ADL faces backlash for defending Elon Musk’s raised-arm gesture

Washington, DC – After Elon Musk made an apparent Nazi salute astatine an inauguration rally for United States President Donald Trump, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) rushed to support the SpaceX founder.

The self-described anti-Semitism watchdog and “leading anti-hate enactment successful the world” dismissed Musk’s raised limb arsenic “an awkward motion successful a infinitesimal of enthusiasm” successful a societal media post connected Monday.

Months earlier, however, Jonathan Greenblatt, the caput of the staunchly pro-Israel ADL, compared the Palestinian keffiyeh to the Nazi swastika.

Activists accidental the opposition betwixt the ADL’s hurried defence of Musk and its efforts to demonise Palestinians and their supporters shows that the radical is much focused connected silencing voices captious of Israel than it is connected warring anti-Semitism.

“The ADL is being crystal wide astir wherever it stands,” said Beth Miller, governmental manager astatine Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

“They person made it arsenic wide arsenic imaginable that they are not a reputable root of accusation erstwhile it comes to anti-Semitism. They are not really prioritising the extortion of Jewish communities astatine all.”

Miller called the ADL a “hateful group” dedicated to smearing Palestinian rights advocates.

For years, the ADL has been a go-to NGO for authorities agencies and the firm satellite erstwhile it comes to anti-Semitism, hatred crimes and broader civil rights issues.

The radical has hosted apical Israeli and US politicians, FBI directors, celebrities and businesspeople.

The group’s yearly “audit” of anti-Semitic incidents successful the US — which past twelvemonth included “certain expressions of absorption to Zionism, arsenic good arsenic enactment for absorption against Israel” — often gets cited by authorities agencies and legislation.

Still, Palestinian rights supporters and US-based Muslim groups person agelong sounded the alarm astir the ADL and its stalwart enactment for Israel.

In caller years, the radical has travel nether accrued disapproval for the cognition that it has gone brushed connected right-wing figures accused of bigotry, arsenic agelong arsenic they enactment Israel.

Those accusations escalated aft Musk’s motion connected Monday.

“Just to beryllium clear, you are defending a Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for accent and clarity,” progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote connected societal media successful effect to the ADL’s defence of Musk.

“People tin officially halt listening to you arsenic immoderate benignant of reputable root of accusation now.”

Just to beryllium clear, you are defending a Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for accent and clarity.

People tin officially halt listening to you arsenic immoderate benignant of reputable root of accusation now. You enactment for them. Thank you for making that crystal wide to all. https://t.co/0gLdMCU3UV

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

Musk’s gesture

While speaking astatine the Capital One Arena pursuing Trump’s inauguration, Musk enactment his manus to his chest, past swiftly raised his limb arsenic helium thanked the assemblage for electing the Republican president.

The 53-year-old billionaire past turned astir and did it again.

His question resembled the Nazi motion — known arsenic the “Sieg Heil”, German for “hail victory” — which has roots successful an past Roman salute.

“My bosom goes retired to you. It is acknowledgment to you that the aboriginal of civilisation is assured,” Musk said.

While it is not uncommon for politicians to widen their arms to greet an audience, the operation of Musk’s rhetoric astir “civilisation” and the repeated motion raised galore eyebrows.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a past prof astatine New York University who writes astir fascism and authoritarianism, said successful a societal media station that Musk’s motion was “a Nazi salute — and a precise belligerent 1 too”.

Musk has not provided a elaborate mentation of what happened, but helium did brushwood disconnected the accusations, saying that his critics “need amended soiled tricks”.

“The ‘everyone is Hitler’ onslaught is sooo tired,” Musk wrote connected X. He aboriginal shared a station showing Democratic politicians with their arms raised and dismissed bequest media arsenic “pure propaganda”.

But Matan Arad-Neeman, a spokesperson for IfNotNow, a Jewish progressive group, rejected Musk’s evident denial.

“I’m descended from Holocaust survivors, and I cognize a Nazi salute erstwhile I spot one, and that was perfectly what Elon Musk was doing,” Arad-Neeman told Al Jazeera.

He added that the ADL’s defence of Musk was “obscene”. He juxtaposed the group’s effect with its absorption to antiwar protesters pushing for a ceasefire successful Gaza, wherever Israel has pursued a devastating subject run since 2023.

“It’s not astonishing — though it is shameful — that the ADL has spent caller years focusing their attraction connected egging connected a crackdown connected protesters for Palestinian quality rights and antiwar protesters,” Arad-Neeman said.

