"Day of Hate" or sensational bait? -- JAFFA wire No. 5
Where did the declaration of this supposed movement-wide activity of the white power movement originate?
This past Friday morning I published a previous post addressing reports about the “National Day of Hate” being distributed by national and local media as a warning about halfwits planning provocative actions aimed at Jewish houses of worship. Thankfully our local community experienced none of this on the actual day, and I was pleased that after checking the news later that apparently there were no newsworthy incidents to mention. We ended up having a great Shabbat, dining at home on Friday, and then a lively morning service at our local synagogue before having a kiddush (lunch) with the fellow congregants. Also I was encouraged by the responses that I saw and heard to the article, and amused by some jokes and memes that some friends shared about the "Day of Hate”.
So with that out of the way, a friend of mine asked while we walked home Friday evening from the synagogue whether this was a real thing or (as I paraphrase) some entrapment scheme by federal authorities to use against racial extremists. I think this is a fair question. No one wants to have their tree shaken by manipulative news reports for a contrived threat. So I went searching from the sourcing of this supposed campaign in the hopes of figuring that out.
What the hate groups said
My intent in the previous article was simply to advise on what the “Day of Hate” would consist of, and the best approaches to dealing with it. I did not include my source material, but told the reader I would supply it if they contacted me, so here I will disclose that my source was a neo-Nazi website called Doomsayer News. They wrote on Thursday Feb. 23 that there would be “A National Day of NatSoc Activism” and cited the Telegram feeds of five different neo-Nazi groups including local ones from New York and southeastern Iowa. Included in its article was a promotional video for the Day of Hate. Looking through those actual feeds it would seem that those groups actually were behind the announcement. However on Feb. 25 Doomsayer News reneged on its support for the Day of Hate, claiming that it is an FBI/ADL “Psyops”.
I lean toward saying that the Day of Hate was not a government “psyop”, but a hoax by its organizers. The announcement may have been meant to simply play on the reactions of people that monitor the groups’ chats. For much of the white power movement the reaction to their efforts is more important than the effort itself, or even of doing anything at all. If they can create fear and anxiety without actually going anywhere they feel like they have won half the battle.
On the Day of Hate Empire State Stormers, the same group that picketed the Broadway show Parade to much notoriety, continuously sent messages through its Telegram feed delighting in the work of Daily Forward writer Jake Wasserman in covering them. They were thanking him for bringing more attention to their group. They look at the spotlight thrown on them by The Forward and the ADL as free advertising.
It could also be true that some of these groups announced the Day of Hate in order to gauge the level of preparedness of those that are monitoring them. In some communities added resources were diverted to address this threat, and therefore the hate groups may have used this exercise as a means to gauge how law enforcement and security companies worked to cover any vulnerabilities. One small consolation is that as a movement I believe that the white power groups are a failure. They tend to be delusional, schismatic, and gullible. For an entertaining read on how absurd some of their plans are, I can recommend the book Bayou of Pigs about a plot by some of them to seize control of the small Caribbean nation of Dominica.
Waste of time?
Psyop or hoax, whatever one decides to call it, I wanted to reflect on whether this was a topic worthy of devoting attention. In the previous post I tried to remove the opinionated reaction to the Broadway demonstration and distill it down to practical points. How do we deal with loathsome people that come into our surroundings with the goal of provoking a reaction without giving them what they want? If their only goal is attracting attention, then I think they accomplished it long before I wrote the post. But not every reaction is an overreaction. My wife observed that if someone actually wanted to commit a violent act, they would simply do it without issuing a threat, but I don’t think that is necessarily true. Many terrorists send threats before committing their acts, with the Unabomber being an example. While the intent behind the Day of Hate organizers may not have been violent, there are always those out their that feel the need to show their zeal is stronger than others and may go beyond the mere use of words.
In closing, you might have felt that this was a needless distraction from a day that is supposed to be for resting and spiritual growth. I’m not so sure. The consensus opinion in the Jewish community regardless of affiliation is that Jew hatred is a big problem in America. There are elements within each part of the political spectrum that are in some way hostile toward us, not to mention all of the internal divisions that plague our communities. Even with the prosperity and freedom that I’ve enjoyed living most of my life in the US, I think it is a mistake to take our safety for granted. We need to remain vigilant toward our surroundings, assess each risk intelligently, and never forget that our survival shouldn’t be dependent on others, but rests in our own hands, minds, and faith in G-d.