the highest number of white supremacist propaganda incidents ADL has ever recorded. In addition to the overall increase in incidents, 2022 also saw antisemitic propaganda more than double, rising from 352 incidents in 2021 to 852 incidents in 2022.

ADL reported a handful of organizations were behind most of the propaganda documented last year.

Throughout 2022, at least 50 different white supremacist groups and networks distributed propaganda, but three of them Patriot Front, Goyim Defense League and White Lives Matter were responsible for 93% of the activity.

The Texas-based Patriot Front utilizes a cynical iteration of patriotism to push white supremacist causes, including using red, white and blue yard signs, ADL said. The group continues to avoid using traditional white supremacist language and symbols in its messaging, instead using ambiguous phrasing like For the Nation Against the State, Revolution is Tradition, Reclaim America, America First and One Nation Against Immigration.

Goyim Defense League is an antisemitic network with significant connections to other white supremacist causes and was responsible for more than 490 propaganda occurrences in 2022, according to ADL. GDLs overarching goal is to expel Jews from America. To that end, their propaganda casts aspersions on Jews and spreads antisemitic myths and conspiracy theories in hopes of turning Americans against the Jewish people.GDLs 2022 propaganda blames Jews for a variety of perceived social grievances, including immigration, pornography and abortion.

ADL described White Lives Matter as a white supremacist group that engages in pro-white activism with messages about the Great Replacement Theory, links to antisemitic films and stickers featuring a QR code to the groups social media page. The organization was credited with 430 propaganda incidents in 2022, up from 140 the year before.

Propaganda allows a small number of people to have an outsized impact.

Extremist groups engage in such efforts because the risk-reward ratio lines up in their favor, the report says. Propaganda campaigns allow white supremacists to maximize media and online attention for their groups and messaging while limiting the risk of individual exposure, negative media coverage, arrests and public backlash that often accompanies more public activities. Propaganda, which affects entire communities, allows a small number of people to have an outsized impact.

ADL also tracked incidents geographically. Propaganda was reported in 2022 in every U.S. state except Hawaii, with the highest levels of activity (from most to least active) in Texas, Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Utah, Florida, Connecticut and Georgia.

The dramatic rise in antisemitic propaganda in the U.S. was due largely to the growth of the Goyim Defense League and its increased campaigning, ADL said.

The formation of several new antisemitic white supremacist groups in 2022 also contributed to the rise in antisemitic incidents. These new groups the Texas-basedAryan Freedom Network,NatSoc Florida, the Iowa-based Crew 319, the Southern California-based Clockwork Crew (aka Crew 562), Florida Nationalists andthe short-lived, New York-based Aryan National Army were responsible for 7% (or 62 incidents) of the antisemitic propaganda distributions in 2022.

Extremists use of fliers, posters, stickers, banners and graffiti were sometimes supplemented by newer forms of communication, the ADL research found. In Florida, NatSoc Florida and/or GDL used laser projectors to cast antisemitic messages on buildings on at least seven occasions. Individuals associated with GDL, Crew 562 and Crew 319 drove around in moving vans draped with antisemitic propaganda. Two such incidents occurred in California and one in Iowa.

Banners were especially popular among white supremacist groups, who typically draped them from highway overpasses. ADL recorded at least 252 banner drops, a 38% increase from the 183 counted in 2021.

The number of white supremacist events also jumped, from 108 in 2021 to 167 in 2022.

The White Lives Matter network was responsible for 43% of these events, the report states. WLM have been organizing small, monthly demonstrations since April 2021, which attract between five and 15 people and usually take place along the roadside, on an overpass, at a park or outside a government building.

But other groups also significantly contributed to the increase in white supremacist events in 2022, ADL said. White supremacists also held private gatherings such as fight nights, white power music concerts and conferences, including theAmerica First Political Action Conferencein Orlando, the annual American Renaissance Conference in Tennessee and theNational Justice PartysNational Party Meeting in Ohio, which was the best attended extremist event of the year.

ADL said it found one positive trend in its research: a decline in white supremacist propaganda incidents on college campuses.

In 2022, there were 219 incidents of white supremacist propaganda distribution on campuses, a 6% decrease from 2021 and the lowest number since ADL began tracking in 2017. While the majority ofthese incidents occurred on college or university campuses, at least 11 incidents were reported on K-12 campuses.

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ADL: Michigan ranks 4th in the country for most white supremacist … – Detroit News

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Michigan ranked fourth in the country during an all-time high year nationally for white supremacist propaganda distribution, according to a report released this week from the Anti-Defamation League.

The ADL, which tracks instances of white supremacy and antisemitism to report annual trends, found that there was a 38% increase nationally in white supremacist propaganda incidents, with a total of 6,751 incidents reported in 2022 and 4,876 reported in 2021. The organization reported 2022 had the highest number of white supremacist propaganda incidents it has recorded.

Michigan ranked fourth in terms of propaganda activity with 355 incidents in 2022. Texas, Massachusetts and Virginia were the top 3.

Michigan ranks eighth in the nation for white supremacist propaganda distribution on campuses, which includes K-12 schools, colleges and universities, according to the report.

ADL recorded 219 incidents of white supremacist propaganda distribution on campuses, a 6% decrease from 2021 and the lowest number since ADL began tracking in 2017. While the majority of these incidents occurred on college or university campuses, at least 11 incidents were reported on K-12 campuses.

On-campus propaganda was recorded in 39 states, with the highest levels of activity (from most to least active) in Texas, Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan.

