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X marks the spot where Elon Musk’s gesture is being debated, derided, defended and disputed

Hours after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, many Jewish groups sounded the alarm when Elon Musk appeared to twice deliver a Nazi salute at the Presidential Parade.

But the Jewish group most famous for fighting antisemitism had a different take.

“It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute,” the Anti-Defamation League wrote Monday in a statement on Musk’s own social media platform X, referring to Musk’s outstretched-arm movement that came as he was thanking his supporters.

The ADL added, “In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning.”

Musk replied, “Thanks guys,” adding a laughing emoji.

Others were less grateful for the ADL’s response. A range of groups on the left have long opposed the ADL for what they say is an improper focus on policing pro-Palestinian speech and advocating for Israel—and they criticized the group’s reaction to Musk’s gesture. But they were joined by others who have aligned in the past with the ADL, including the pro-Israel group Zioness, which said it “vehemently disagreed with ADL’s take on Elon Musk’s behavior today.”

“When we see what is clearly a Nazi salute—without apology or clarification—we must unequivocally call it out. Orgs committed to fighting antisemitism must do so no matter where on the political spectrum it comes from,” the New York Jewish Agenda, a progressive group that has collaborated with the ADL, wrote on X. “If we can’t, we’re not ready for what’s coming.”

At a time when the ADL itself has documented historic levels of antisemitism, how did it decide to give the world’s richest man the benefit of the doubt? The group declined to say on Tuesday.

An ADL spokesperson said CEO Jonathan Greenblatt was unavailable for comment, saying he was at the global economic summit in Davos, Switzerland. Greenblatt is scheduled to speak on a Thursday panel at the forum entitled “Confronting Antisemitism amid Polarization,” alongside teachers union leader Randi Weingarten and former Harvard president Lawrence Summers, both of whom are Jewish. On X, he refrained from commenting on Musk even as he posted to thank multiple airlines for resuming flights to Israel.

The ADL also declined to elaborate on its statement or explain how it was crafted in response to inquiries from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. But in its symbolic pardon of a billionaire who had enthusiastically bankrolled Trump’s campaign, it appeared to contradict its own definition of a Nazi salute, which states that the gesture “consists of raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down.”

The statement also raised questions among many about how the ADL plans to fight antisemitism during the second Trump administration—when a growing number of people in the president’s inner circle, including Musk, have track records that include rhetoric and actions the ADL usually condemns. Shortly after defending Musk, the group condemned Trump’s decision to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters, a group that included members of far-right extremist groups, and also praised his newly sworn-in secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

Into the void created by the ADL’s statement, Jewish and non-Jewish figures alike are deciding how meaningful Musk’s salute really is. The ADL’s own former director, Abraham Foxman, wrote on X that he considered Musk’s actions “very disconcerting,” writing, “Elon Musk may be the world’s richest man but that does not excuse his thanking the Trump supporters with a Heil Hitler Nazi salute.”

Foxman declined to comment to JTA on how the organization he helmed for decades responded to Musk. “The situation is too serious to engage in Jewish internal debates at this time,” Foxman said.

And Deborah Lipstadt, who served as the Biden administration’s special envoy combating global antisemitism until this week, downplayed the incident.

“I believe we have much, much bigger things to worry about regarding contemporary antisemitism than this particular issue,” Lipstadt told JTA, saying she was referring both to Musk’s salute and the ADL’s response. (Lipstadt separately told The Forward she accepted the ADL’s reading of the gesture as “awkward.”) The U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum did not respond to a request for comment on Musk’s gesture.

Others, including many progressives, were quick to denounce Musk, the ADL, or both.

“Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and a high-ranking member of the new Trump administration, gave an unambiguous Nazi salute at a post-inauguration Trump rally,” the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, a progressive group, wrote in a fundraising email topped with an image of Musk’s gesture. “We need to be prepared to call out and fight back against hate and extremism wherever we see it.”

One of the most widely shared condemnations came from Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most prominent progressive voices in Washington.

