Antisemitic flyers found on Florida lawns target top Disney execs

Group also blamed Jews for mass immigration and gun control issues.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

An antisemitic group threw flyers last Monday night on dozens of lawns in southern Florida labeling top Disney World executives as Jewish, in a supposed warning to parents.

Almost all of the flyers, enclosed in sandwich bags weighted down with popcorn kernels, were found in Coral Gables with a few in Miami, both cities some 200 miles away from the famous theme park.

The page featured head shots of CEO Bob Chapek, Chairman Alan Bergman, CFO Jay Rasulo and three executive vice presidents with blue Stars of David superimposed on their foreheads. The message read: “Every single aspect of Disney childgrooming is Jewish. Protect your children.”

The religious affiliation of the named individuals is not necessarily known to the public.

The reference is apparently to the recent controversy in the state over the Parental Rights in Education Bill that conservative Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in March, which went into effect Friday. The law states that sexual orientation and gender identity cannot be taught in school up to the fourth grade. In addition, teachers of any grade above that must ensure that the lessons they impart on these subjects are “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate” for their students.

Opponents condemned it as being discriminatory and promoting hatred of the LGBTQ+ sector, calling it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The Disney company publicly joined the protest against the bill, and Chapek announced it would stop making donations to all political parties in Florida while contributing to several LGTBTQ+ organizations.

DeSantis countered by threatening to terminate Disney’s self-governing privileges.

In defending the legislation before the vote, DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw had tweeted that it “would be more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming Bill.”

She then added, “If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children. Silence is complicity. This is how it works, Democrats, and I didn’t make the rules.”

Very similar flyers were found the same morning in several other Florida cities regarding other controversial subjects. Faces stamped with a Star of David were topped by the accusation, “Every single aspect of mass immigration” or “gun control” – “is Jewish.” On the latter sheet, the defaced photos were those of lawmakers.

The same modus operandi and messaging has been used before to blame supposedly Jewish health officials for the Covid-19 pandemic. Last November such bagged flyers were found in Beverly Hills, and this past February, they were thrown onto lawns in California, Colorado and Texas, among other states.

At least part of the latest batch contained the same antisemitic website as the ones in Northern California. A group called the Goyim Defense League has been accused by at least one Jewish news site of being behind the hateful incidents out west.

Jacob Solomon, president of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, told CBS4 Thursday, “I am alarmed. I am alarmed as a Jew and I am alarmed as an American to see this type of hate spread like wildfire. It has been said that what begins with Jews does not end with Jews.”

The authorities are investigating the incidents and are asking for the public’s help to find the perpetrators.

AntisemitismDisneyFloridaRon DeSantis