Gallery Walk of Modern Antisemitism (2025)

Gallery Walk of Modern Antisemitism (Sources A-D)

Directions: Click on the image to learn more about it. Then, use what you learn to answer the reflection questions.

Sources E-N

Gallery Walk of Modern Antisemitism (Sources E-G)

Directions: Click on the image to learn more about it. Then, use what you learn to answer the reflection questions.

Sources H-N

Sources A-D

Gallery Walk of Modern Antisemitism (Sources H-K)

Directions: Click on the image to learn more about it. Then, use what you learn to answer the reflection questions.

Sources L-N

Sources A-G

Gallery Walk of Modern Antisemitism (Sources L-N)

Directions: Click on the image to learn more about it. Then, use what you learn to answer the reflection questions.

Sources A-K

I. WHITE SUPREMACIST PLANNED ATTACK ON JEWISH CHILDREN (2024)

An ABC News report shared that in New York City, in July 2024, Michail Chkhikvishvili (Shick-vish-villi), the leader of a white supremacist group and who self-identifies as "Commander Butcher" was indicted (officially accused of a crime) for allegedly planning to dress up as Santa Claus and hand out candy laced with poison to children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. The report also shared that Chkhikvishvili distributed a manifesto called the "Hater's Handbook," in which he stated that he had "murdered for the white race" and encouraged readers to commit violent mass "terror attacks" to promote "ethnic cleansing," particularly within the U.S. Chkhikvishvili's arrest prevented a violent attack, but the planned plot demonstrates the dangerous prevalence of the delusion that Jews are attempting to "replace" white people – a delusion that fuels antisemitism, extremism, and acts of violence.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. How do the actions and ideologies of white supremacist groups undermine principles of equality, social cohesion, and democratic values within a society?
3. Where do you think the line lies between the right to free speech and the kind of hateful, threatening behavior we see from neo-Nazis? Is all speech protected, or are there limits?

D. ANTISEMITISM IN ONLINE GAMING PLATFORMS (2023)

An article by Take this., a non-profit organization that aims to decrease the stigma and increase the support for mental health in the game enthusiast community and inside the game industry, shared that, “Since October 7, there has been an approximate 186% increase in antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate speech within the online gaming community in game-adjacenet platforms.” This image is from a gaming community comment board regarding the mergers of some tech companies and the perceived negative impact it might have on some popular games, like Grand Theft Auto. The comments reveal a perception of greed surrounding the business dealings. One commenter went so far as to infer Jewish ownership or leadership based solely on the company's financial success, perpetuating a dangerous antisemitic trope. This was followed by an explicit call for the death of Jews.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. What centuries’ old myth is evident in this example of anti-Jew hate?
3. How do online gaming sites contribute to the normalization and spread of antisemitic rhetoric and ideologies among (mostly) young people?

G. LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES BLAMED ON JEWS (2025)

In early January 2025, devastating wildfires destroyed many areas of Los Angeles, California. Some extremists and conspiracy theorists spread falsehoods that blamed them on Jews. The fires were likely caused by drought, wind, and climate change, but that did not stop extremists from using the fires as an excuse to attack and scapegoat Jews for the disaster. One of the false narratives is that Jews are responsible for the fires and deserve to suffer because of them. Another is that Jews are causing harm because they control all the insurance companies (many of which are denying claims). The charge that Jews control all the insurance companies is false and feeds into an antisemitic trope that Jews are greedy, control everything, and don’t care about others. On top of the false and dangerous rumors blaming Jews for the California wildfires, some people were happy about the fires burning neighborhoods with large Jewish populations. These people were glad that Jews and others lost their homes, and some even their lives. One neo-Nazi leader posted online about how great it was that "expensive Jewish neighborhoods" were destroyed.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. Why do you think conspiracy theories exist?
3. Why is it dangerous to blame Jews for the Los Angeles wildfires?
4. Bonus: How does expressing or feeling glad about Jews losing homes and businesses in the Los Angeles fires reflect societal prejudices and what are the potential consequences of such sentiments?

