Antisemitic fliers are being distributed on SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line
The fliers are distributed by the same group that hung a banner in support of Kanye West's antisemitic comments over a Los Angeles freeway, which set off a surge of copycat incidents in 2022.
Antisemitic fliers linking Jewish people to pornography, abortion, gun control, and mass immigration are being distributed on Market-Frankford Line trains.
It’s the third reported instance of neo-Nazi paraphernalia infiltrating Philadelphia within the last month. Just last weekend, Chestnut Hill residents found white supremacist stickers and fliers along Germantown Avenue, while Port Richmond was littered with stickers depicting Nazi symbols in late March.
Grant — a 35-year-old Olde Richmond resident who asked his last name be omitted out of fear of retaliation — spotted the fliers, which have been viewed by The Inquirer, in a pouch near train doors on the MFL twice since March 30.
Grant has shredded 12 of the fliers, he said, and has begun to worry about the safety of his wife, who is Jewish.
“When I first saw them, I thought ‘Oh, not this bullcrap,’” Grant said. “I’m on the watch for this stuff happening because it’s terrible. I don’t want this in Philly.”
» READ MORE: Neo-Nazi stickers and fliers found in Chestnut Hill
The fliers scapegoat Jewish people by warping the achievements of several Jewish politicians, such as Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) and Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), and entrepreneurs, like Match.com’s founder Gary Kremen, into blame for concepts ranging from hookup culture to abortion.
They’re being distributed by Goyim TV, an inflammatory version of YouTube whose followers claim responsibility for hundreds of antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ flier drops across the United States. Goyim TV began ratcheting up its propaganda campaigns in fall 2022, when the hate group hung a banner over a Los Angeles highway praising Kanye West’s antisemitic views, setting off a barrage of copycat incidents.
Grant hasn’t contacted SEPTA about the fliers: “I don’t have a lot of faith in them doing anything.”
“SEPTA’s policy on hate speech is very clear: It is not allowed,” said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch, who learned of the fliers through The Inquirer. “If an individual or group were to ask SEPTA’s permission to distribute these types of materials in a station or on a vehicle, that request would be denied.”
Per the transit agency’s advertising policy, all advertising materials distributed on trains must be approved by SEPTA. If hate speech or other unauthorized materials are discovered on SEPTA property, SEPTA police and security personnel are supposed to remove them, Busch said.
» READ MORE: A new report shows antisemitism is rising in Pennsylvania, days after a white supremacist campaign in Port Richmond
Antisemitic activity has been steadily rising across the United States and is up by 65% in Pennsylvania, according to a recent report from the Anti-Defamation League. The increase coincides with an uptick in people who believe in conspiracy theories about Jewish people, according to the ADL.
The majority of antisemitic incidents in Pennsylvania in 2022 were classified as harassment, a broad category that can include the dissemination of slurs, stereotypes, and conspiracies.
“The reality is, hate in all its forms is normalized,” Andrew Goretsky, the ADL’s regional director, told The Inquirer last month. “I used to say it’s becoming normalized. I no longer say it’s becoming normalized.”