Friends,
The Coronavirus is changing everything—how we live and how we think. As the number of confirmed cases surge, we are all facing a public health crisis, assaults on human rights and dignity, and – for many of us personally, questions of life and death.
With sorrow but not surprise, we are also watching a predictable uptick in hate and extremist violence around the world. (Read more). Chaos creates uncertainty. Uncertainty fuels fear. And fear is a trigger—for extremism.
● There has been a dramatic surge in the targeting of Asian communities all over, exasperated by an increase in xenophobic rhetoric and mischaracterizations of the virus as Chinese. (Read more).
● The New Jersey Department of Homeland Security (NJDHS) warned of white supremacists taking advantage of the pandemic to cause chaos. (Read more).
● Borders are closing to refugees all over the world, as are fears that they will spread the disease (Read more).
● The ADL warns that extremists are using the COVID-19 pandemic to mainstream their conspiracy theories, xenophobia and anti-Semitism—including with escalating online and social media attacks and by blaming Jews for causing the pandemic. (Read more).
Whether in person or online, all forms of extremism are deadly. Our response? It’s time to build solutions and support everyone in our international community. It is through social support—even as we practice physical distancing—that we can counter hate and save lives.
You can help from the safety of your own home. Our resource, Five Ways To Counter Extremism On Social Media can help you take a stand against the extremism that is still present and waiting to pounce.
None of us know what the coming weeks and months will bring, but we do know this: None of us are in this alone. Our community is strong, and we will help each other pull through,
Joyce S. Dubensky Mark Fowler
CEO Deputy CEO