“Just to be clear, you are defending a Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity,” she wrote in response to the ADL. “People can officially stop listening to you as any sort of reputable source of information now. You work for them.”

That, in turn, drew backlash from a range of voices chiding Ocasio-Cortez, who is not Jewish, for discounting the voice of a prominent Jewish group.

Zioness, which stated its “vehement” disagreement with the ADL, also accused Ocasio-Cortez of engaging in “exploitation of this moment to openly attack the most identifiable Jewish organization in America.” But it also said, “There is no such thing as an accidental Nazi salute.”

Some people encouraged each other to flood the ADL’s own antisemitic incident reporting system with reports of Musk’s gesture. Jewish actor and former “Unorthodox” podcast co-host Josh Malina, a frequent tweeter, remarked that he would “report the ADL to the ADL,” adding, “Shame on you, ADL.”

IfNotNow, a progressive Jewish group that has been a prominent voice accusing Israel of genocide, said it was “appalled that the Anti-Defamation League—which purports to be the leading organization fighting antisemitism—glossed over Musk’s Nazi gesture, admonishing those of us who were aghast at the Hitler salute to give Musk ‘the benefit of the doubt’—even as the ADL assumes the worst intentions of those in the movement for Palestinian human rights.”

The group added that the ADL’s statement “marks the completion of the ADL’s transition from a civil rights organization to a willing partner in the neo-fascist governing coalition.”

This is far from Musk’s first brush with accusations of antisemitism. Recently, he has promoted the German far-right AfD party, whose politicians have downplayed the Holocaust, along with anti-immigrant figures and causes in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, he endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory shared on X as “the actual truth,” prompting many advertisers to flee the platform. He later mounted a rehabilitation effort, visiting Auschwitz (where he opined that X could have saved Jews from the Holocaust) and advocating on behalf of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

In recent months he has also praised a Tucker Carlson X interview with a Holocaust denier (though later deleted his endorsement of the video) and invited avowed antisemites, including Nick Fuentes, back onto the platform after they were banned by the site’s previous owners.

Fuentes, for his part, expressed confusion about the ADL’s post, writing, “Is there something else going on?” He did not elaborate on what he was thinking.

But some pro-Israel and conservative influencers rushed to Musk’s defense, accusing Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives of hypocrisy for not loudly condemning Nazi sympathizers and salutes at pro-Palestinian protests.

“TODAY, because Musk’s gesture looked like a Nazi salute, TODAY was the day they finally decided that Nazi salutes are BAD,” pro-Israel activist Jordyn Tilchen wrote on Instagram, in one representative post. Yet Tilchen also noted that “Musk should make a statement” about his gesture, “because there are far right extremists on neo-Nazi Telegram channels RIGHT NOW who believe it was” a Nazi salute.

Also defending Musk was Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, who made a name for herself by condemning university presidents for their response to antisemitism. Stefanik took part of her Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday to deny Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy’s charge that Musk had performed “two Heil Hitler salutes.”

“No, Elon Musk did not do those salutes,” Stefanik responded. “The American people are smart. They see through it. They support Elon Musk. We are proud to be the country of such successful entrepreneurs.”

Musk, for his part, pinned a video of his speech with the salute to the top of his X page. He also mocked his critics without explicitly clarifying the salute’s intent, writing on X, “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.” He called a Wikipedia page mentioning his salute “an extension of legacy media propaganda.”

Greenblatt himself has a long and tangled history with Musk, who threatened to sue the ADL when the group pledged to track hate speech on the site formerly known as Twitter after Musk first purchased it. The two appeared to make up after Oct. 7, when Musk began openly supporting Israel, visited Auschwitz and pledged to curtail anti-Zionist speech on X.

Greenblatt praised such measures even as many corporations were fleeing the platform over a spike in antisemitic content. In November 2023 he told JTA, “I will call out Elon Musk and X, like every other platform, when they get it wrong. And I will credit Elon Musk and X and every other platform when they get it right.”

