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'OK' Hand Gesture, 'Bowlcut' Added to Hate Symbols Database


FILE - Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO And National Director of the Anti-Defamation League testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 2, 2017, before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on responses to the increase in religious hate crimes.
FILE - Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO And National Director of the Anti-Defamation League testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 2, 2017, before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on responses to the increase in religious hate crimes.

A Jewish civil rights group has added dozens of new entries to its online database of hateful symbols, slogans and memes that white supremacists have adopted and spread.

The "OK" hand gesture is one of the images that the Anti-Defamation League has added to its hate symbols database. Online trolls have used the gesture to dupe viewers into perceiving it as a "white power" symbol, but the ADL says far-right extremists also are using it as a sincere expression of white supremacy.

The database additions also include "Happy Merchant," an anti-Semitic meme that depicts a stereotypical image of a Jewish man rubbing his hands together.

ADL launched the database in 2000 to help law enforcement officers and others recognize signs of extremist activity. It has grown to nearly 200 entries.

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