Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. Before this, he worked for The New York Times and newsrooms in Sana, Ramallah and Beijing. Contact him at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum and on Instagram at @skestenbaum.
Sam Kestenbaum
By Sam Kestenbaum
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Fast Forward ‘Counter-Semite’: the Latest in White Nationalist Rebranding
As any social media guru will tell you, it’s all about brand. And in 2016, white nationalists have clearly got the memo. Prominent Neo-Nazis are dropping the swastika for a more palatable symbol in an effort to mainstream. “Alt-right” leaders like Richard Spencer are popularizing a haircut once worn by a Hitler youth group —…
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News Google ‘Did the Holocaust Happen’ — and a Neo-Nazi Site Is the Top Hit
Googling “did the Holocaust happen” returns an unsettling answer: A page from the Neo-Nazi website Stormfront titled “Top 10 reasons why the Holocaust didn’t happen.” The page’s place on the Google search results was originally reported by the Guardian on Sunday and picked up by a slew of other sites. On Tuesday afternoon, the site…
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News Neo-Nazis Shed the Swastika in New Effort To Reach Mainstream
Last month, the country’s leading neo-Nazi group did away with their swastika logo. Emboldened by Donald Trump’s victory in the election, they saw this as a moment where their movement could go mainstream. The National Socialist Movement, which has its roots in the original American Nazi Party, has replaced it’s swastika insignia for an a…
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News Nation of Islam: Keith Ellison a Coward
Keith Ellison has faced a hail of criticism from Democrats and Jewish groups for his past ties to Minister Louis Farrakhan, the firebrand leader of the Nation of Islam. Now the black nationalist group says Ellison is a hypocrite. “There is nothing wrong with Rep. Ellison’s desire to move his party forward or his desire…
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News ‘Alt-Right’ Hopes To Rebrand Dark Emperor of ‘Star Wars’ as Donald Trump-Style Hero for White Supremacists
Members of the white nationalist “alt-right” are hoping to capitalize on the soon-to-be released “Star Wars” film, re-casting their hero Donald Trump as the franchise’s Senator Palpatine, a politician who rises to power by harnessing dark mystical powers and seeks to conquer the galaxy. “We are the brave. We will win because you and your…
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News Hasidic Leaders Who Backed Clinton Now Claim They Were With Trump All Along
Leaders of the Skver Hasidim have an unusual message to their devoted followers: We may have backed the losing ticket for president, but it was all part of our plan. “We gave our endorsement to Hillary on the website ThinkingYid.com. In the message, Spitzer appears to be speaking on behalf of spiritual leaders who want…
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News Post-Election, George Soros Vows $10 Million To Track, Combat Hate Crime
George Soros, the Holocaust survivor and wealthy philanthropist, has vowed to donate millions of dollars to fight a spike in reported hate crimes nationwide in the weeks following the fraught presidential election. Soros’s organization, the Open Society Foundation, has promised to donate $10 million towards tracking and fighting hate crimes nationwide, Public Radio International reported….
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News Could Hebrew Be the World’s Oldest Alphabet?
The world’s earliest alphabet, inscribed on stone slabs found at a number of Egyptian sites, was an early form of Hebrew, according to a new analysis. According to the new study by the Wilfrid Laurier University archaeologist Douglas Petrovich, Israelites in Egypt took 22 ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and created an early Hebrew alphabet around 3,800…
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