Washington DC – After Elon Musk did something Obvious Nazi salute At the inauguration of the President of the United States Donald TrumpThe Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was quick to defend the SpaceX founder.

The self-described anti-Semitism watchdog and “the world’s leading anti-hate organization” dismissed Musk’s raised arm as “an embarrassing gesture in a moment of excitement” on social media. mail on monday.

But months ago, Jonathan Greenblatt, president of the staunchly pro-Israel Anti-Defamation League, drew a parallel Palestinian keffiyeh To the Nazi swastika.

Activists say the contradiction between the Anti-Defamation League’s hasty defense of… Musk Its efforts to demonize Palestinians and their supporters show that the group is more focused on silencing voices critical of Israel than on combating anti-Semitism.

“The Anti-Defamation League is very clear about its position,” said Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

They have made it as clear as possible that they are not a reliable source of information when it comes to anti-Semitism. “They actually don’t prioritize protecting Jewish communities at all.”

Miller described the Anti-Defamation League as a “hateful group” dedicated to discrediting Palestinian rights advocates.

For many years, the Anti-Defamation League has been the nongovernmental organization that government agencies and the corporate world turn to when it comes to anti-Semitism, hate crimes, and other issues more broadly. Civil rights issues.

The group has hosted top Israeli and American politicians, FBI directors, celebrities and businessmen.

The group’s annual “audit” of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States — which last year included “some expressions of opposition to Zionism, as well as support for resistance against Israel” — is often cited by government agencies and legislation.

However, Palestinian rights advocates and US-based Islamist groups have long sounded the alarm about the Anti-Defamation League and its strong support for Israel.

In recent years, the group has come under increasing criticism over the perception that it tolerates right-wing figures accused of intolerance, as long as they support Israel.

These accusations escalated after Musk’s gesture on Monday.

“Just to be clear, you are defending the Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity,” the progressive congresswoman said. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez he wrote on social media in response to the ADL’s defense of Musk.

“People can officially stop listening to you as any reliable source of information now.”

Just to be clear, you are advocating the “Heil Hitler” salute being performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity.

People can officially stop listening to you as any reliable source of information now. You work for them. Thank you for making that crystal clear to everyone. https://t.co/0gLdMCU3UV

– Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 21, 2025

Musk gesture

While speaking at Capital One Arena after Trump’s inauguration, Musk placed his hand on his chest, then quickly raised his arm as he thanked the crowd for electing the Republican president.

Then the 53-year-old billionaire turned around and did it again.

His gesture resembled a Nazi gesture — known as the “Sieg Heil,” German for “victory salute” — that has roots in ancient history. Roman greeting.

“My heart goes out to you. Thanks to you, the future of civilization is secured,” Musk said.

While it is not uncommon for politicians to extend their arms to greet the public, the combination of Musk’s rhetoric about “civilization” and the repeated gesture raised many eyebrows.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University who writes about fascism and authoritarianism, said in a social media post that Musk’s gesture was a “Nazi salute — and a very aggressive salute, too.”

Musk did not provide a detailed explanation of what happened, but brushed off the accusations, saying his critics “need better dirty tricks.”

“The ‘everyone is like Hitler’ attack is very exhausting,” Musk said. books On X. He later shared a post showing Democratic politicians with their arms raised and dismissed legacy media as “pure propaganda.”

But Matan Arad Neiman, spokesman for IfNotNow, a Jewish progressive group, rejected Musk’s apparent denial.

Arad Neiman told Al Jazeera: “I come from Holocaust survivors, and I know a Nazi salute when I see one, and that’s definitely what Elon Musk was doing.”

He added that the Anti-Defamation League’s defense of Musk was “outrageous.” He compared the movement’s response with its response to anti-war protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has waged a devastating military campaign since 2023.

“It is not surprising — though shameful — that the Anti-Defamation League has spent recent years focusing its attention on inciting repression of Palestinian human rights and anti-war protesters,” Arad Neiman said.

