Let’s Troll Unite The Right Planner Kessler By Pointing Out His Jewish Surname
Jason Kessler Image by Getty Images
There are a lot of Jewish and non-Jewish Kesslers out there — it’s one of those tricky last names. In the days before the year anniversary of the violent “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., one name in particular keeps getting tossed around: Jason Kessler.
The last name Kessler has German and Ashkenzai Jewish origins (fun fact: it means coppersmith), but Kessler, who planned last year’s white supremacist rally, does not appear to be Jewish. In an interview with The Christian Science Monitor, he explained how he jumped from voting for Barak Obama to aligning with the alt-right, casting a ballot for President Trump.
“They weren’t afraid to stand up for men or white people or Christians,” Kessler said of the alt-right. But this year, he adds, “It’s been moving more into an arena of an unhealthy obsession with Jews. Everything is about Jews, Jews, Jews.”
Now, Kessler openly shares that he’s “pro-white” and wants to “stand up” for “his people” against “ethnic cleansing” by “liberal social policies,” Business Insider reported.
Rest assured, we have little reason to believe he is a member of the tribe. Here are a few other Kesslers who do fit the bill.
Daniel Kessler : This Kessler is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the New York City-based band Interpol.
David A. Kessler : This Kessler is an American pediatrician, lawyer, author, and administrator (both academic and governmental). He was the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration from 1990 to 1997.
Glenn Kessler : This Kessler is an correspondent who writes the popular “Fact Checker” blog for The Washington Post.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