L. WALT WHITMAN HIGH SCHOOL (2022)

On December 17, 2022, just before the start of Hanukkah, “JEWS NOT WELCOME” was spray-painted on the entrance sign of Walt Whitman High School in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. How might graffiti affect the targeted person's sense of belonging and safety at school or in their community?
3. Beyond the direct target, how might such graffiti affect other students or community members who are part of marginalized communities?
4. What are the responsibilities of students, teachers, and staff in preventing and addressing prejudice and discrimination in schools?

L. SOCIAL MEDIA - JEWISH TEEN ON TIKTOK (2022 and 2023)

According to the American Bar Association, after the Hamas massacre of over 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) detected a surging increase of up to 500 percent in the volume of online antisemitism. These have included death threats, like Cornell University student Patrick Dai’s threat to shoot Jews on campus, and sexually explicit messages used to harass Jewish social media users, especially women and girls. Perpetrators have also employed emojis and codewords for visual intimidation and attack.In December 2022, a teenage TikTok user shared her positive experience at a Jewish youth group event. Though the majority of comments came from fellow Jewish teens, one user posted three messages, each a veiled reference to the horrors of the Holocaust. The initial comment, pairing a flame emoji with an emoji of a long-nosed face, callously referenced the burning of Jews represented by the bigoted stereotype emoji. The second comment repeated the long-nosed emoji. The last comment is the date 1939, referencing the year that Germany invaded Poland, which was home to over three million Jews at that time. The invasion initiated World War II and set the stage for the Holocaust. What is interesting to note about the anti-Jew hate comments is that they were made in October 2023, two weeks after the Hamas attack on October 7th, and nearly one year after the initial post was published. This may indicate that user NSCRUSADER88 was intentionally trolling Jewish accounts at a time of vulnerability for Jews.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. What are the psychological and emotional impacts of being targeted online for who you are?
1. Think about this from the perspective of the person being targeted and the perspective of the others who witness it and its potential impact on them.

H. MENLO-ATHERTON HIGH SCHOOL (2023)

On October 16, 2023, William Kesselman, then a freshman at Menlo-Atherton High School in the California Bay Area, was surrounded by a group of classmates who called him a kike and said they hope he and his entire family burn in hell and that Hamas kills them all. The word “kike” is an ethnic slur that is a highly offensive term used to denigrate Jews. It is widely considered to be a form of hate speech. Hamas is identified as a terrorist organization by Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. It has been the ruling government of the Palestinian people in Gaza since 2006, following Israel's withdrawal from the territory in 2005. This incident took place a few weeks after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. Why do racial and ethnic slurs cause a deeper kind of harm than just being rude, and how is that harm created differently than with other insults?

M. PINE BUSH CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT (2010s)

Students in the Pine Bush Central School district in New York reported experiencing a pattern of anti-Jew harassment and bullying in their schools for years. Among the slurs that the students were subjected to were “Christ killer” and “Jesus hater.” They also reported being called slurs including “dirty, disgusting Jew” and “kike.” The word “kike” is an ethnic slur that is a highly offensive term used to denigrate Jews. It is widely considered to be a form of hate speech. Jewish students were subjected to Nazi salutes and Holocaust-related insults. The students also frequently encountered antisemitic graffiti, like the image on the right, which includes a swastika and the numbers 666 (a number associated with the devil in Christianity) embedded into a pentagram, a symbol associated with Satanism and evil. Hanging off the star are crosses, symbols of Christianity. Student reports described physical violence, including beatings, slappings, and attempts to force pennies into the mouth of a Jewish student.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. How do racial and ethnic slurs impact the person being targeted?
3. How might the experiences described affect the emotional and psychological well-being of the Jewish students targeted?
4. How might these experiences affect Jewish students' relationship with their own religious and cultural identity?
5. Beyond the Jewish students targeted, how might this environment impact other students in the school, both Jewish and non-Jewish?

I. LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES BLAMED ON JEWS (2025)

In early January 2025, devastating wildfires destroyed many areas of Los Angeles, California. Some extremists and conspiracy theorists spread falsehoods that blamed them on Jews. The fires were likely caused by drought, wind, and climate change, but that did not stop extremists from using the fires as an excuse to attack and scapegoat Jews for the disaster. One of the false narratives is that Jews are responsible for the fires and deserve to suffer because of them. Another is that Jews are causing harm because they control all the insurance companies (many of which are denying claims). The charge that Jews control all the insurance companies is false and feeds into an antisemitic trope that Jews are greedy, control everything, and don’t care about others. On top of the false and dangerous rumors blaming Jews for the California wildfires, some people were happy about the fires burning neighborhoods with large Jewish populations. These people were glad that Jews and others lost their homes, and some even their lives. One neo-Nazi leader posted online about how great it was that "expensive Jewish neighborhoods" were destroyed.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. Why do you think conspiracy theories exist?
3. Why is it dangerous to blame Jews for the Los Angeles wildfires?
4. Bonus: How does expressing or feeling glad about Jews losing homes and businesses in the Los Angeles fires reflect societal prejudices and what are the potential consequences of such sentiments?

K. JEWISH STUDENTS EXCLUDED FROM SCHOOL-WIDE EVENT (2024)

Maya Gordon, then a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, spoke at a community meeting about antisemitism, detailing the concerning mistreatment Jewish students experienced at her school. She saw things like swastikas and the phrase "From the river to the sea" (which is used by some to call for the destruction of Israel, since the river refers to the Jordan river on Israel's Eastern side and the sea is the Mediterranean on Israel's Western side) written on bathroom walls. Someone even scratched a swastika into the dirt on a student's car. However, it was what she explained as an act of overt antisemitism surrounding the school’s biannual cultural food fair that was most disturbing to her. Student groups representing a diverse array of backgrounds bring foods representative of their cultures to the event. The Jewish Student Union typically shares food such as bagels with cream cheese schmears, rugelach, hamantaschen, and falafel balls with small Israeli flags. Gordon shared that she was proud of how united everyone was at these food fairs. It showed they were one school, one community. But as fair preparations were underway for the next event, Gordon said she was told by a student that, “they didn’t want the Jews there”. She shared that she was told this more than once. Although the Jewish student group was ultimately permitted to participate following administrative intervention, Gordon expressed disappointment that this incident was not recognized and addressed as an act of overt antisemitism, and that insufficient attention was given to the profound harm and pain it caused.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. Is it ever fair to target/harass/exclude people based on their identity, i.e., gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, etc.? Explain.
3. Did you ever try to intervene when you saw someone being excluded?
1. If so, what did you do? If not, why not?
4. How do acts of exclusion impact the school community as a whole?

H. YE (FORMERLY KANYE WEST) ON THE LEX FRIDMAN PODCAST (2022)

When Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast, the host, who is Jewish, questioned him about some of his recent controversial comments about Jews. During the conversation, Ye shared the following: “90% of Black people in entertainment — from sports, to music, to acting — are in some way tied into Jewish business people…there’s a Jewish person right there controlling the country, the Jewish people controlling who gets the best video or not, controlling what the media says about me.” Ye’s description of Jews controlling the country and the media is classic antisemitism that harkens back to tropes and images of Jews controlling and dominating the world. In early February 2025, Ye unleashed a series of antisemitic posts on X, including calling himself a Nazi and purchasing an ad during the Super Bowl to advertise his website that sold only one item, a t-shirt featuring a swastika (a hate symbol adopted by the Nazi party that is associated with anti-Jew hate, white supremacy, and neo-Nazism). In May 2025, he released a song titled "Heil Hitler", featuring antisemitic lyrics and a sample from a Hitler speech. It has been removed from most major streaming platforms but remains available on X (formerly Twitter).