ADL-Musk feud

The ADL’s backing of Musk would person been unthinkable little than a twelvemonth and a fractional ago, erstwhile the billionaire entrepreneur threatened to sue the pro-Israel radical implicit allegations that it was preventing companies from advertizing connected X aft helium acquired the platform.

Musk’s attacks, which the ADL described arsenic “dangerous and profoundly irresponsible”, were besides perceived by critics arsenic anti-Semitic. Some criticised Musk for blaming a Jewish radical for his caller company’s shortcomings.

But weeks aft accusing X of “elevating” anti-Semites, the ADL welcomed what it called the platform’s “intent” to code anti-Semitism.

In October 2023, Greenblatt described Musk arsenic an “amazing entrepreneur and bonzer innovator”, positively comparing him with the pioneering industrialist Henry Ford, who is wide believed to person espoused anti-Semitic views.

Even aft Musk and the ADL appeared to hide the hatchet, the X proprietor responded to a station accusing Jewish communities of promoting “dialectical hatred” against achromatic radical by writing: “You person said the existent truth”.

Musk visited Israel successful November of that year, weeks into its warfare connected Gaza, and met with the country’s leaders.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk gestures during the inaugural parade wrong Capital One Arena successful Washington, DC, connected January 20 [Angela Weiss/AFP]

Arad-Neeman said bigots should not beryllium capable to “wave distant their anti-Semitism” by saying that they enactment Israel.

“It’s unacceptable,” helium told Al Jazeera. “It is violative to the immense bulk of American Jews who are terrified by radical similar the Proud Boys, by radical similar Elon Musk, by radical similar Donald Trump who cosy up to achromatic supremacists and fascists.”

Besides his comments connected the Jewish people, Musk has voiced enactment for far-right groups crossed the world.

Last month, helium sparked outrage erstwhile helium said lone Germany’s far-right party, the AfD, could prevention the country.

Musk has besides taken up the origin of the British anti-Muslim campaigner Tommy Robinson, who is successful jailhouse for contempt of tribunal arsenic portion of a libel case. A tribunal recovered that Robinson had falsely accused a Syrian exile schoolboy of attacking “young English girls”.

The ADL precocious denounced Robinson, whose ineligible sanction is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, arsenic an “anti-Muslim bigot”.

‘Censoring our speech’

Abed Ayoub, the enforcement manager astatine the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said helium wished the ADL would widen the aforesaid cautious attack and payment of the uncertainty it offered Musk to members of Arab and Muslim communities.

“This organisation has a past of censoring our code and going aft our code and our state of expression, and it has made beingness hard for galore Arabs, Palestinians, Muslims and our supporters successful this country,” Ayoub told Al Jazeera.

The ADL opposed a proposed mosque successful New York successful 2010 due to the fact that it was adjacent to the tract of the 9/11 attacks astatine the World Trade Center, siding with far-right and Islamophobic groups.

The radical has admitted much than a decennary aboriginal that its presumption connected the mosque was “wrong”.

More recently, the ADL has accused protesters supporting Palestinian rights — including left-wing Jewish groups — of promoting anti-Semitism.

Earlier this month, the ADL featured connected its website a Jewish insider communicative slamming CBS News for interviewing Josh Paul and Hala Rharrit, 2 erstwhile US officials who discontinue their authorities jobs arsenic a protestation against Washington’s enactment for Israel’s warfare connected Gaza.

The nonfiction emphasised a vague transportation that Paul and Rharrit person with the Council connected American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civilian rights group.

Last year, Greenblatt slammed members of then-President Joe Biden’s medication for gathering with Osama Siblani, the steadfast of the Michigan-based Arab American News, implicit what helium called “sympathy” for Hezbollah and Hamas.

The ADL has besides been an uncompromising protagonist of Israel’s warfare connected Gaza, which rights groups and United Nations advocates person described as a genocide.

Ayoub said it is casual to get down the ADL’s “mission connected paper”: to combat hatred and bigotry. But much radical are becoming alert of the group’s existent positions, helium added.

“We’re starting to spot a ace successful their support, and we’re starting to spot radical telephone them out, particularly connected things similar defending Elon Musk astatine the velocity astatine which they did,” Ayoub told Al Jazeera.

The ADL did not respond to Al Jazeera’s petition for remark by the clip of publication.

On Tuesday, Bend the Arc, a progressive Jewish group, started circulating a petition calling for the ADL to retract its defence of Musk.

“The ADL claims to beryllium an adept connected antisemitism,” the petition reads.

“They are speedy to defame pro-Palestinian students, Black and brownish elected officials, writers, and professors implicit accusations of antisemitism. But erstwhile the world’s wealthiest antheral performed a Nazi salute portion the satellite watched, they came to his defense?”