Michigan is at a critical moment in the fight against extremism and bigotry, said ADL Michigan Regional Director Carolyn Normandin in a news release Thursday.

"Its disappointing and alarming to see Michigan near the top of any list related to hate and extremism, Normandin said. "Now is the time for millions of Michiganders to support our neighbors and reject the intimidation efforts of white supremacists in our communities.

Incidents used in the ADL's data include the distribution of flyers, stickers, posters, banners and graffiti as well as laser projections that promote racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs.

Those distributing white supremacist propaganda doubled their efforts in Michigan in 2022, the Michigan chapter of the ADL said in a news release Thursday.

The top three distributors of propaganda, according to ADL, are Goyim Defense League (GDL), White Lives Matter (WLM) and Patriot Front, in total responsible for 93% of the incidents.

Patriot Front, based in Texas, has been the No. 1 distributor since 2019, the ADL report said, in 2022 accounting for 80% of propaganda. It was third most active in Michigan in 2022.

Thursday's announcement follows a rise in incidents of extremism and antisemitism in recent years, including in southeast Michigan.

In November, West Bloomfield Police investigated two threats against the Frankel Jewish Academy, a college-prep school located in the Jewish Community Center building on Maple Road. The following month, a Dearborn man was accused of making antisemitic, racist threats to young children, parents and security at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Hills. He is facing local and federal charges in connection with the incident.

Earlier this year a flag with a Nazi symbol on it was flown outside of a Hamtramck home, sparking outrage online and drawing condemnation from the city.

Controversy has swirled in recent months over statements and positions by celebrities and public figures targeting Jews, with much of that centering on Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.

Besides social media posts that sparked Twitter and Instagram suspensions as well as severed business relationships, Ye expressed love for Adolf Hitler in an interview and tweeted a picture of a swastika merged with the Star of David.

More:Michigan man threatened to kill Jewish government officials, feds say

The sheer volume of the distribution of propaganda distributions nationwide is dangerous, Vice President of ADL Center on Extremism Oren Segal said in the news release Thursday.

Hardly a day goes by without communities being targeted by these coordinated, hateful actions designed to sow anxiety and create fear," Segal said. "We need a whole-of-society approach to combat this activity, including elected officials, community leaders, and people of good faith coming together and condemning this activity forcefully.

anichols@detroitnews.com

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Report: Antisemitism in Wisconsin soars for seventh consecutive year – Wisconsin Public Radio

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Antisemitic incidents in Wisconsin soared for the seventh consecutive year, according to an annual audit report.

The report from the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation showed hate group activity, such as the distribution of leaflets that promote conspiracy theories, rose by 83 percent between 2021 and 2022.

In all, there were 101 reported antisemitic incidents in Wisconsin last year, a 6.3 percent increase from 2021.

Antisemitic events on college campuses in the state saw a steep rise in incidents at 225 percent, and there was a22 percent increase in incidents for K-12 schools during the same time period. The Council received 11 reports of incidents related to hate groups.

"Antisemitism didn't begin or end with the Holocaust. Today, its legacy of hatred and prejudice against Jewish people is still a reality across our whole country. And it undermines both individuals' physical safety and expression of their culture and religion," said Andrea Bernstein, associate director at the Jewish Community Relations Council.

Acts of antisemitism, or hatred of Jewish people, have been rising in recent years. Between 2015 and 2022, there's been a 494 percent rise in antisemitic incidents.

"Anytime that there is a societal crisis, that can trigger a spike in antisemitic activity. People start looking for simple answers to very complex problems," Bernstein said.

Jewish people are the target of 60.3 percent of hate crimes motivated by religious bias, despite representing about two percent of the national population, according to FBI data. That's the highest rate of any religious group. One in four American Jews experienced some form of antisemitism in 2021.

In Wisconsin, Jewish people represent less than 1 percent of the population.

Bernstein said the agency is concerned about the normalization of antisemitic conspiracy theories, such as those that falsely suggest Jewish people dominate the government or media. The most reported activity this year was the distribution of leaflets espousing those ideas or antisemitic rhetoric.

"Even people who may not identify as hating Jews or being antisemitic can spread dangerous ideology through these conspiracy theories," Bernstein said.

Bernstein said social media antisemitic activity decreased, with online harassment, threats and assaults falling by 39 percent. Meanwhile, acts of vandalism and interpersonal incidents in the community increased.

She attributed that shift to the lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions abating.

State trends in the audit also mirror national findings. The Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism released a national report last week that found propaganda efforts such as fliers, banners or stickers by white supremacist groups reached an all-time high last year.

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Miryam Rosenzweig, the CEO and president of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, said hate groups are more overtly displaying hatred toward others.

"What we're seeing now is that things that used to be whispered are being said out loud. And I don't think that it is society as a whole, but we are definitely in an environment where hateful people and hateful groups have felt the freedom to act in the way that they do. And that should be concerning to all of us," Rosenzweig said.

The Jewish Community Relations Council reported universities and colleges saw many pejorative references to Israel and Zionism, in some cases associating it with racism and genocide.

"As opposed to having dialogue and criticism of the policies of Israel and the government of Israel, it has crossed the line into demonizing Jewish students who identify as being Zionist or believe in the right of Israel to exist as a country," Bernstein said.

Rosenzweig of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation emphasized that criticizing the policies of a democracy like Israel is normal and healthy, save for invoking anti-Jewish tropes, blaming all Jewish people for the acts of the government or holding the country to a different standard than any other nation.