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. How do the actions and ideologies of white supremacist groups undermine principles of equality, social cohesion, and democratic values within a society?
3. Where do you think the line lies between the right to free speech and the kind of hateful, threatening behavior we see from neo-Nazis? Is all speech protected, or are there limits?

J. CITY COMMISSIONER USING “JEW DOWN” TERMINOLOGY (2023)

Everyday language sometimes includes antisemitic ideas without people realizing it. For example,“to Jew down” is a derogatory phrase that means to haggle or bargain in the hopes of getting a cheaper price. While it may seem harmless, this term reinforces the stereotype that Jews are stingy and greedy. Unfortunately, the prejudiced term “to Jew down” is still very much in use. While purchasing in a local shop, Sam Parker, the Commissioner of Santa Rosa County, FL, was recorded saying, "Hey, I'm going to have to Jew you down" to the store owner.During a later Commission Committee meeting, he defended the use of this phrase by saying: "I'm not referring to the Jewish community. I use that term as an adjective, as a descriptive word of bargaining them down." However, his use of this word still represents a form of anti-Jew hate since it reinforces stereotypes.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. What does this suggest about the language we use?
3. Are commonly used phrases always acceptable?
4. How can language, consciously or not, perpetuate stereotypes?

B. EXCERPT FROM JOHN EARNEST MANIFESTO (2019)

Context: On April 27, 2019, during the final night of Passover, John Earnest entered a synagogue in Poway (near San Diego), California, armed with a rifle. He killed one person and wounded five others. In a manifesto (a public statement explaining someone’s intentions or motivations) he wrote before the shooting, Earnest explicitly stated that he was motivated by hatred of Jews, whom he blamed for a range of societal ills, including what he called the "Jewish practice of ritual murder." Below is an excerpt from his manifesto:

“...you are not forgotten, Simon of Trent, the horror that you and countless children have endured at the hands of the Jews will never be forgiven…”

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. What centuries-old myth is reflected in the beliefs of the perpetrator of this anti-Jewish attack?
3. What does this tell us about the power of myths?

C. SOCIAL MEDIA - JEWISH TEEN ON TIKTOK (2022 and 2023)

According to the American Bar Association, after the Hamas massacre of over 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) detected a surging increase of up to 500 percent in the volume of online antisemitism. These have included death threats, like Cornell University student Patrick Dai’s threat to shoot Jews on campus, and sexually explicit messages used to harass Jewish social media users, especially women and girls. Perpetrators have also employed emojis and codewords for visual intimidation and attack.In December 2022, a teenage TikTok user shared her positive experience at a Jewish youth group event. Though the majority of comments came from fellow Jewish teens, one user posted three messages, each a veiled reference to the horrors of the Holocaust. The initial comment, pairing a flame emoji with an emoji of a long-nosed face, callously referenced the burning of Jews represented by the bigoted stereotype emoji. The second comment repeated the long-nosed emoji. The last comment is the date 1939, referencing the year that Germany invaded Poland, which was home to over three million Jews at that time. The invasion initiated World War II and set the stage for the Holocaust. What is interesting to note about the anti-Jew hate comments is that they were made in October 2023, two weeks after the Hamas attack on October 7th, and nearly one year after the initial post was published. This may indicate that user NSCRUSADER88 was intentionally trolling Jewish accounts at a time of vulnerability for Jews.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. What are the psychological and emotional impacts of being targeted online for who you are?
1. Think about this from the perspective of the person being targeted and the perspective of the others who witness it and its potential impact on them.

