By Fabienne Perlov
SAN DIEGO — San Diego is home to a thriving and diverse Jewish and LGBTQ+ population with a strong sense of belonging to the larger community. Perhaps that is why our region has been recently targeted by a fringe hate group seeking attention and revenue by distributing virulently antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ flyers designed to heighten concern, reaction, and financial support from their own supporters.
The flyers are consistent with other we have seen across the country created by a small but vocal antisemitic and white supremacist group that ADL’s Center on Extremism has been tracking for some time. The group’s leaders are well-known to law enforcement agencies, and their motivation (beyond the bigotry of their messaging) is to drive traffic to their streaming service to generate revenue – all to terrorize communities and recruit new supporters. In short, they are monetizing hate.
For that reason, we won’t share the text or images from the flyers to avoid amplifying their messaging – and we urge others to do the same. However, the conduct warrants condemnation, especially given rising antisemitism locally and nationally. It is our responsibility to call it out while not giving them the attention they so desperately crave to entertain their few supporters online and monetize their efforts.
We cannot forget that the goal of these hateful propaganda campaigns is to turn our society against those most vulnerable – to scapegoat people for who they are; to try and convince our communities that hating ordinary people will solve their problems. We know that if our community remains united in the rejection of hate and if we embrace each other’s shared humanity and remember the lessons of the past, these groups will never succeed.
The recent flyer incidents are not isolated and do not exist in a vacuum. Unfortunately, they are a microcosm of a nation that has been beleaguered by a rise in antisemitism and other forms of hate. ADL’s Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, which tracks anti-Jewish incidents of vandalism, harassment, and assault, saw a 36% increase in reported incidents in 2022 – the highest level ever recorded. Unfortunately, three of the past five years (2019, 2021, and 2022) were record-breaking years as well. Additionally, the percentage of Americans who hold substantial beliefs in age-old antisemitic tropes, reached a 30-year high in 2022 by climbing to 20 percent of our country’s population.
These troubling trends of antisemitism are mirrored in rising hate and bigotry targeting the LGBTQ+ and other marginalized or minority groups. According to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the national LGBTQ+ organization GLAAD, there were 356 incidents of anti-LGBTQ+ hate and extremism in the U.S. from June 2022 to April 2023. Nearly half of all incidents (49%) were perpetrated wholly or substantially by individuals associated with extremist groups.
According to the 2022 Hate Crimes Report from State Attorney General Rob Bonta’s Office, reported hate crime events in California increased by 20.2 percent last year. The report found that our neighbors in the Black, LGBTQ+, Hispanic, and Muslim communities saw increased numbers of reported hate crimes.
We have also seen the deadly attacks on vulnerable communities across the nation in recent years, including in El Paso, Pittsburgh, Colorado Springs and right here in San Diego County at the Chabad of Poway. The perpetrators of these atrocities are almost always influenced by online radicalization.
While we continue to track, expose and disrupt these extremist groups, let’s remember that we also saw the best of San Diego in its response. When word of the flyers reached us, our partners at the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego Mayor’s Office, and the District Attorney’s Office worked diligently with us to identify the perpetrators and show support for the targeted communities. Messages of support and solidarity rejecting the hate came in from partner organizations and friends.
In Del Cerro, a neighborhood served by Temple Emanu-El that was among those targeted by the flyers, the story of two brave residents has touched the hearts of our community. Upon discovering the flyers, two young boys took to their scooters to scour the neighborhood and remove them from cars and doorsteps. One of them shared the words: “We don’t want anyone to see those flyers. That’s why we woke up early and we started taking them off people’s cars so no one would wake up and see that to start their day.” It is stories like these that remind us there is plenty to be hopeful for.
So let me say this to you: we are still living in a community that by and large embraces human dignity and respect. The vast majority of San Diegans, and Americans as a whole, rejects hateful ideology and rightfully believes that hate groups and ideology belong to the fringes of society. Local leadership is steadfastly on the right side of this issue, as Mayor Todd Gloria and the San Diego City Council promptly issued a joint statement condemning the messaging and continue to work with us on ways to combat antisemitism and hate.
At ADL San Diego, we will remain focused on our commitment to delivering on our mission of stopping the defamation of the Jewish people and ensuring justice and fair treatment to all in our region. Our staff, lay leaders, and supporters have our boots on the ground, and are responding to incidents, coordinating efforts with law enforcement, advocating in legislatures and courts, educating students and adults, and speaking out against hate. You may not hear about our behind-the-scenes efforts to address antisemitic propaganda, but just know that we are working to protect the community and address the issue with a great sense of responsibility and urgency. We encourage community members to report hate incidents to law enforcement and ADL by texting HATEHELP to 833-448-0248 or on our website at https://www.adl.org/report-incident
Hateful individuals behind these efforts are hoping that we will be afraid and isolated. So, whether you are about to observe Shabbat with your family and friends or getting ready to join thousands of San Diegans in the Pride Parade, let’s come together in resolve and solidarity.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy San Diego Pride!
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Fabienne Perlov is the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.