Occupy Wall Street rally
Photo: AFP
'Classic anti-Semitic beliefs.' Foxman
Pro-Israeli group the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Sunday called on organizers, participants and supporters of the worldwide “Occupy Wall Street” movement to condemn anti-Semitic signs and comments that have appeared at some of the protest rallies across the country and around the world.
Last week, several anti-Semitic incidents have been reported during the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations in New York as Jews were blamed for the turmoil in America's financial markets. In addition, anti-Israel signs were raised against "Israel's occupation of Gaza".
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ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman issued a statement, saying: "We are seeing some individuals holding anti-Semitic signs at the 'Occupy Wall Street' rallies, and some videos posted on YouTube from the rallies have shown individuals expressing classic anti-Semitic beliefs such as 'Jews control the banks' and 'Jews control Wall Street'
"While we believe that these expressions are not representative of the larger views of the OWS movement, it is still critical for organizers, participants and supporters of these rallies to condemn such bigoted statements clearly and forcefully," he added.
Foxman further noted that "there is no evidence that these anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are representative of the larger movement or that they are gaining traction with other participants. However, history demonstrates time and again how economic downturns can embolden anti-Semites to spread malicious conspiracy theories and promote stereotypes about Jews and money. As a consequence, these statements must not be left unchallenged.
The League said it will continue to monitor the tenor and messages at the demonstrations to ensure that they do not get hijacked by extremists or anti-Semitic elements.
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