3 December 7 - 13, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents ‘Festering for Some Time’ Neo-Nazis pester Dallas synagogue as antisemitism spikes in U.S. BY SIMONE CARTER I t’s a theme that’s become far too com- mon: neo-Nazis turning up in busi- nesses and at events. Several of them recently demonstrated across the street from Temple Emanu-El in Dal- las. They dressed in Nazi garb, carried a swastika flag and used a megaphone to spew hate. The five demonstrators stayed for roughly an hour but did not try to step onto temple grounds, a Temple Emanu-El spokesperson said in a statement emailed to the Observer. “We will continue to stay vigilant and work in concert with our community part- ners at the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, the Anti-Defamation League and the FBI, and keep our security on high alert,” read the statement, which is also posted to the synagogue’s Facebook page. “In the coming days, we will provide an update on Temple’s ongoing security efforts.” If you’re thinking to yourself, “Wow, it sure seems like antisemitic incidents are happening more frequently,” you’re not wrong. The Anti-Defamation League found that in the month after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, such incidents spiked by 316% na- tionwide compared with the previous year. Stacy Cushing, regional director of ADL Texoma in Dallas, told the Observer that Sat- urday’s neo-Nazi event was alarming and disturbing. “It is never a good day when we see that happening anywhere,” she said. Antisemitic incidents had already been increasing in the country long before the Is- rael-Hamas war. Last year saw the highest number of these occurrences since the ADL began keeping tabs in 1979. Although there are many reasons that would account for an uptick in antisemitism, Cushing said it coincides with the eruption of conflict in Israel. There’s also the spread of hateful content and mis- and disinforma- tion on the web. Another recent ADL report shows that Texas is indeed a hotbed for hate: We were the state with the most white supremacist propaganda in 2022. Still, Dallas isn’t necessarily a standout when it comes to antisemitism. As of Wednesday afternoon, the ADL’s HEAT Map (Hate, Extremism, Antisemitism, Ter- rorism) noted one such incident in Dallas in 2023 compared with 16 in Houston. The ADL’s Texoma region, which in- cludes North Texas and Oklahoma, counted 110 antisemitic incidents in 2022 versus 36 the year before, Cushing said. “What we saw on Saturday is no different than, unfortunately, what we’ve seen in other cities across the country,” she said. Dozens of hate and anti-government groups call the Lone Star State home; the Southern Poverty Law Center tracked 72 of them in 2022. Alon Milwicki, a senior research analyst with the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, noted other antisemitic occurrences around North Texas. Several cities have been subjected to distribution of flyers by hate groups like the Goyim Defense League and incidents of swastika carvings in Denton, Frisco, Plano and Dallas. Last month, a viral TikTok video showed a group in Nazi garb at a Torchy’s Tacos in Fort Worth, he pointed out. And the shooter at the Allen outlet mall in May “was a full- fledged neo-Nazi.” Week to week, Milwicki said, some of the most consistent cases he logs are anti- semitic vandalism, graffiti and swastika drawings. It could be a sketch on a park bench in some cases; in others, a store- front. At times it’s “just some idiot teen- ager” who doesn’t fully grasp the messaging’s heinous context, but in other cases, the culprit’s motivation could be more nefarious. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s a concerted Nazi effort there; it just could be one person’s perspective,” Milwicki said. “That doesn’t make it any less scary, it doesn’t make it any less problematic. That doesn’t make it any less ignorant. That doesn’t make it any less terrifying — doesn’t make it any less racist. “What it does do, I think, is necessitate greater emphasis on education,” he continued. Part of that education could include teaching how to vet sources of information, said Milwicki, who once taught at a commu- nity college. He recalled that a student men- tioned a website that supposedly “discredited” Martin Luther King Jr. The website looked legit at first, but scrolling to the bottom revealed that it was “powered by Stormfront,” the white nationalist online fo- rum. Ignorance can be fixed, Milwicki said, but hate is much harder to address. Making the situation even more difficult, there’s been an attack on education in Texas and elsewhere in recent years. Conservative activists and politicians have sought to whitewash history lessons about topics such as racism. Former Presi- dent Donald Trump, who is pursuing a sec- ond term, has promised to take aim at “radical left” colleges supposedly “domi- nated by Marxist Maniacs [sic] and luna- tics.” Whether people realize it or not, Mil- wicki said, such references to “Marxism” perpetuate antisemitic tropes. The same is true for arguments surrounding the so- called deep state, such as accusations that George Soros, a Holocaust survivor and billionaire investor, secretly controls the government and economy. While we’re undoubtedly witnessing a marked rise in antisemitism in the U.S., Mil- wicki said it has been festering for some time. “You cannot have such an explosion, whether it’s in the last two months or the last six years, without such a solidly firm foundation of antisemitism already existing in this country,” he said. “You cannot go from zero to 10 in such a short time. You can’t. There has been such a solid founda- tion of antisemitism in this country throughout our history.” ▼ CRIME RUBBED THE WRONG WAY PLANO CRACKS DOWN ON ILLICIT MASSAGE PARLORS. BY JACOB VAUGHN T he city of Plano has had enough of certain businesses it says are billed as legitimate but are operating in a man- ner that appears to be unlawful. The city government, in partnership with the Plano Police Department, filed a petition in district court to investigate potential vio- lations at a massage parlor called Tennyson Wellness Center at 6541 Preston Road, Suite 200. The business and its owner are believed to be engaged in illicit activities, including prostitution and indecent assault. The police department, which did not re- spond to a request for comment, has previ- ously investigated and made arrests at Tennyson Wellness Center, but the business has continued to operate. As a result, the pe- tition was filed on Nov. 27. According to the petition, Tennyson Wellness Center is accused of selling vulner- able women’s bodies and receiving demean- ing reviews of the women’s physical attributes and sexual services. Tennyson Wellness Center sits in a business complex shared by medical and dental offices, as well as other legitimate businesses. “Appearing on the outside to blend in with legitimate health-care providers, Ten- nyson Wellness Center is little more than a front for criminal activity, in close proximity to lawful medical providers frequented by the unsuspecting public, including chil- dren,” the petition stated. Information sent out by the Plano Police Department alleges that customers of Ten- nyson’s prostitution services have gone on- line to provide graphic descriptions of sexual acts conducted at the massage parlor, with some of the review sites requiring membership fees to contribute. “Those who frequent Tennyson Wellness Center for the purchase of vulnerable women’s bodies brag in anonymity and share reviews of the sex crimes for sale,” the petition says. “The on- line reviews of women being purchased at Tennyson Wellness Center contain demean- ing evaluations of their bodies, including breast size, ‘ass rating,’ and pubic area. The women are given ‘service ratings,’ like twisted Yelp reviews from those deviants who purchase their bodies in this self-de- scribed ‘medical center.’” One reviewer wrote of an employee: “Taller Asian, nice ass, some boob, kind of a horsey mouth. Toothie. Not unattractive, but not attractive.” The city says the establishment’s adver- tising and online presence appear salacious, with images of scantily clad employees and others pictured in provocative poses. Before filing this civil action, the Plano Po- lice Department responded to multiple com- plaints about Tennyson Wellness Center from people saying that massage therapists there inappropriately touched cus- Getty Images/Dallas Observer A new common annoyance is neo-Nazis showing up at events, businesses, and outside a Dallas synagogue. | UNFAIR PARK | >> p4