The post X marks the spot where Elon Musk’s gesture is being debated, derided, defended and disputed appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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Harvard Launches New Academic Partnerships With Israel Amid Trump Funding Fight

Harvard University president Alan Garber attending the 373rd Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, May 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Harvard University has announced new partnerships with Israeli academic institutions, a move which appears aimed at reversing an impression that the institution is ideologically anti-Zionist and content with antisemitic discrimination being an allegedly daily occurrence on its campus.

As first reported by The Harvard Crimson, Harvard will hold a study abroad program, in partnership with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, for undergraduate students and a postdoctoral fellowship in which Harvard Medical School faculty will mentor and train newly credentialed Israeli scientists in biomedical research as preparation for the next stages of their careers. The campus paper — which in 2022 endorsed the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel — said the programs constitute a “dramatic expansion of the university’s academic and institutional ties to Israel.”

Speaking to the Crimson, Harvard vice provost for international affairs Mark Elliot trumpeted the announcement as a positive development and, notably, as a continuation, not a beginning, of Harvard’s “engagement with institutions of higher education across Israel.” Elliot also said Harvard is planning “increased academic collaboration across the region in the coming years.”

The new partnerships with Israel come only months after Harvard paused its relationship with a higher education institution located in the West Bank. They also coincide with the university’s titanic legal fight against the federal government to reclaim over $3 billion worth of taxpayer-funded research grants and contracts the Trump administration impounded to pressure school officials into a process of rehabilitation and reform that will see it discontinue a slew of practices conservatives have cited as causing campus antisemitism, as well as the hollowing out of American values.

Since that first step, the Trump administration has continued backing Harvard into a corner.

In June, the Trump administration issued it a “notice of violation” of civil rights law following an investigation which examined how it responded to dozens of antisemitic incidents reported by Jewish students since the 2023-2024 academic year.

Sent by the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, it charged that Harvard willfully exposed Jewish students to a deluge of racist and antisemitic abuse following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, which precipitated a surge in anti-Zionist activity on the campus. It concluded with a threat to cancel all federal funding for Harvard.

Amid this policy offensive, interim Harvard president Alan Garber held a phone call with major donors in which he “confirmed in response to a question from [Harvard Corporation Fellow David Rubenstein] that talks had resumed” but “declined to share specifics of how Harvard expected to settle with the White House.”

Garber “did not discuss how close a deal could be,” the Crimson reported, “and said instead that Harvard had focused on laying out the steps it was already taking to address issues that are common ground for the university and the Trump administration. Areas of shared concern that have been discussed with the White House included ‘viewpoint diversity’ and antisemitism.”

In a new conciliatory move reported by the Crimson, Harvard closed its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices, packing up the staff and transferring them to what will become, the Crimson said, a “new Office of Culture and Community.” It added that Harvard has “worked to strip all references to DEI … from their websites and official titles.”

Harvard will continue dealing with the fallout of its campus antisemitism problem for the foreseeable future.

Earlier this month, it was sued by a Jewish student who claims that he was exposed to antisemitic abuse because the university refused to intervene and correct a hostile environment even as his bullies’ misconduct escalated to include violence.

The mammoth complaint, totaling 124 pages, lays out the case that the university miscarried justice in the aftermath of two students’ public assault on recent Harvard Business School graduate Yoav Segev during the fall semester of the 2023-2024 academic year — just weeks after the Oct. 7 massacre — by refusing to discipline them and even rewarding them the university’s highest honors.

Segev endured a mobbing of pro-Hamas activists led by Ibrahim Bharmal and Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, who stalked him across Harvard Yard before encircling him and screaming “Shame! Shame! Shame!” as he struggled to break free from the mass of bodies which surrounded him. Video of the incident, widely viewed online at the time, showed the crush of people shoving keffiyehs — traditional headdresses worn by men in the Middle East that in some circles have come to symbolize Palestinian nationalism — in the face of the student, whom they had identified as Jewish.