The Council also received reports of swastika graffiti, verbal harassment of Jewish students and other incidents of expression on campus that defamed Jews.

Among incidents reported this year were antisemitic graffiti at elementary schools.

"The most disturbing to me was how young it is getting," Rosenzweig said. "It is concerning that we are now seeing it in elementary school. It is concerning the number of incidents that we're seeing in high schools, and it speaks about an environment where people are seeing so much on social media."

Michoel Feinstein, the Chabad rabbi in Green Bay, said he and his family have been the targets of antisemitic slurs hurled at them when they walk outside on the Sabbath. But he's received more support than anything else, he said, and the Jewish community still enjoys a solid footing with non-Jewish neighbors.

"When antisemitism is brought to the forefront, it's not an attack on nearly everybody, arguably even the antisemites, but rather a call or request for camaraderie for standing together so that we can eliminate this particular element of society's behavior," Feinstein said.

Rosenzweig of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation said leaders want to work with legislators and community partners to raise awareness. She said hatred against Jewish people is often a sign of growing hostility toward other groups, as well, even if it's not as visible.

Even so, Rosenzweig said she's "always optimistic."

"The journey of the Jewish people is a 2,000-year story of challenges and overcoming it. And we know that the power lies in the people. We know that the power lies in us allowing hateful groups to have a voice. We know it's in our power to change the way society talks. We know it's in our power to do all that," she said.

People can report antisemitic incidents local law enforcement and the Milwaukee Jewish Federation at JCRC@milwaukeejewish.org or through their website:www.Milwaukeejewish.org/Antisemitism.

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Report: Antisemitism in Wisconsin soars for seventh consecutive year - Wisconsin Public Radio

Unpack With YUPAC: Fight or Flight- Confronting Anti-Semitism – The Commentator

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Its time to move.

These four life-changing words cut through the air, as a wife told her husband how they should respond to the recently planned antisemitism. In advance of this past Shabbos, February 25, Neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups planned to organize a National Day of Hate. Shabbos, a day designated for rest and tranquility where we gather for worship, was targeted to become a day where we would be in fear to freely practice our religious obligations. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted over 200 years ago, declares that American citizens have the right to freely practice their religion. And yet, we are at a point in time where there are extremist groups in this country that are so blinded by hatred that they are willing to uproot the bedrock principles of a country that is supposed to lead the world on how a democracy should operate.

Unfortunately, we live in a time where parents are pressured into uprooting their entire lives and making Aliyah, even if they dont believe that it is the right time for them, because of the fear of being a Jew in America. This is not, chas vshalom [heaven forbid], to discredit any efforts to move to Israel, but rather to point out the antisemitism that is rampant throughout the United States and the urgent need to be part of a solution for tolerance.

As of the 2020 Census in the United States, Jews make up 2.4% percent of the U.S. population. Nonetheless, according to the FBI-released 2021 Hate Crime Statistics, anti-Jewish incidents represented 31.9% of the total religious incidents. Despite antisemitic incidents reaching an all-time high in 2021, an Axios article, released on December 17, 2022, warned that antisemitic hate crimes in 2022 may have surpassed the numbers from 2021.

This rise may have, in part, been due to antisemitic comments made by celebrities over the past year. On October 8th, Kanye West, who currently has over 30 million Twitter followers and 18 million Instagram followers, tweeted that he is going to go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE. Twitter removed the tweet and locked Wests account the following day, however, the damage had already been done. Shockingly, Wests follower count increased significantly on both platforms as his hateful remarks only continued to grow over the coming weeks. On October 22, an antisemitic hate group held banners over a busy Los Angeles freeway, with one banner saying Kanye is right about the Jews, with some group members raising their arms in a Nazi salute.

On October 27, NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving tweeted a link to a film filled with antisemitic conspiracies. On November 3, the Brooklyn Nets suspended Irving for a minimum of five games, and the following day, Nike terminated its relationship with Irving. Shortly after being suspended, Irving apologized in an Instagram post to the Jewish families and communities that he hurt. Irvings former teammate Richard Jefferson said in regards to Irving while broadcasting a Nets game: You have to understand that how you use your social media has effects and affects people. This is especially true for someone like Irving, who has over 18 million Instagram followers and 4.5 million Twitter followers.

The current hostility towards Jews in the United States needs to be addressed immediately. A legitimate response to the alarming increase in antisemitism is to move to Israel. Ultimately, we should strive to put ourselves in the best position to effectively work on our Avodas Hashem and not live in fear of being persecuted because of our religious beliefs. This response may have been reflected in Israels 2021 immigration statistics, as approximately 4,000 U.S. citizens made aliyah, the highest total since 1973. Although this solution will not help the current crisis in the United States, it is still a brave and commendable decision nonetheless.

For those that are currently living in the United States, even if it is just until they complete university, it is imperative to no longer stand on the sidelines, but rather be part of the solution for religious tolerance.

The Anti Defamation League lists seven ways to fight antisemitism. I believe that one of those ways, Educate against antisemitism, needs to be doubled down on in our efforts to combat antisemitism. A 2020, a 50 state survey in the United States revealed a concerning lack of Holocaust knowledge among Millenials and Gen Z. Astonishingly, 63% of respondents did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and 19% of respondents from New York believed that Jews caused the Holocaust.