ADL-Musk feud

ADL’s support for Musk would have been unthinkable less than a year and a half ago, when he was a billionaire businessman He threatened to sue The pro-Israel group over allegations that it is banning companies from advertising on X after it took over the platform.

Musk’s attacks, which the Anti-Defamation League called “dangerous and largely irresponsible,” were also viewed by critics as anti-Semitic. Some have criticized Musk for blaming a Jewish group for his new company’s shortcomings.

But weeks after X was accused of “elevating” anti-Semitism, the Anti-Defamation League welcomed what it called the platform’s “intent” to tackle anti-Semitism.

In October 2023, Greenblatt called Musk a “brilliant businessman and an extraordinary innovator”, and compared him favorably with pioneering industrialist Henry Ford, who is widely believed to have espoused anti-Semitic views.

Even after Musk and ADL appeared to bury the hatchet, Malik X. He responded to a post accusing Jewish communities of promoting “dialectical hatred” against white people by writing: “You told the actual truth.”

Musk visited Israel in November of that year, weeks after its war on Gaza, and met with the country’s leaders.

Arad Neiman said fanatics should not be able to “wave their anti-Semitism” by saying they support Israel.

“It is unacceptable,” he told Al Jazeera. “It is insulting to the vast majority of American Jews who are terrified of people like them Proud boysby people like Elon Musk, by people like Donald Trump who cozy up to white supremacists and fascists.

Along with his comments on Jewish people, Musk expressed his support for far-right groups around the world.

Last month, he sparked outrage when he said that only Germany’s far-right party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), could save the country.

Musk also took up the cause of the British anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinsonwho is in prison for contempt of court as part of a defamation case. The court found that Robinson had falsely accused a Syrian refugee schoolboy of attacking “little English girls”.

The Anti-Defamation League recently denounced Robinson, whose legal name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, as an “anti-Muslim fanatic.”

“Censorship of our speech”

Abed Ayoub, executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said he hopes the ADL will offer the same nuanced approach and benefit of the doubt it offered Musk to members of the Arab and Muslim communities.

Ayoub told Al Jazeera: “This organization has a history of censoring our speech and persecuting our discourse and freedom of expression, and it has made life difficult for many Arabs, Palestinians, Muslims, and our supporters in this country.”

ADL Viewer A The proposed mosque In New York in 2010 because it was close to the site of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, it sided with far-right and anti-Islamic groups.

The group admitted more than a decade later that its position on the mosque was “wrong.”

More recently, the Anti-Defamation League accused protesters who support Palestinian rights — including left-wing Jewish groups — of promoting anti-Semitism.

Earlier this month, the Anti-Defamation League featured on its website a Jewish insider story criticizing CBS News for interviewing Josh Paul and Hala RahritTwo former American officials resigned from their government jobs in protest against Washington’s support for the Israeli war on Gaza.

The article emphasized the murky relationship between Paul and Rarett and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights group.

Last year, Greenblatt criticized members of former President Joe Biden’s administration over their meeting Osama Al-Seblanipublisher of the Michigan-based Arab American News, because of what he called “sympathy” for Hezbollah and Hamas.

The Anti-Defamation League has also been a relentless supporter of Israel’s war on Gaza, which human rights groups and advocates at the United Nations have described as inflammatory. As genocide.

Ayoub said it’s easy to get behind the Anti-Defamation League’s “mission on paper”: to fight hate and intolerance. He added that more people have become aware of the organization’s actual positions.

“We started to see a crack in their support, and we started to see people criticizing them, especially for things like defending Elon Musk as quickly as they did,” Ayoub told Al Jazeera.

The Anti-Defamation League did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment by press time.

On Tuesday, Bend the Arc, a progressive Jewish group, began circulating a petition demanding that the Anti-Defamation League retract its defense of Musk.

“The Anti-Defamation League claims to be an expert on anti-Semitism,” the petition states.

“They are quick to discredit pro-Palestinian students, black and brown elected officials, writers, and professors with accusations of anti-Semitism. But when the richest man in the world gave the Nazi salute in front of the world, they came to his defense?