“This malicious, violent, and antisemitic conduct violated several university policies — such as its anti-discrimination and anti-bullying policies — and it prompted criminal charges,” the complaint says. “No one doubts for a second that Harvard would have taken swift, aggressive, and public actions to enforce its policies had the victim been one of Harvard’s ‘favored’ minorities … Harvard’s antisemitic discrimination against Mr. Segev is far more sinister than inaction and indifference. Harvard did everything it could to defend, protect, and reward the assailants; to impede the criminal investigation; and to prevent Mr. Segev from obtaining administrative relief from the university.”

It continues, “Harvard’s antisemitic intent is obvious. Several of its faculty publicly supported the attacker and tried to blame the victim (because, the faculty said, his Jewish presence was ‘threatening’ to other students). And, of course, hundreds of rabidly anti-Israel students disrupting campus life pressured the Harvard administration. Ultimately, and shamefully, the university kowtowed to the antisemitic mob it had allowed to take over its campus.”

Alleging violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, breach of contract, and conspiracy to deny civil rights, the suit demands all relevant recompense, including damages and the reimbursement of attorneys’ fees.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

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Hezbollah Chief Rejects Disarmament Amid US and Lebanese Pressure, Accuses Washington of Aiding Israel

Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers a speech from an unknown location, Nov. 20, 2024, in this still image from video. Photo: REUTERS TV/Al Manar TV via REUTERS.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has once again rejected calls for the Lebanon-based terrorist group to disarm, saying such demands only serve Israel’s interests amid mounting pressure from the United States and the Lebanese government.

“Those who call for us to surrender our weapons are practically asking us to hand them over to Israel. We will not submit to Israel,” Qassem said in a televised speech on Wednesday.

“The US is destroying Lebanon in order to help the Zionist enemy [Israel],” he continued.

Washington and Beirut have engaged in multiple rounds of negotiations in recent weeks over a US proposal to fully disarm the Iran-backed terrorist group, which for years as held significant political power in Lebanon.

The latest proposal calls for Hezbollah to be fully disarmed within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from its five occupied posts in southern Lebanon.

“The US wants to use Lebanon as a tool to implement its own greater Middle East scheme,” Qassem said during his speech.

“The US is complicit in Israel’s violations of the ceasefire and is fueling tensions among Lebanese factions,” the terrorist leader continued.

Washington’s proposal initially called for the Lebanese government to pass a cabinet decision committing to Hezbollah’s disarmament — a step the US is now actively pushing for before resuming talks on ending Israeli military operations.

Despite growing diplomatic pressure, the Lebanese terrorist group has repeatedly rejected demands to surrender its weapons.

“Resistance in Lebanon has proved to be one of the pillars of state construction. Hezbollah’s weapons will be used to protect Lebanon against the Zionist enemy,” Qassem said. “All those who demand Hezbollah’s disarmament are serving the Israeli plot. The resistance will never agree to hand over its weapons to the Zionist enemy.”

Qassem also argued that increasing demands for Hezbollah’s disarmament are driven by Israel’s fear of the Islamist group and accused US special envoy Thomas Barrack of protecting Israeli interests at the expense of Lebanon’s security.

“Israel will not be able to defeat us, and it will not be able to take Lebanon hostage,” he said.

Last fall, Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive, following the group’s attacks on northern Israel — which they claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.

In November, Lebanon and Israel reached a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah.

Under the agreement, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army and UN forces to take over security as Hezbollah disarms and moves away from Israel’s northern border.

However, Israel maintained troops at several posts in southern Lebanon beyond the ceasefire deadline, as its leaders aimed to reassure northern residents that it was safe to return home.

Jerusalem has continued carrying out strikes targeting remaining Hezbollah activity, with Israeli leaders accusing the group of maintaining combat infrastructure, including rocket launchers — decrying “blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

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France Demands Probe Into Refugee Vetting Process as Gazan Expelled by Top University Over Antisemitic Posts

A flag is flown during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, outside the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France, Nov. 27, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman

A Palestinian from Gaza studying at the prestigious Sciences Po Lille has been expelled after French authorities discovered hundreds of antisemitic social media posts, including praise for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and calls for the murder of Jews.