A lack of a proper education results in little to no sensitivity to the potential harm of antisemitic remarks. Both Irving and West, who presumably have not been properly educated on this topic, immediately resorted back to their previous ways as soon as they were given the opportunity. After Wests access to his Twitter account was restored, on Dec. 1, he tweeted an image combining the Jewish Star of David with a swastika, resulting in his accounts suspension. After Irving was traded from the Nets to the Dallas Mavericks, he deleted his apology post from his Instagram, but claimed that there was no hidden message behind this cryptic move.

Never forget is not just a call for us to gather on Yom Hashoah [Holocaust Memorial Day] for an assembly, but a duty for us to make sure that all of those around us are also aware of the destruction that hatred can cause. This begins in the classroom; Teaching school children about the Holocaust will hopefully make them more aware of the antisemitism that occurs daily in society and stand against it. An encouraging result of the survey revealed that 80% of all respondents believe that it is important to continue teaching about the Holocaust so that it never happens again. This past August, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation that will help improve Holocaust education in classrooms. Our role in strengthening Holocaust education throughout the United States can be done by lobbying our state and local government leaders and supporting candidates who value incorporating this education into school curriculums.

Educating others does not just end in the classroom. As we interact with people outside of our own communities, we need to engage with people of other faiths regarding their experiences and thoughts towards antisemitism. Although this may seem awkward and uncomfortable, and personally I can attest that I have yet mustered the courage to try this, I believe that it is a crucial step towards allowing us to practice our religion in harmony among neighbors of different faiths.

Most importantly, whether in front of people of other religions or even our own, it is imperative that we constantly go out of our way to make a Kiddush Hashem. Oftentimes, we are easily identified as Jews due to our different way of dress and religious practices; it is very easy to view this obligation of constantly scrutinizing our actions so as not to paint a bad image of Jews as a burden. However, I think that in reality, it is an opportunity that we have to show everyone else, including other Jews, the beauty of how the Torah tells us we are supposed to interact with others as well as with ourselves.

Sadly, as history has repeatedly told us, we as Jews can never get too comfortable in a specific land. There is a legitimate threat to the core of what America stands for; the extremism and hate that divide this country can uproot the exact ideals upon which this country was founded originally. As Jews, this is a threat to our ability to freely practice our religion and poses an imminent danger to our safety and well-being. We must stand up for ourselves and educate others on the dangers of antisemitism.

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Photo Caption:Education is critical to ending antisemitism

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Unpack With YUPAC: Fight or Flight- Confronting Anti-Semitism - The Commentator

Black, Jewish Denverites fight misinformation from white nationalists – The Colorado Sun

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A shared history of oppression led Black and Jewish Americans to fight together for civil rights, particularly in the 1960s. And in many ways, the two groups have remained connected.

But lately, theres evidence of mistrust, misunderstanding and anger on both sides and some of that mistrust is stoked by conspiracy theories and antisemitic and racist tropes circulated online.

Now, a grassroots effort led by three people in Denver is encouraging both groups to come together to create understanding and reconciliation and to help fight against misinformation spread by white nationalist groups.

There has been a lot of coming together, but there has also been a lot of coming apart, said Caren Press, a retired attorney, co-organizing an event Wednesday night that invites Denvers Black and Jewish communities to discuss where their histories connect and diverge before they find ways to combat white supremacy. Together, we need to figure out how we can move forward in a productive way.

The free event, which will be held from 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. in the library at George Washington High School in Denver, is co-organized by Press and Evan Weissman, who are Jewish, and Theo E.J. Wilson, who is Black.

The discussion will be led by Wilson, the director of Shop Talk Live, a nonprofit dedicated to educating and empowering Black people, and Weissman, director of Warm Cookies of the Revolution, an organization working to cause social change through art.

The idea to host Wednesdays event came after rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye, spewed antisemitic tropes online and on television, including one hateful comment encouraging Jewish people to forgive Adolph Hitler and another threatening members of the Jewish community. Wests long list of problematic remarks eventually got him suspended from Twitter and have caused several high-profile companies to sever business ties with him.

His rhetoric has also led to vandalism, harassment, intimidation and violence, under the Ye Is Right campaign, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League.

In mid February, University of Denver leaders released a statement condemning antisemitic vandalism and theft in residential settings at the school. And last year in Colorado, there were 53 instances of antisemitism, 163 instances of white supremacist propaganda and one instance of extremist murder tallied by the Anti-Defamation Leagues Hate, Extremism, Antisemitism, Terrorism map.

This is happening now because theres a real rise in white nationalism and white supremacy that has gotten to the point where now Jews cant go to synagogues or meet without security present, Press said. Things have just felt scarier.

The same need for security has been true for Black communities across the nation. In 2015, a young white man, who used a journal to detail his racist motivation to shoot Black parishioners at a Charleston, South Carolina, church, said during his murder trial that he did not regret his decision to kill nine people. In 2022, another white gunman killed 10 people and wounded three others in a racist attack at a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York.

Black people and Jewish people share histories of oppression, and are faced with constant threats from white nationalist groups who spew hate, and voice opinions about wanting to destroy, enslave or dehumanize both groups, Press said.

And while both groups have come together over the past few decades to fight together during many social and economic justice movements, the tension between them is still apparent, Weissman said.

Racism shows up in an everyday systemic way and I think antisemitism can, too, but it often shows up in circumstances between individuals, he said. The divergence is, with white Jews in particular, they have had much more proximity to whiteness.

