New York, NY, April 15, 2010 … Some of the country's most prominent anti-Semitic agitators are seeking to capitalize on the spread of anti-government sentiment and the tax-protest movement to promote hatred of Jews, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
"Anti-Semites are using anti-government themes as a jumping-off point for blaming the Jews for a whole host of problems and woes, from the global economic recession to the September 11 terrorist attacks," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "These anti-Semites are exploiting anti-government sentiment in the hopes that their message of 'blame the Jews' will catch on with ordinary Americans. Thankfully, so far, the vast majority of Americans aren't buying into that hateful message."
A recent conference in Austin, Texas co-sponsored by the American Free Press, an anti-Semitic outfit run by longtime anti-Semite Willis Carto, and the Power of Prophecy, headed by anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist and minister Texe Marrs, offers a window into this new strategy, according to ADL.
The April 10 "Liberty and Truth" conference focused on anti-government conspiracy theories and moved freely between anti-Semitic and anti-government rhetoric. The conference attracted an audience of more than 100 people and featured anti-Semitic speakers who blamed Jews for secretly masterminding a series of history-changing events, ranging from the economic recession, to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the Kennedy assassination.
"The message is pretty much the same it has always been, that Jews are responsible for the nation's problems because they are money-hungry, greedy, manipulative and control all the levers of power," Mr. Foxman said. "However, now they are wrapping their traditional anti-Semitism in the garb of the anti-government movement. They are attempting to make a populist appeal to anti-Semitism."
The Austin conference included remarks from anti-government tax protestor Peymon Mottahedeh, president of the California-based Freedom Law School, which promotes the tax protest movement idea that people are not legally obligated to pay income taxes.
But many of the speakers focused their rhetoric on anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jews and their alleged "control" of the government, media and banking industry in the United States.
The event featured such prominent anti-Semites as Michael Collins Piper and conspiracy preacher Texe Marrs.
Marrs declared Jews "the enemy" and referred to "Zionist Judaism" as the "synagogue of Satan." He also accused Jews of trying to dominate the world religiously, politically and economically.
Piper, who labeled his talk "Why the Fight Against the Jewish Zionist Power is the Central Political Issue of Our Time," railed against Jewish control of the media, money and politics and asserted that Jews threaten to establish a "New World Order" in this country.
