For most people, Labor Day weekend was a time of relaxation and spending quality time with loved ones. However, it became an opportunity for Elon Musk and numerous Twitter users to criticize a Jewish organization. Over the past few days, an overwhelming number of posts on a social networking site called X, previously known as Twitter, have attacked the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) using the hashtag #BanTheADL. Supposedly, this campaign is in response to the ADL advocating for the removal of bigotry from the platform, claiming that the organization’s activism is restrictive and causing businesses to withdraw their support. However, a quick look at the bigoted supporters of #BanTheADL shows that the criticism is not really about the ADL’s actions, but rather about the group it represents.
While it is fair to critique any organization, the ADL included, I have previously written about some of its well-intentioned but misguided attempts at social media moderation. I also have differing opinions from the group on anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Likewise, politically conservative Jews have long disagreed with the ADL’s progressive views. However, these disagreements do not explain the current outrage on Twitter.
Elon Musk’s tweets on the matter make his motives clear as he amplifies the attacks on the ADL. Rather than offering a thoughtful critique, the billionaire spreads cartoonish conspiracy theories. Musk claims that the ADL’s aggressive demand to ban social media accounts, even for minor infractions, ironically fosters anti-Semitism on the platform. According to him, the abuse against Jews on his site is a consequence of Jews complaining about the abuse (despite the lack of chronology in his argument). Musk even implies that organizations like the ADL could be “complicit” in secretly creating the very bigoted accounts they criticize. This is not a rational critique; it is an irrational attempt to blame the ADL for Twitter’s issues. Musk has been transparent about his motive, stating that the ADL could potentially be held responsible for damaging the company’s value by around $22 billion.
In reality, Twitter’s declining value can be attributed to a more obvious reason—Musk himself. The social media platform was already in a dire state when Musk acquired it, losing power users and being overrun by malicious actors. As the new owner, Musk has only accelerated its decline. By allowing users to pay to prioritize their replies, he facilitated the dominance of trolls and scammers who contribute low-quality content that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Musk has also rebranded the company, fired much of the content moderation team, limited its direct messaging feature, replaced the free version of TweetDeck with an inferior paid alternative, and frequently engaged with conspiracy theorists and bigots on the site, including the self-proclaimed “raging anti-Semite” who popularized #BanTheADL. It is difficult to retain brands and users on a platform that only becomes worse over time. As Musk himself has stated, “advertisers avoid controversy,” and he has continually damaged Twitter’s—sorry, X’s—reputation.
Although the ADL is not responsible for Twitter’s continued lack of profitability, it serves as a convenient scapegoat for the platform’s failures. Anti-Semites tend to blame Jews for their personal perception of global problems. The current attacks on the ADL on Twitter have little to do with the organization’s behavior and everything to do with the symbolic role Jews play in conspiratorial beliefs. Rather than acknowledging the hate that has permeated his platform and his own mistakes that led to its deterioration, Musk insists that the victims deserve what they get. However, no matter how many Jewish scapegoats he sacrifices, he will not be able to revive the fortunes of his platform. Its decline stems from his own inadequacies, not the deceitfulness of Jews.
Unfortunately, the notion that Jews bring persecution upon themselves is not limited to Musk. This fallacy has persisted throughout history and transcends political affiliations. In 1938, on the brink of the Holocaust, a poll conducted by Gallup revealed that 54 percent of Americans believed that “the persecution of Jews in Europe has been partly their own fault,” with 11 percent stating it was entirely their fault. In other words, 65 percent of Americans blamed Jews in Europe for their own mistreatment. Similarly, a CNN survey in 2018 found that nearly 20 percent of Europeans believed that anti-Semitism was a response to the behavior of Jewish individuals in their everyday lives. Today, those on the right, including Musk and his Twitter allies, blame Jewish organizations like the ADL for contemporary anti-Semitism. On the left, figures like Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch, point the finger at the state of Israel. Some Jewish individuals even attribute anti-Jewish prejudice to so-called self-hating Jews. The argument suggests that through their actions, individual Jews or groups incite anti-Semitism against all Jews.
This perspective is profoundly distorted. If someone is crushed by a grand piano that falls from the sky, the cause of death is obviously the grand piano. However, the true cause of death is the person who pushed it out of the window and onto their head. This illustrates the difference between a proximate cause and a root cause.
When synagogues are burned in Europe while Israel is in conflict with Hamas in Gaza, the immediate cause of anti-Semitism is the ongoing strife overseas. Likewise, when bigots who oppose the ADL’s advocacy attack Jewish individuals online, the organization becomes the immediate cause of the abuse. However, the root cause is the hateful ideology possessed by the bigot, who holds all Jews accountable for the actions of any other Jew worldwide, using this as justification for violence.
This is how prejudiced individuals perceive minorities. In their confused minds, all Muslims are responsible for the perceived wrongdoings of any other Muslim, and all Black individuals are accountable for the perceived misdeeds of any other Black person. This distorted worldview, not the actions of those within the targeted community, is the root cause of bigotry. Remove this ideology, and the hatred dissipates. Conversely, if the ADL or Israel were to cease to exist, the bigoted outlook would remain and continue to breed anti-Semitism, just as it did for centuries before either entity existed. Until people learn to treat Jews and other minorities as individuals rather than symbols for their entire group, bigotry will persist.
Because, no matter what Musk claims, Jews are not responsible for anti-Semitism. Anti-Semites are.
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