Caren Press, co-organizer

When Jewish people arrived in the United States en masse from the turn of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th century, they were treated as something other, Weissman said.

Within a generation or two, their ability to (be viewed as) white in most cases has been a huge divergence, he added. White Jews, specifically, have to understand and acknowledge their white privilege while also recognizing where weve been victimized and continue to be victimized. But we have to also deal with how we as white Jews are aligned with white supremacy and everything that comes with that.

Weissman said he plans to discuss conspiracy theories Wednesday night, such as one commonly used against Jewish people, such as that they are overly materialistic and collectively control the worlds finances.

Conspiracy theorists often point to the seemingly high number of Jewish people in powerful positions in Hollywood, Weissman said. And thats because people dont understand the history.

Jewish immigrants were excluded from securing many jobs when they arrived in the U.S. So, you had to do things that werent (excluded), such as learning how to be a doctor, or learning the legal code, or working at banks or in the arts, he said.

Those were things that used to not be valued and those were the only things open to Jews, he said. So theres explanations for some of these things, and if you dont know some of those explanations and if someone presents you with white supremacist conspiracy theories and those are championed by someone like Kanye, it can seem very real and true.

The storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, showed extremist leaders can mobilize large numbers of Americans to use force and intimidation to impose their political will, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal advocacy nonprofit specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation.

The group coalesced for the attack on the Capitol now is one of the most powerfully forces shaping politics in the United State, the SPLC wrote in a 2021 report posted on its website.

White nationalist groups adopt white supremacist or white separatist ideologies, often focusing on the alleged inferiority of people who are not white. The Ku Klux Klan, neo-Confederates, neo-Nazis, racist skinheads and many other groups are considered white nationalists, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The rise in neo-fascist white supremacy is not slowing down and it wont slow down because economic conditions have worsened and the scarcity mindset breeds hostility, Wilson said.

As long as the population of people registered as white continues to shrink, the hostility will continue to grow, he said. Theyre going to become more interested than ever in pitting us against each other. And historically speaking, the divide and conquer tactic really, really works because when were unified, things happen. We saw how things shifted during the civil rights movement when both of these groups operated as one.

Press said there will be security at Wednesdays event and that she is worried about hateful rhetoric making its way into the conversation.

Theo E.J. Wilson, co-organizer

Were going to be prepared for everything that we can prepare for. Its hard to say how it will land, Wilson said. Our concern is truth and making sure that the truth is out there, regardless of what powerful interests may be against it, or who may be offended by it. The best you can do is use tact, use your words, and operate out of love. Its the love for people that makes this conversation happen.

Wilson and Weissman have been friends for about a decade and their friendship has blossomed partly through their shared love for acting and theater. Both have been open about their opinions on how Black people and Jewish communities can unite and why their relationships are fractured, said Wilson, who is the grandson of a Tuskegee Airman and the son of a historian who worked at the Black American West Museum.

So Im not going to say anything that surprises him and vice versa, Wilson added. And that is a key component here: There is a friendship between a Black guy and a Jewish guy who knows their stuff and this friendship is based in truth. So were exemplifying whats possible here, and thats why I think were the guys to have this conversation.

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Black, Jewish Denverites fight misinformation from white nationalists - The Colorado Sun

Organizations partner to launch Together Against Antisemitism … – JNS.org

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(March 14, 2023, JNS Wire) The Center for Combating Antisemitism (CCA), a division of StandWithUs (SWU), along with multiple partner organizations, launched a billboard campaign calling attention to the rise of antisemitism across the United States and around the world. The effort urges others of conscience to join the Together Against Antisemitism campaign.

The first billboards will be up from March 8 through April 9. One is located on Atlantic Avenue in Del Ray, Fla., one mile west of Military Trail. The other is located on Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami near 114th Street. The billboard states Together Against Antisemitism and directs people to learn more online (www.standuptohatred.com).

The aim of the campaign is to bring together organizations and individuals who recognize the evils of antisemitism and are willing to publicly stand with the Jewish community, condemn anti-Jewish bigotry and take steps to combat antisemitism in its many forms, said Carly Gammill, director of the CCA.

Sara Gold Rafel, executive director of StandWithUs Southeast, stated: The initial campaign is in South Florida because in the last few months, antisemitic incidents on campuses and communities there have risen to unacceptable levels. The billboards are one of many ways we are responding to this onslaught of hate and supporting the right of Jews to proudly express all aspects of their ethnic and religious identity. Members of the Jewish community deserve to be free of discrimination or harassment whether they are celebrating holidays, openly wearing Jewish symbols, expressing their connection to Israel, attending religious services or simply going about their daily lives.

Florida is not the only state plagued by an uptick in anti-Jewish bigotry. White supremacist groups have been spreading hateful messages targeting the Jewish community throughout the country. They have peppered Jewish and other neighborhoods with leaflets promoting ancient anti-Jewish stereotypes, including in Beverly Hills and Pasadena in California, and Palm Beach and Boca Raton in Florida. They have hung large banners with antisemitic messages from the overpasses of major highways in several states and cities from Southern California to Jacksonville, Fla. Jews have been viciously attacked in major cities from Los Angeles to New York and from Chicago to Austin, Texas.

During January and February alone, the StandWithUs Southeast campus team reported at least 20 antisemitic incidents occurring on the campuses of 12 universities, including Ye is Right tables (referring to musician/rapper Kanye West and his hateful speech against Jews), sweatshirts emblazoned with Anti-Zionist Social Club and Nazi imagery such as swastikas.

