Washington, DC – After Elon Musk made an apparent Nazi salute at an inauguration rally for US President Donald Trump, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) rushed to defend the SpaceX founder.
The self-proclaimed anti-Semitism watchdog and “the world’s leading anti-hate organization” called Musk’s raised arm “an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm” on social media. job Monday.
However, a few months earlier, Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the staunchly pro-Israeli ADL, had compared the Palestinian keffiyeh to the Nazi swastika.
Activists say the contrast between the ADL’s hasty defense of Musk and its efforts to demonize Palestinians and their supporters shows the group is more focused on silencing voices critical of Israel than on the fight against anti-Semitism.
“The ADL is very clear on its position,” said Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
“They made it as clear as possible that they were not a reliable source of information on anti-Semitism. In reality, they do not prioritize the protection of Jewish communities at all. »
Miller called the ADL a “hate group” dedicated to defaming Palestinian rights advocates.
For years, the ADL has been a go-to NGO for government agencies and the business community when it comes to anti-Semitism, hate crimes and broader civil rights issues.
The group has hosted prominent Israeli and American political figures, 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.
Yet Palestinian rights advocates and U.S.-based Muslim groups have long sounded the alarm about the ADL and its unwavering support for Israel.
In recent years, the group has faced growing criticism for the perception that it is soft on right-wing figures accused of bigotry, as long as they support Israel.
These accusations intensified after Musk’s gesture on Monday.
“Just to be clear, you are defending a Heil Hitler salute that has been performed and rehearsed for emphasis and clarity,” progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on social media in response to Musk’s defense of Musk. ‘ADL.
“People can now officially stop listening to you as a trusted source of information.”
Just to be clear, you are defending a Heil Hitler salute that has been performed and rehearsed for emphasis and clarity.
People can now officially stop listening to you as a trusted source of information. You work for them. Thank you for making this clear to everyone.
– Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 21, 2025
Musk’s gesture
While speaking at Capital One Arena after Trump’s inauguration, Musk placed his hand on his chest, then quickly raised his arm to thank the crowd for electing the Republican president.
The 53-year-old billionaire then turned around and did it again.
His movement resembled the Nazi gesture – known as “Sieg Heil,” meaning “hail victory” in German – which has its roots in an ancient Roman salute.
“My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured,” Musk said.
While it’s not uncommon for politicians to extend their arms to greet an audience, the combination of Musk’s rhetoric about “civilization” and this 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 also very belligerent “.
Musk did not provide a detailed explanation of what happened, but he brushed off the accusations, saying his critics “need better dirty tricks.”
“The ‘Everyone is Hitler’ attack is so tired,” Musk wrote on X. He then shared a post showing Democratic politicians with their arms raised and called mainstream media “pure propaganda.”
But Matan Arad-Neeman, a spokesperson for IfNotNow, a Jewish progressive group, dismissed Musk’s apparent denial.
“I’m descended from Holocaust survivors, and I know the Nazi salute when I see one, and that was absolutely what Elon Musk did,” Arad-Neeman told Al Jazeera.
He added that the ADL’s defense of Musk was “obscene.” He juxtaposed the group’s response with its reaction to anti-war protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has been waging a devastating military campaign since 2023.
“It is not surprising – if shameful – that the ADL has devoted its attention in recent years to encouraging the repression of Palestinian human rights and anti-war protesters,” Arad said. Neeman.
ADL-Musk feud
The ADL’s support for Musk would have been unthinkable less than a year and a half ago, when the billionaire entrepreneur threatened to sue the pro-Israel group over allegations it blocked companies from advertising on X after its acquisition of the platform.
Musk’s attacks, which the ADL called “dangerous and deeply irresponsible,” were also seen by critics as anti-Semitic. Some have criticized Musk for blaming a Jewish group for his new company’s shortcomings.
But weeks after accusing
In October 2023, Greenblatt described Musk as an “incredible entrepreneur and extraordinary innovator”, comparing him positively to pioneering industrialist Henry Ford, who is widely believed to have espoused anti-Semitic views.
Even after Musk and the ADL appeared to bury the hatchet, the owner of the answered to an article accusing Jewish communities of promoting “dialectical hatred” against white people by writing: “You told the real truth.”
Musk visited Israel in November of that year, a few weeks after the start of the war on Gaza, and met with the country’s leaders.
Arad-Neeman said bigots should not be able to “make their anti-Semitism disappear” by claiming they support Israel.
“This is unacceptable,” he told Al Jazeera. “It’s offensive to the vast majority of American Jews who are terrified of people like the Proud Boys, of people like Elon Musk, of people like Donald Trump who align themselves with white supremacists and fascists. »
In addition to his comments about Jewish people, Musk has expressed support for far-right groups around the world.
Last month, he sparked outrage by claiming that only Germany’s far-right party, the AfD, could save the country.
Musk also championed the cause of British anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson, who was jailed for contempt of court in a defamation case. A court found Robinson falsely accused a Syrian refugee schoolboy of attacking “young English girls”.
The ADL recently denounced Robinson, whose legal name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, as an “anti-Muslim bigot.”
“Censor our speech”
Abed Ayoub, executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said he wants the ADL to extend the same cautious approach and benefit of the doubt that it offered Musk to members of the Arab and Muslim communities .
“This organization has a history of censoring our speech and attacking our speech and our freedom of expression, and it has made life difficult for many Arabs, Palestinians, Muslims and our supporters in this country “, Ayoub told Al Jazeera.
The ADL opposed a proposed mosque in New York in 2010 because it was near the site of the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center, siding with far-right and Islamophobic groups.
The group admitted more than a decade later that its position on 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 published a Jewish article on its website accusing CBS News of interviewing Josh Paul and Hala Rharrit, two former U.S. officials who left their government jobs to protest support from Washington to the Israeli war against Gaza.
The article focused on a vague connection Paul and Rharrit have with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights group.
Last year, Greenblatt criticized members of then-President Joe Biden’s administration for meeting with Osama Siblani, the publisher of the Michigan-based Arab American News, about what he described as “sympathy” for Hezbollah and Hamas.
The ADL also uncompromisingly supported Israel’s war on Gaza, which human rights groups and United Nations advocates have called a genocide.
Ayoub said it was easy to support the ADL’s “mission on paper”: fighting hate and intolerance. But more and more people are becoming aware of the group’s real positions, he added.
“We’re starting to see their support crack and we’re starting to see people denouncing them, especially on things like defending Elon Musk at the speed that they did it,” Ayoub told Al Jazeera.
The ADL did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment at the time of publication.
On Tuesday, Bend the Arc, a progressive Jewish group, began circulating a petition calling on the ADL to withdraw its defense of Musk.
“The ADL claims to be an expert on anti-Semitism,” the petition reads.
“They do not hesitate to defame pro-Palestinian students, black and brown elected officials, writers and professors, following accusations of anti-Semitism. But when the richest man in the world performed the Nazi salute in front of the whole world, they came to his defense?
