New York, NY, January 24, 2001 … In the latest example of hatemongers using the Internet to spread racist ideology, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today reported that an individual or group has apparently been sending the same anti-Semitic message to dozens of e-mail accounts.

Starting two weeks ago, ADL received reports that a message signed "Rolf Hansen" of the "SS Knights of the KKK" was being sent unsolicited to e-mail addresses. Several recipients of this hate mail have logged on to ADL’s Web site to complete an Anti-Semitic Incident Report. Some forwarded the message directly to ADL for review.

"The Internet continues to be the tool of hatemongers who clearly understand the power it gives them to spread hate anonymously and without any real expense or effort," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Before the Internet, extremists would expend tremendous time, money and energy to spread their messages through pamphlets and mailing lists. Now all they have to do is push a button and their message of anti-Semitism, racism and hate is transmitted instantly to thousands of unsuspecting people. Unsolicited hate messages sent anonymously are particularly disturbing because the recipients of such messages, like people who receive crank phone calls from untraceable telephone numbers, do not know who is targeting them."

In the message, "Hansen" describes the Aryan Graphics Group Web site as the home of "world’s greatest Anti-Jewish shareware and graphics."

According to ADL’s Internet Monitoring Unit, which works to expose hate on the Internet, the names Hansen and SS Knights are most likely fictitious entities. No hate group or individual using those names has previously been identified. The mailing was the latest in a long line of unsolicited hate messages that have been sent by extremists to unsuspecting Internet users.

The Aryan Graphics Group Web site is not presently active, but the person who registered it, Gregory Delaney of Saratoga, Calif., also registered the Bamboo Delight site, which is currently online. At one time, the Bamboo Delight site hid downloadable anti-Semitic and racist computer programs behind information about "Tai Chi Chuan Chinese Exercise" materials. Now, the Bamboo Delight claims that Chinese health materials are needed because "it is a law of the Jewish doctors (found in their Talmud) that sick Christians are not to be cured." This site links to the Aryan Graphics Group site and dozens of other hate sites.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.