DALLAS — A spokesperson says Temple Emanu-El security remains on "high alert" after a hateful demonstration near the synagogue Saturday.
Five people stood across the street for about an hour, waving a Nazi flag and holding anti-Semitic signs, the spokesperson confirmed to WFAA. Some wore red arm bands with swastikas sewn in.
Saturday's demonstration is the latest in DFW since the war in Israel began, though the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has tracked an increase in hateful incidents for years.
"It is alarming to see the hate that is on the rise, not just locally - but nationally and globally," ADL Texoma regional director Stacy Cushing said. "But this is not a new trend."
In October, a group of apparent neo-Nazis ordered from a Torchy's Tacos in Fort Worth. The same day, the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens found and destroyed hundreds of anti-Semitic flyers attached to visitors' cars. In Dallas, an anti-Semitic and anti-LBGTQ group waved a Nazi flag across the street from the Cathedral of Hope.
The ADL reports a 300% increase in anti-Semitic incidents since Oct. 7, when the war in Israel began.
"We have seen an increase in all hate over the last few years," Cushing said. "I don't think there's one reason that contributes to the rise in hate. It's all the factors combined."
Dallas Police were already stationed at Temple Emanu-El Saturday, but called in additional officers after the demonstration began. The group did not attempt to get on the synagogue's property, the Temple spokesperson said.
Cushing says people who see such behavior should not engage, but instead report the hateful activity to police.
"There are ways for us to interrupt the cycle of hate through education and through advocacy," she said. "People want to solve this problem and together we're going to make change."
Temple Emanu-El Rabbi David Stern issued the following statement Monday:
"It is obviously deeply disturbing, as incidents of antisemitism have risen dramatically across the country, to walk out of Sabbath worship and see a Nazi flag. The good news is in the overwhelming expressions of support we have received from our neighbors from across a range of faith and ethnicity. We all know that Dallas is better than this, and that America is better than this. But there is plenty of hate in the air, and the response to hate is not simply to take pictures of it and post them on social media, but to redouble our efforts to build a society that protects the rights and opportunities of all its citizens. As Jews who are justifiably concerned about Jewish safety, we recommit ourselves to living strong and vibrant Jewish lives, because this is – and has always been – the best response to those who would seek to marginalize or diminish us. Literally and figuratively, I would say to Jews and to everybody else: We saw what showed up on the other side of the street. Now it’s time to show up – in word, faith and deed – on our side of the street."
The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum released this statement:
"The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is disgusted by demonstrators near a Dallas synagogue this past Saturday who spewed hatred through displaying antisemitic images of Jews and brandishing a Nazi swastika flag. The brazen use of this most recognizable symbol of Nazi rule is dangerous because it proliferates hatred and is also profoundly hurtful for Holocaust survivors and their family members, who know firsthand the terror this symbol is intended to invoke."