K. JEWISH STUDENTS EXCLUDED FROM SCHOOL-WIDE EVENT (2024)

Maya Gordon, then a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, spoke at a community meeting about antisemitism, detailing the concerning mistreatment Jewish students experienced at her school. She saw things like swastikas and the phrase "From the river to the sea" (which is used by some to call for the destruction of Israel, since the river refers to the Jordan river on Israel's Eastern side and the sea is the Mediterranean on Israel's Western side) written on bathroom walls. Someone even scratched a swastika into the dirt on a student's car. However, it was what she explained as an act of overt antisemitism surrounding the school’s biannual cultural food fair that was most disturbing to her. Student groups representing a diverse array of backgrounds bring foods representative of their cultures to the event. The Jewish Student Union typically shares food such as bagels with cream cheese schmears, rugelach, hamantaschen, and falafel balls with small Israeli flags. Gordon shared that she was proud of how united everyone was at these food fairs. It showed they were one school, one community. But as fair preparations were underway for the next event, Gordon said she was told by a student that, “they didn’t want the Jews there”. She shared that she was told this more than once. Although the Jewish student group was ultimately permitted to participate following administrative intervention, Gordon expressed disappointment that this incident was not recognized and addressed as an act of overt antisemitism, and that insufficient attention was given to the profound harm and pain it caused.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. Is it ever fair to target/harass/exclude people based on their identity, i.e., gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, etc.? Explain.
3. Did you ever try to intervene when you saw someone being excluded?
1. If so, what did you do? If not, why not?
4. How do acts of exclusion impact the school community as a whole?

G. WHITE SUPREMACIST PLANNED ATTACK ON JEWISH CHILDREN (2024)

An ABC News report shared that in New York City, in July 2024, Michail Chkhikvishvili (Shick-vish-villi), the leader of a white supremacist group and who self-identifies as "Commander Butcher" was indicted (officially accused of a crime) for allegedly planning to dress up as Santa Claus and hand out candy laced with poison to children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. The report also shared that Chkhikvishvili distributed a manifesto called the "Hater's Handbook," in which he stated that he had "murdered for the white race" and encouraged readers to commit violent mass "terror attacks" to promote "ethnic cleansing," particularly within the U.S. Chkhikvishvili's arrest prevented a violent attack, but the planned plot demonstrates the dangerous prevalence of the delusion that Jews are attempting to "replace" white people – a delusion that fuels antisemitism, extremism, and acts of violence.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. How do the actions and ideologies of white supremacist groups undermine principles of equality, social cohesion, and democratic values within a society?
3. Where do you think the line lies between the right to free speech and the kind of hateful, threatening behavior we see from neo-Nazis? Is all speech protected, or are there limits?

A. GOOGLE’S LEADING DICTIONARY DEFINITION (2022)

Google is not immune to anti-Jew hate. In 2022, the company had to address a significant issue with the primary definition of the term "Jew" that appeared in its search results. Before the correction, the top result for the word "Jew" presented it as a verb and included an offensive and antisemitic description: "Bargain with someone in a miserly or petty way."

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. Why do you think a prejudiced definition like this was published by Google?
3. What does this tell us about the type of information about Jews that can be found online?

C. PINE BUSH CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT (2010s)

Students in the Pine Bush Central School district in New York reported experiencing a pattern of anti-Jew harassment and bullying in their schools for years. Among the slurs that the students were subjected to were “Christ killer” and “Jesus hater.” They also reported being called slurs including “dirty, disgusting Jew” and “kike.” The word “kike” is an ethnic slur that is a highly offensive term used to denigrate Jews. It is widely considered to be a form of hate speech. Jewish students were subjected to Nazi salutes and Holocaust-related insults. The students also frequently encountered antisemitic graffiti, like the image on the right, which includes a swastika and the numbers 666 (a number associated with the devil in Christianity) embedded into a pentagram, a symbol associated with Satanism and evil. Hanging off the star are crosses, symbols of Christianity. Student reports described physical violence, including beatings, slappings, and attempts to force pennies into the mouth of a Jewish student.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. How do racial and ethnic slurs impact the person being targeted?
3. How might the experiences described affect the emotional and psychological well-being of the Jewish students targeted?
4. How might these experiences affect Jewish students' relationship with their own religious and cultural identity?
5. Beyond the Jewish students targeted, how might this environment impact other students in the school, both Jewish and non-Jewish?