On Feb. 22, a group of anti-Jewish bigots affiliated with the Goyim Defense League and their leader Jon Minadeo Jr. stood outside a Jewish synagogue in Orlando, Fla., andshouted at congregants as they were leaving. Their antisemitic messages were vitriolic and abusive, clearly attempting to intimidate the Jewish community. Another neo-Nazi group declared a Day of Hate on Feb. 25, once again hoping to isolate and bully American Jews.

Rather than succeeding in instilling fear, however, these incidents have only strengthened the resolve of Jewish communities and our allies, said Rafel. Antisemitism is a societal disease that speaks not to any truth about Jewish identity but rather to the warped, conspiracy-based thinking of bigoted individuals who use age-old tropes and tactics, like scapegoating, to target the Jewish people.

She added that students in SWUs campus and high school leadership programs are not tolerating these kinds of actions. We are so proud of how they are standing tall against hate and antisemitism with proactive and creative solutions.

Gammill noted that despite their blatantly false nature, when such messages are repeated often enough, they open up the possibility that they could gain a foothold within the mainstream culture.

This is not a time for us to be bystanders, said Roz Rothstein, CEO and co-founder of StandWithUs. Hate is destructive, divisive and potentially dangerous. We are obligated to point a finger at bigotry and draw clear red lines within civil society about what we will simply never tolerate. We are grateful to our allies who stand with us against such outrageous antisemitic rhetoric and actions.

To learn more about the Together Against Antisemitism campaign, including an opportunity to add your name or organization to the list of those in support of the Jewish community, as well as access to resources about antisemitism and tools to combat it, visit: http://www.standuptohatred.com.

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Organizations partner to launch Together Against Antisemitism ... - JNS.org

Whats behind the protests in Israel? – Vox.com

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Hundreds of thousands of Israeli protesters have been demonstrating against the extreme-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since January. The protests have become some of the biggest in Israeli history and are drawing out the countrys most famous faces.

On Thursday, protesters plan to disrupt Netanyahus travel to Rome in a sign of defiance of his ultranationalist, illiberal government. Theyre calling it a day of resistance to the dictatorship. This builds on two months of mass mobilization across Israel that have been squarely focused on the Netanyahu governments set of judiciary overhauls, which would weaken the independence of the countrys high court and create the conditions for unchecked majoritarian rule.

The backlash to these proposals has reached even staunchly establishment groups in Israel: A group of fighter pilots are on strike, tech workers staged a work stoppage, and former prime ministers have joined the protests.

This is not just another right-wing government, says Yehuda Shaul, an Israeli activist and co-director of the think tank Ofek: The Israeli Center for Public Affairs.

The Israeli government is embarking on two revolutions at once, according to Shaul. One is inside Israel: getting rid of any remains of checks and balances, independence of the judiciary, going full-blown illiberal democracy Orbn-style, he told me, referring to Hungarys prime minister. Then there is the second revolution, which is the changes in the Israeli governance in the occupied territories, mainly in the West Bank. That is one word: annexation.

Largely absent from the protests calls has been attention toward the already abysmal situation for Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank. But Netanyahus current government is unprecedented in this regard, too: Israeli settlers who advocate for Jewish supremacist policies now hold powerful ministerial roles and are making moves to annex the occupied West Bank. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently called for the eradication of a Palestinian village. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is a longtime inciter of violence against Palestinians.

The anti-government protests also come at a time of intensive violence between Israelis and Palestinians that could spiral to a new dangerous phase with these extremist Israeli ministers in top posts. Israeli authorities have been conducting deadly raids on West Bank cities and villages, including a military raid that killed six Palestinians on Tuesday. Its part of a crescendo of Israeli clampdown, as grassroots Palestinian groups and individuals turn to violent resistance and terrorism in response to the daily violence of the Israeli occupation.

This moment is a crisis for Israels democracy sparked by these proposals, but built from decades of right-wing policies promulgated by Netanyahu. The crisis is also inseparable from the erosion of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. Netanyahu and his allies are pursuing a shock doctrine that amounts to crippling the Israeli governance system and a total reordering of the Israeli occupation.

Netanyahu was elected to a sixth premiership this November, but this time with the most extreme, nationalistic, and exclusionary government in Israeli history.

From the get-go, the Israeli government has sought to make significant changes to the high court that would hollow out its independence and its power to serve as a check on the Israeli parliament, or the Knesset. The several bills put forward would restrict the courts ability to overturn laws it sees as unconstitutional and allow a simple majority in the Knesset to reject its decisions. It would also give government lawmakers and appointees effective power over the committee of nine individuals that appoints judges, and rescind key authorities from the attorney general. These and other changes would weaken the independent judiciarys power in a parliamentary system that otherwise lacks checks.

An aerial view shows protesters stopping before police barricades during a demonstration against the Israeli governments controversial justice reform bill in Tel Aviv on March 1, 2023.

Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Professor Yuval Noah Harari speaks during a demonstration. Over 400,000 people protested all over Israel for the ninth consecutive week against a governments plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

This is all complicated by the fact that Israel doesnt have a constitution, but a set of regulations passed as the basic law. The proposals backers, like a group of Israeli academics who recently published an open letter in support, say the court has grown too powerful. But, according to a recent survey by the Israel Democracy Institute, 66 percent of Israelis think the Supreme Court should have the power to strike down a law if it is incompatible with the Basic Laws.