The episode has led ministers in the French government to demand answers and push for an investigation into the vetting process that allowed the Gazan student to enter France in the first place.

After receiving a scholarship, 25-year-old Nour Atalla arrived in France earlier this year, planning to begin her law and communications studies at the Institute of Political Science in Lille, northern France.

She is one of 292 Gazans admitted to the country with support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following a court ruling that opened the door for Gazans to seek refugee status based on their nationality.

On Wednesday, the university announced it had revoked Atalla’s enrollment after hundreds of her past antisemitic and violent social media posts went viral, sparking widespread condemnation from political leaders and members of the local Jewish community.

In several of these posts, she glorified Hitler, praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, called for the execution of Israeli hostages and the killing of Jews, and expressed support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

“The content of these posts directly contradicts the core values of Sciences Po Lille, which actively opposes all forms of racism, antisemitism, and discrimination, as well as any incitement to hatred toward any group,” the university said in a post on X.

In one post, Atalla shared a video of Hitler giving a speech about Jews, writing. “Kill their young and their old. Show them no mercy … And kill them everywhere.”

In another post shared on Oct. 7, 2023, she wrote, “We must do everything we can to match the bloodshed — as much as possible.”

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people, kidnapped 251 hostages, and perpetrated widespread sexual violence during their Oct. 7 onslaught, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

After the posts went viral, French politician Matthias Renault of the far-right National Rally party condemned Atalla’s antisemitic views and called on Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to revoke her asylum status.

“These repeated views pose a serious threat to French society,” Renault said.

In a statement on X, Retailleau announced that he had ordered legal action to be taken against Atalla and “immediately requested the closure of this hateful account.”

“A Palestinian student, admitted to our country through a procedure beyond our Ministry’s authority, made statements that are entirely unacceptable and deeply concerning,” the French official posted.

“There is no place for Hamas sympathizers in our country,” he continued.

Philippe Baptiste, the French minister responsible for higher education and research, expressed similar outrage, noting he referred to the matter to law enforcement for potential prosecution.

“France does not have to welcome international students who advocate for terrorism, crimes against humanity, and antisemitism,” he said on X. “Whether they come from Gaza or elsewhere, international students holding or relaying such statements have no place in our country. Nor on our territory. Within the government, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that the case of the Palestinian student welcomed at Sciences-Po Lille, who relayed statements of extreme gravity on social networks, is handled with the utmost firmness. I have already referred the matter to the Public Prosecutor under Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.”

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called for an investigation into the screening process that allowed Atalla to enter the country.

“A Gazan student making antisemitic remarks has no place in France,” he posted. “The screenings carried out by the competent services of the relevant ministries have clearly not worked. I have requested that an internal investigation be conducted to ensure this cannot happen again under any circumstances.”

Atalla’s arrival drew public attention and widespread media condemnation amid an already tense political climate in France.

Like many countries around the world, France has seen an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The growing wave of anti-Jewish hatred is fueled in part by a rapidly expanding Muslim population from the Middle East and North Africa — a result of ongoing migration trends in France.

The local Jewish community in France has consistently called on authorities to take swift action against the rising wave of targeted attacks and anti-Jewish hate crimes they continue to face.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that the country will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September — part of its “commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East” — and is now urging other nations to join this initiative.

Israeli officials have condemned such a move, calling it a “reward for terrorism.”

The decision came after Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia officially recognized a Palestinian state last year, claiming that such a move would contribute to fostering a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and promote lasting peace in the region.

Following France’s announcement, Germany said it was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term, and Italy argued that recognition must occur simultaneously with the recognition of Israel by the new entity.

However, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his cabinet on Tuesday that Britain will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the “appalling situation” in Gaza.

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