B. SOCIAL MEDIA - FACEBOOK BAKING PAGE (2025)

Anti-Jewish myths are prevalent throughout history. One in particular surrounded the origins of the Black Death in 1349. This plague devastated Europe in the fourteenth century, killing an estimated 25-50 million people. Since medical knowledge in the medieval period was extremely limited, people offered religious explanations for the catastrophe. The most popular explanations provided were of God punishing those who had sinned or the Devil working to destroy Christianity. A popular anti-Jewish myth claimed that Jews had been recruited by the Devil to carry out this work. According to this slander, Jews had enthusiastically agreed to do the Devil’s work by poisoning water wells to infect Christians with the disease. Even though this was blatantly false and Jews were also dying from the plague, many people widely believed the myth. Thousands of Jews were massacred as a result, and whole communities were wiped out across Europe. Social media platforms enable people to connect with individuals who share their interests. In this example, the Facebook account is intended to share the owner’s love for baking. In the post, the account owner is explaining that they are making a pound cake to serve at their synagogue (the building where a Jewish assembly or congregation meets for religious worship and instruction). Nearly two thousand people shared their positive reactions to this post, and many followers of the account shared kind comments in the chat box. Unfortunately, one comment repeated the anti-Jewish slander, telling the baker not to poison the cake like Jews were accused of doing in 1349 Europe. Nearly 700 years separate the accusation that was made against the Jews in Medieval Europe and this social media post, yet this hateful and false trope continues to be spread.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. Why do you think some people feel emboldened to target and harass others online?
3. What is the difference between expressing an opinion and engaging in targeted harassment? Where is the line?

F. GOOGLE’S LEADING DICTIONARY DEFINITION (2022)

Google is not immune to anti-Jew hate. In 2022, the company had to address a significant issue with the primary definition of the term "Jew" that appeared in its search results. Before the correction, the top result for the word "Jew" presented it as a verb and included an offensive and antisemitic description: "Bargain with someone in a miserly or petty way."

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. Why do you think a prejudiced definition like this was published by Google?
3. What does this tell us about the type of information about Jews that can be found online?

F. EXCERPT FROM JOHN EARNEST MANIFESTO (2019)

Context: On April 27, 2019, during the final night of Passover, John Earnest entered a synagogue in Poway (near San Diego), California, armed with a rifle. He killed one person and wounded five others. In a manifesto (a public statement explaining someone’s intentions or motivations) he wrote before the shooting, Earnest explicitly stated that he was motivated by hatred of Jews, whom he blamed for a range of societal ills, including what he called the "Jewish practice of ritual murder." Below is an excerpt from his manifesto:

“...you are not forgotten, Simon of Trent, the horror that you and countless children have endured at the hands of the Jews will never be forgiven…”

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. What centuries-old myth is reflected in the beliefs of the perpetrator of this anti-Jewish attack?
3. What does this tell us about the power of myths?

Roosevelt Middle School PROPAGANDA PROJECT (2024)

A teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in San Francisco asked students to create a “propaganda poster” that would “persuade your audience” on an issue important to them. According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, “Many students used the opportunity to create public service announcements for cleaner oceans or against food waste and texting while driving. A handful called for an end to the war in Gaza.” There was a poster, in particular, that made a seventh-grade student at the school take notice. The student’s parents asked The Times not to share her name for fear they would face retaliation from classmates and teachers. A student had drawn an image of a Star of David exuding thick chains shackling what appeared to be an outline of Israel and the Palestinian territories. Beneath the image, written in red and all capitals, was the phrase “from the river to the sea” — a slogan many Jews consider a call for the expulsion and genocide of Israeli Jews. Inside the star was the word “Zionism,” the student said. “It felt really unsafe. I couldn’t be in there anymore, because there was hate against my religion up on the wall,” said the student. In response to this event, Rabbi Adam Naftalin-Kelman, a Berkeley public school parent, shared: “There’s a heaviness that exists since Oct. 7 for Jewish families, families that have a connection to Israel, Zionists, Israelis…And many now have a thudding sense that some of their teachers, classmates, and colleagues have “no understanding of who they are".