The result of the judicial overhaul would be a form of majoritarian rule, where minority groups especially Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are about 20 percent of the countrys population would face serious threats. Minority rights will be protected by the majoritys benevolence. That contradicts a core element of democracy, of course, writes Natan Sachs of the Brookings Institution.

These proposals have sparked the massive protests in Israel and outrage from unexpected quarters.

Many former Israeli leaders have warned of fascism taking over the country, and now their voices are growing loud. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, one of the countrys most decorated military leaders, has been joining the demonstrations, along with former prime minister and opposition leader Yair Lapid and former Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni. In Israel, nobody will be above the law, not even the prime minister, Livni said in January.

Ram Ben Barak, a member of the Knesset who formerly worked as deputy director of Israels Mossad intelligence services, made a comparison to Nazi Germany in a stark indication of how bad Israels opposition judges the situation to be. Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir and all you other fellow travelers check Wikipedia and read the history of how the Nazi party rose to power democratically and immediately became a dictatorship, Ben Barak tweeted.

Pilots from elite Air Force reservist unit are on strike, and former Air Force chiefs have written a letter against the judicial actions. Israels national security leaders worry that Israel will be less able to defend itself in international forums; for example, for its potential war crimes in Gaza, the West Bank, and inside Israel if its judiciary is less credible and not independent.

Investors, bankers, and financial leaders have expressed concern about how it would affect the economy. Israels influential tech sector staged a work stoppage in protest. Bestselling international writer Yuval Noah Harari, who is a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, called the governments moves an antidemocratic coup.

But Netanyahu and his partners have condemned the protesters and are standing firm in their conviction. The extreme and dangerous group that organizes [the protests] just wants to burn down the house and create chaos in the country, Netanyahu said.

It should be noted that Netanyahu is on trial for alleged corruption charges that hes denied but that have plagued his political life in recent years. Theres been speculation that those allegations are why hes been pursuing a major overhaul to the Israeli judiciary, with the effect of weakening its independence.

But thats only part of the story.

There are three pillars of his governing coalition Netanyahus conservative Likud party, ultranationalist settlers, and the ultra-Orthodox and they each have something to gain from this massive judicial overhaul. For the first time, they have a complete alignment of interests with no daylight in between, to destroy the judiciary and institutions, for different reasons, Shaul told me. And thats what makes this moment so dangerous.

It would be beneficial for Netanyahus allies in his party for the courts to be disempowered as he tries to wriggle out of longstanding corruption allegations. For the ultranationalist settlers led by Ben Gvir and Smotrich, such judicial changes would open up the opportunity of annexation of the occupied West Bank and other policies that would benefit settlers. And for the ultra-Orthodox supporters, it would perhaps through changing the makeup of key judiciary appointments lessen the Supreme Courts likelihood of ruling that exemptions to the military draft are unconstitutional, among other issues of church and state important to this constituency.

In short, the judicial reforms might be the most incendiary and attention-grabbing of the coalitions proposals at this moment, but theyre in keeping with its broader goals.

The judiciary is only one component of this governments attack on the rule of law.

Netanyahus government is also proposing radical changes to the way the occupation of the West Bank is administered and other legal shifts inside Israel that will severely affect Palestinians.

Theres a ton to keep track of, and not all of it might be implemented, but taken together it represents a shock-doctrine-style approach to transforming the way Israel operates.

An aerial view of burned and destroyed vehicles in the town of Huwara after settlers set houses and cars on fire following the death of two Israelis when their vehicle was fired on at a crossroads south of the Palestinian city of Nablus.

Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images

Israeli diggers demolish a Palestinian familys home, claiming that it was unlicensed, in East Jerusalem on March 6, 2023.

Saeed Qaq/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

One of the most significant changes would be the transfer of military authority over the occupied West Bank to the hands of civilian government. That would in effect constitute the de jure annexation of territory. The Biden administration opposes this, but if there is not an direct condemnation from the United States and Europe, and real consequences for Israel, experts fear that Netanyahus government will move forward.

The governments overt policy is of Jewish supremacy over all the land of Israel, broadly construed, and its nonbinding coalition guidelines seek to entrench annexation without official declaration, according to a policy paper by top Israeli human rights organizations.

Other changes include advancing legislation to give Ben Gvir, who is minister of national security, the authority to intervene in the priorities of investigations of the police. It could lead to further deprioritization of investigations into settler violence, which already receive relatively scant attention from Israeli authorities.

Then theres a new law that would revoke the citizenship of Palestinian citizens of Israel and their families should they be convicted of terrorist charges; theres also the potential reinstatement of the death penalty for those convicted of terrorist offenses.

The government has already approved the construction of more than 7,000 settlement units in the West Bank, almost twice the total approved last year. New policies would further legalize settler outposts. (State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US was deeply troubled by these settlement announcements, but has not outlined any consequences.)

This is in addition to actions that human rights organizations view as collective punishment of Palestinians, like an uptick in Palestinian home demolitions. Every night raid, random checkpoint, and home demolition holds out the potential of further radicalization, as the Israeli occupation hits new levels of violence.

The two revolutions being pursued by the new Israeli government have been enabled by the decay of rule of law inside Israel as a result of the occupation of Palestinian territory that started in 1967.

The parallel legal systems, which Palestinian and Israeli experts call apartheid, have created the conditions whereby its easier for a radical right-wing government to chip away at checks and balances. Indeed, researcher Yousef Munayyer notes, The governments assault on the judiciary is driven by the same urge as the states founders: to protect their power to privilege Jews over Palestinians.

