Antisemitism: Jews have to "meet in secret locations" at DNC

Abraham Foxman, a Holocaust survivor and former national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) - a Jewish civil rights organization - expressed concern about growing antisemitism in the United States, noting that the situation has reached the point where Jews must hold meetings in secret during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago.

Foxman made particular reference to an event held by the Jewish organization Agudath Israel of America, which took place during the DNC to address the rise in antisemitic actions against Orthodox Jews, but was disrupted by a group of pro-Hamas protesters who chanted anti-Israel slogans.

After the disruption, Foxman wrote on the social network X that in the "future it will be better, for Jews in America then it is today," although he lamented that "it will never be the same," as "after After 50 years fighting antisemitism in America, I could not have imagined a time Jews would have to meet in secret locations in Chicago at DNC."

The ADL took aim at the pro-Hamas activists' protest: "It's anti-Semitic"

The ADL referred to the disruption of the meeting organized by Agudath Israel of America, claiming that it was clearly anti-Semitic because the event did not address Zionism, so the pro-Hamas rioters acted that way simply because it was a Jewish event.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the current national director of the ADL, condemned the actions of the pro-Hamas protesters on X, stating that targeting a group of people just because they are "visibly Jewish is antisemitic." He also argued that "Protesting an event about protecting the Jewish community is antisemitic." He added that "collectively holding all Jews responsible for something that you don’t like in the Middle East is antisemitic."

Earlier, Foxman took aim at pro-Hamas rallies in Chicago. "The protesters are not for freedom of speech, they are for hate speech. They are not for peace, they are for destroying Israel," he said.