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. What do you think of the idea of creating a propaganda project?
3. Is there ever a justifiable use of propaganda?
1. If so, what are the ethical considerations?
4. How could this project be reframed to focus on critical analysis of propaganda rather than its creation?

N. WALT WHITMAN HIGH SCHOOL (2022)

On December 17, 2022, just before the start of Hanukkah, “JEWS NOT WELCOME” was spray-painted on the entrance sign of Walt Whitman High School in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. How might graffiti affect the targeted person's sense of belonging and safety at school or in their community?
3. Beyond the direct target, how might such graffiti affect other students or community members who are part of marginalized communities?
4. What are the responsibilities of students, teachers, and staff in preventing and addressing prejudice and discrimination in schools?

N. Roosevelt Middle School PROPAGANDA PROJECT (2024)

A teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in San Francisco asked students to create a “propaganda poster” that would “persuade your audience” on an issue important to them. According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, “Many students used the opportunity to create public service announcements for cleaner oceans or against food waste and texting while driving. A handful called for an end to the war in Gaza.” There was a poster, in particular, that made a seventh-grade student at the school take notice. The student’s parents asked The Times not to share her name for fear they would face retaliation from classmates and teachers. A student had drawn an image of a Star of David exuding thick chains shackling what appeared to be an outline of Israel and the Palestinian territories. Beneath the image, written in red and all capitals, was the phrase “from the river to the sea” — a slogan many Jews consider a call for the expulsion and genocide of Israeli Jews. Inside the star was the word “Zionism,” the student said. “It felt really unsafe. I couldn’t be in there anymore, because there was hate against my religion up on the wall,” said the student. In response to this event, Rabbi Adam Naftalin-Kelman, a Berkeley public school parent, shared: “There’s a heaviness that exists since Oct. 7 for Jewish families, families that have a connection to Israel, Zionists, Israelis…And many now have a thudding sense that some of their teachers, classmates, and colleagues have “no understanding of who they are".

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. What do you think of the idea of creating a propaganda project?
3. Is there ever a justifiable use of propaganda?
1. If so, what are the ethical considerations?
4. How could this project be reframed to focus on critical analysis of propaganda rather than its creation?

D. ANTISEMITISM IN ONLINE GAMING PLATFORMS (2023)

An article by Take this., a non-profit organization that aims to decrease the stigma and increase the support for mental health in the game enthusiast community and inside the game industry, shared that, “Since October 7, there has been an approximate 186% increase in antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate speech within the online gaming community in game-adjacenet platforms.” This image is from a gaming community comment board regarding the mergers of some tech companies and the perceived negative impact it might have on some popular games, like Grand Theft Auto. The comments reveal a perception of greed surrounding the business dealings. One commenter went so far as to infer Jewish ownership or leadership based solely on the company's financial success, perpetuating a dangerous antisemitic trope. This was followed by an explicit call for the death of Jews.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. What centuries’ old myth is evident in this example of anti-Jew hate?
3. How do online gaming sites contribute to the normalization and spread of antisemitic rhetoric and ideologies among (mostly) young people?