The slippery slope poses a threat to the very tenets of Israeli democracy. The designation of seven Palestinian NGOs that focus on human rights as terrorist groups in 2021 may create conditions for the further crackdown on Israeli civil society. If a Palestinian citizen of Israels citizenship can be revoked, as a new law enshrines, it could lead to laws that institute the same for Jewish citizens of Israel.

One of the most frightening outcomes could be what Shaul calls the nuclear option, whereby Palestinian political parties could be barred from participating in Israeli elections. The Central Elections Committee, for example, has disqualified parties like Balad from participating in Knesset elections, only to then have the Supreme Court override this. But what if there was no override? Balad would not be able to run, and other Palestinian parties in Israel would likely be prohibited, too, or choose not to participate. Then you basically have elections where Palestinian citizens of Israel cannot run or boycott, Shaul told me. Game over, so to speak.

Yet only some protesters have apparently made this connection. As journalist Peter Beinart wrote recently in the New York Times, a movement premised on ethnocracy cannot successfully defend the rule of law.

Netanyahus colleagues are reportedly engaged in secret talks with legal experts toward a compromise on the judicial proposals.

But for now, the protests continue, the violence of the Israeli occupation increases, and the resistance of Palestinians has led CIA Director Bill Burns to warn of a third intifada or uprising. A recent statement put out by Israel, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the United States, Jordan, and Egypt sought to calm tensions, but that very day saw a Palestinian gunman shooting two brothers in the West Bank and a settler rampage against the Palestinian village of Huwara. The diplomatic effort showed how wide the gap is between leadership of these countries and the ever-worsening reality on the ground.

The Biden administration will need to do more than just call for a two-state solution. It will need to do more than offer subtle rebukes while hugging Israel closer with joint statements professing its concern for Israels security. It will need to grapple with the two revolutions underway in Israel.

One thing is clear: Focusing on the judicial aspect and not on the radical changes to the occupation of Palestinians is not just a bad strategic choice. It will also weaken security and stability for all.

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Whats behind the protests in Israel? - Vox.com

Feds indict Michigan man accused of threatening to kill Jewish … – Detroit News

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Detroit A man from the Adrian area accused of threatening to kill members of state government was indicted Thursday and could face more severe punishment because a federal grand jury alleges he intentionally targeted Jewish politicians.

The indictment of Tipton resident Jack Eugene Carpenter III, 41, was filed eight days after Carpenter was charged in the most recent incident involving alleged extremism targeting public officials and members of the Jewish community. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has said she was among those targeted by Carpenter.

Carpenter was indicted on one count of transmitting an interstate threat, a crime that carries a maximum five-year federal prison sentence. The indictment includes a special finding that Carpenter "intentionally selected Jewish members of the Michigan government as the objects of his threat...because of the actual and perceived religion of those individuals. ..."

Carpenter is being held without bond in the Livingston County Jail. His lawyer Jean Pierre Nogues III did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Hate and bias-related crimes poison our communities and make people afraid simply because of who they are or what they believe, Detroit U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in a statement. We will not tolerate such actions, and we will prosecute those who engage in them to the fullest extent of the law.

There were no public officials identified in the case against Carpenter, but FBI agents found threats on his Twitter account to "carry out the punishment of death to anyone that is jewish (sic) in the Michigan" government, according to the unsealed criminal case. The threats were sent through his Twitter account @tempered_reason, prosecutors allege.

Antisemitic incidents have been on the rise across the country. The Anti-Defamation League noted 257 incidents of white supremacy propaganda in Michigan in 2022, a large increase over the 150 incidents in 2021, according to a Thursday release and interactive map by the ADL.

More:ADL says Michigan ranks 4th in the country for most white supremacist propaganda

The investigation against Carpenter started with a tip in mid-February after the FBI office in Detroit received screenshots from the Twitter account.

The account included tweets declaring the creation of a new sovereign country called "New Israel" was formed on land that included a home in Tipton, about 10 miles north of Adrian in Lenawee County.

The Twitter account was still active Thursday and included a Feb. 17 tweet that accused unidentified Jewish public officials of waging an unlawful war of aggression using a biological weapon against me.

Investigators discovered Carpenter lived at the home and had a valid restraining order against him filed last month and a recent arrest for assault. A review showed Carpenter had three handguns registered to him.

Carpenter also was under investigation by Michigan State Police for stealing a handgun, according to the criminal case. A trooper had learned from Carpenter's mother that Carpenter was returning to Michigan soon and that he was angry. She shared Carpenter's Twitter account and screenshot of a Feb. 18 post.

"I'll be coming back to Michigan, still driving with expired plates," the post reads. "You may want to let everyone know, and Wayne County sheriff (sic) as well, any attempt to subdue me will be met with deadly force in self-defense."

Carpenter's mother told investigators her son had three handguns, a shotgun and two rifles, and was driving a 2015 green Ford Fusion.

On Feb. 18, investigators traced his cell phone to a suburb of Fort Worth, Texas. Jail records show he was held in two facilities late last month after being arrested and detained in Fort Worth.

There have been other cases involving threats targeting public officials in Michigan in recent years.

Seven people have been convicted on state or federal charges related to a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. An eighth person, FBI informant Stephen Robeson, was convicted of a federal gun crime.

rsnell@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @robertsnellnews

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Feds indict Michigan man accused of threatening to kill Jewish ... - Detroit News