Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

100+ Jewish groups sign onto open letter to Elon Musk on Twitter antisemitism

Though drafted by the Union for Reform Judaism, signatures include congregations, schools, political groups that cross denominations

Roughly 100 schools, congregations and Jewish organizations have signed an open letter to Elon Musk denouncing antisemitism on Twitter. Numerous racists and bigots who had been banned from the social media platform have been reinstated since Musk took over. 

The letter was first published on the Union for Reform Judaism website several weeks ago. Monday marked its official release and unveiling of the signees. While many of the organizations that signed on are affiliated with the Reform movement, the list also includes some belonging to other denominations or that are non-affiliated. While most organizations are based in the U.S., the Reform Jewish Community of Canada has also signed on.

Others who have signed include political organizations such as J Street, the American Conference of Cantors, several Jewish organized labor groups and the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance.

The diversity of the groups illustrates the widespread concern over the explosion of hate on Twitter since Musk’s purchase in October, said Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism associate director Barbara Weinstein. The letter will be sent to Musk directly as well as circulated on social media. 

Weinstein said the link between the dissemination of online hate and real-world violence is undeniable. Antisemitic crimes have spiked in recent years, including several acts of violence in synagogues. On Sunday, a molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of a New Jersey Reform congregation.

“We’ve had some internal conversations about what we could do to draw attention to the issue and even though we could have done something just as the URJ, or the Reform Movement, we thought it would be more powerful and impactful if we did something that spoke with the strength of the organized Jewish community,” she said. 

Under Musk’s leadership, many prominent neo-Nazis, anti-Jewish conspiracy theorists and other prominent bigots have had their accounts, which often have tens or hundreds of thousands of followers, restored. Some have been suspended again after immediately reengaging in hate speech. 

Musk has described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” but he has also reportedly told investors he does not want Twitter to devolve into a “hellscape.” The URJ’s letter points out that Musk himself has tweeted out problematic content, including images of a Nazi soldier and memes involving Pepe the Frog, a popular alt-right mascot.

Weinstein said the hope is that the letter will raise awareness and let both Musk and policymakers know “that we are watching, that we’re not going to be silenced” and that Jews will not “stand idly by as this platform is used to spread hate and antisemitism with potentially devastating consequences for our community.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.