ADL Reports Surge in Anti-Semitic Messages on Online Finance Sites

…in Response To Money Crisis

Inthe wake of the collapse of major investment banks and the government’sproposed bailout of financial institutions, the Anti-Defamation League(ADL) is reporting a dramatic upsurge in the number of anti-Semiticstatements being posted to Internet discussion boards devoted tofinance and the economy.

 

Hundredsof anti-Semitic posts regarding Lehman Brothers and other institutionsaffected by the subprime mortgage crisis have been submitted todiscussion boards dealing with finance, with many more arriving by theminute. The messages rail against Jews ingeneral, with some charging that Jews control the government andfinance as part of a “Jew world order” and therefore are to blame forthe economic turmoil.

Whileoperators of the most popular finance message boards, including thosehosted by Yahoo! Finance, have been quick to remove offensive comments,the rate at which new posts are arriving prevents them from removingall of the objectionable material before it is widely read.  Inmany cases, other individual members of the groups have immediatelyresponded against the anti-Semitic comments, decrying the messages asbigoted, inappropriate and categorically false.  In recent weeks since the crisis started to unfolded, many Internet users have reported their concerns directly to ADL.

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2008-10-03