A. SOCIAL MEDIA - FACEBOOK BAKING PAGE (2025)

Anti-Jewish myths are prevalent throughout history. One in particular surrounded the origins of the Black Death in 1349. This plague devastated Europe in the fourteenth century, killing an estimated 25-50 million people. Since medical knowledge in the medieval period was extremely limited, people offered religious explanations for the catastrophe. The most popular explanations provided were of God punishing those who had sinned or the Devil working to destroy Christianity. A popular anti-Jewish myth claimed that Jews had been recruited by the Devil to carry out this work. According to this slander, Jews had enthusiastically agreed to do the Devil’s work by poisoning water wells to infect Christians with the disease. Even though this was blatantly false and Jews were also dying from the plague, many people widely believed the myth. Thousands of Jews were massacred as a result, and whole communities were wiped out across Europe. Social media platforms enable people to connect with individuals who share their interests. In this example, the Facebook account is intended to share the owner’s love for baking. In the post, the account owner is explaining that they are making a pound cake to serve at their synagogue (the building where a Jewish assembly or congregation meets for religious worship and instruction). Nearly two thousand people shared their positive reactions to this post, and many followers of the account shared kind comments in the chat box. Unfortunately, one comment repeated the anti-Jewish slander, telling the baker not to poison the cake like Jews were accused of doing in 1349 Europe. Nearly 700 years separate the accusation that was made against the Jews in Medieval Europe and this social media post, yet this hateful and false trope continues to be spread.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. Why do you think some people feel emboldened to target and harass others online?
3. What is the difference between expressing an opinion and engaging in targeted harassment? Where is the line?

E. YE (FORMERLY KANYE WEST) ON THE LEX FRIDMAN PODCAST (2022)

When Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast, the host, who is Jewish, questioned him about some of his recent controversial comments about Jews. During the conversation, Ye shared the following: “90% of Black people in entertainment — from sports, to music, to acting — are in some way tied into Jewish business people…there’s a Jewish person right there controlling the country, the Jewish people controlling who gets the best video or not, controlling what the media says about me.” Ye’s description of Jews controlling the country and the media is classic antisemitism that harkens back to tropes and images of Jews controlling and dominating the world. In early February 2025, Ye unleashed a series of antisemitic posts on X, including calling himself a Nazi and purchasing an ad during the Super Bowl to advertise his website that sold only one item, a t-shirt featuring a swastika (a hate symbol adopted by the Nazi party that is associated with anti-Jew hate, white supremacy, and neo-Nazism). In May 2025, he released a song titled "Heil Hitler", featuring antisemitic lyrics and a sample from a Hitler speech. It has been removed from most major streaming platforms but remains available on X (formerly Twitter).

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. How do the actions and ideologies of white supremacist groups undermine principles of equality, social cohesion, and democratic values within a society?
3. Where do you think the line lies between the right to free speech and the kind of hateful, threatening behavior we see from neo-Nazis? Is all speech protected, or are there limits?

E. CITY COMMISSIONER USING “JEW DOWN” TERMINOLOGY (2023)

Everyday language sometimes includes antisemitic ideas without people realizing it. For example,“to Jew down” is a derogatory phrase that means to haggle or bargain in the hopes of getting a cheaper price. While it may seem harmless, this term reinforces the stereotype that Jews are stingy and greedy. Unfortunately, the prejudiced term “to Jew down” is still very much in use. While purchasing in a local shop, Sam Parker, the Commissioner of Santa Rosa County, FL, was recorded saying, "Hey, I'm going to have to Jew you down" to the store owner.During a later Commission Committee meeting, he defended the use of this phrase by saying: "I'm not referring to the Jewish community. I use that term as an adjective, as a descriptive word of bargaining them down." However, his use of this word still represents a form of anti-Jew hate since it reinforces stereotypes.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. What does this suggest about the language we use?
3. Are commonly used phrases always acceptable?
4. How can language, consciously or not, perpetuate stereotypes?

M. MENLO-ATHERTON HIGH SCHOOL (2023)

On October 16, 2023, William Kesselman, then a freshman at Menlo-Atherton High School in the California Bay Area, was surrounded by a group of classmates who called him a kike and said they hope he and his entire family burn in hell and that Hamas kills them all. The word “kike” is an ethnic slur that is a highly offensive term used to denigrate Jews. It is widely considered to be a form of hate speech. Hamas is identified as a terrorist organization by Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. It has been the ruling government of the Palestinian people in Gaza since 2006, following Israel's withdrawal from the territory in 2005. This incident took place a few weeks after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your reaction to the source?
2. Why do racial and ethnic slurs cause a deeper kind of harm than just being rude, and how is that harm created differently than with other insults?