Major US Jewish Groups Decry Lack of Twitter Action After Latest Antisemitic Post by Iran Leader

September 2, 2020 6:15 pm

Major US Jewish groups called for Twitter to take action against the account of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday, following the Iranian leader’s latest antisemitic social media outburst.

In the offending tweet, Khamenei commented on the recently‐announced Israel‐UAE normalization deal, saying, “The nation of Palestine is under various, severe pressures. Then, the UAE acts in agreement with the Israelis & filthy Zionist agents of the U.S. —such as the Jewish member of Trump’s family— with utmost cruelty against the interests of the World of Islam.”

In response, Anti‐Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, “Iran’s Khamenei routinely spreads #antisemitism. His deeply hateful post clearly violates @Twitter’s rules against comments that ‘dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes.’ Heads of state must be held to higher standards, not lower ones, over hate online.”

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) commented, “This is not legitimate criticism. It is antisemitism! How much longer will @khamenei_ir be allowed to spew his hate-filled and genocidal doctrines on this platform? @TwitterSafety has guidelines. It is time to apply them.”

Former New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss asked, “Does this vile Jew hate by a world leader violate @Twitter’s terms of service? Or is this just filed under more “criticism of Israel”?”

{Matzav.com}