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Jewish man sues Elon Musk for suggesting he is a white supremacist
(JTA) – A Jewish man who recently graduated college has sued billionaire Elon Musk for insinuating on his social media network, X, that the man was a member of a white supremacist group.
Ben Brody, 22, is suing Musk for libel after the tech mogul reacted repeatedly to a photo of him this summer on X, formerly known as Twitter. In a post accompanying the photo, a user on the platform speculated that Brody was (or was posing as) a member of the Rose City Nationalists, an extremist group in Portland, Oregon, with ties to white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
The photo of Brody, who graduated from the University of California, Riverside, earlier this year, was actually taken at his Jewish college fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi.
“Given his Jewish heritage, Ben was understandably horrified at being accused by Musk of donning neo-Nazi regalia, an act that would be utterly profane and blasphemous if it were true,” reads the complaint in Brody’s lawsuit, filed Monday in a district court in Austin, Texas, in the county where Musk lives. The complaint continues, “Ben has suffered severe emotional harm and enormous damage to his reputation and public image.”
The lawsuit is the latest antisemitism-related controversy on X, formerly known as Twitter, since Musk’s takeover of the platform last fall. In recent months, Musk has launched a series of attacks on the Anti-Defamation League by engaging with posts by white supremacists and claiming that an advertiser boycott spearheaded by the Jewish civil rights group has been responsible for depleting the company’s value.
In recent livestreamed meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a group of largely conservative-leaning Jews, Musk defended his record of combatting antisemitism on X while saying he was adhering to free-speech principles.
Musk frequently reacts to posts espousing conspiracy theories on his platform, and his engagement with the tweets about Brody followed a similar pattern. Following a physical altercation in Portland in June between the Rose City Nationalists and the Proud Boys, a rival right-wing extremist group, Musk asked his millions of followers to verify the identities of the group’s members caught on video.
“Who were the unmasked individuals?” he wrote on June 25. One account dug up Brody’s AEPi photo and claimed he was one of the “unmasked” members, posting the image next to a screenshot from a video of the brawl. Musk replied, “very odd” to the image.
In another instance, he replied “Always remove their masks,” to the same set of images.
After Brody posted an Instagram video seeking to clear his name and shared debit card receipts to demonstrate he was in California at the time of the incident, multiple users tried to tell Musk he had the wrong man.
“All these accusations are kind of just crazy and incorrect,” Brody said in the video, posted on June 26. “My family and I are just being harassed completely and I would be more than happy to clear up any confusion if necessary. This is just so ridiculous and I really just can’t believe this is happening to me right now.”
But Musk continued to promote the theory, writing in a follow-up post on June 27, “Looks like one is a college student (who wants to join the govt),” echoing language from a biography of Brody from his fraternity. Musk added, “a probable false flag situation,” seemingly suggesting the warring extremists were government plants.
These tweets were tantamount to libel, Brody’s suit alleges. Musk’s statements “convey a defamatory meaning” and “exposed him to public hatred, contempt and ridicule,” the suit reads. Brody seeks damages of at least $1 million and a jury trial.
The legal battle will be difficult, as Musk has already beaten one libel charge involving his tweets. In 2019 a federal jury rejected a claim brought by a British cave explorer whom Musk called a “pedo guy,” short for pedophile, after the two feuded over the best course of action for the previous year’s high-profile cave rescue of a youth soccer team in Thailand.
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The post Jewish man sues Elon Musk for suggesting he is a white supremacist appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
The post Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
The post Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
The post Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.