Transcript

VOL. CLXVIII . . . No. 58,131 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

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Until recent years, many Jewsin America believed that the worstof anti-Semitism was over there,in Europe, a vestige of the oldcountry.

American Jews were welcomein universities, country clubs andcorporate boards that once ex-cluded their grandparents. Theymarried non-Jews, moved intomixed neighborhoods and by2000, the first Jew ran for vicepresident on a major party ticket.

So the massacre on Saturday of11 people in a Pittsburgh syna-gogue, by a man who told the po-lice when he surrendered that he“wanted all Jews to die,” was formany a shocking wake-up call.

“This kind of evil makes methink of the Holocaust and howpeople can be so cruel, that thereis so much evil in the world, still,”said Moshe Taube, 91, a retiredcantor from Congregation BethShalom in Pittsburgh and a sur-vivor of the Holocaust.

But it did not come out of no-where, said experts in anti-Semitism. At the same time thatJews were feeling unprecedentedacceptance in the United States,the climate was growing increas-ingly hostile, intensifying in thetwo years since Donald J. Trumpwas elected president. And itcomes at a time when attacks onJews are on the rise in Europe aswell, with frequent anti-Semiticincidents in France and Germany.

The hate in the United Statescame into full view last year aswhite supremacists marched inCharlottesville, Va., with lines ofmen carrying torches and chant-ing, “Jews will not replace us.”

Swastikas and other anti-Se-mitic graffiti have been croppingup on synagogues and Jewishhomes around the country. Jewsonline are subjected to viciousslurs and threats. Many syna-gogues and Jewish day schoolshave been amping up security

FOR JEWS IN U.S.,A SHOCKING BURSTOF ANTI-SEMITISM

SENSE OF EASE IS SHAKEN

Gunman’s Deadly Attack on Pittsburgh Temple

Is a Blaring Alarm

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Continued on Page A13

SAN FRANCISCO — On Mon-day, a search on Instagram, thephoto-sharing site owned byFacebook, produced a torrent ofanti-Semitic images and videosuploaded in the wake of Satur-day’s shooting at a Pittsburghsynagogue.

A search for the word “Jews”displayed 11,696 posts with thehashtag “#jewsdid911,” claimingthat Jews had orchestrated theSept. 11 terror attacks. Other hash-tags on Instagram referencedNazi ideology, including the num-ber 88, an abbreviation used forthe Nazi salute “Heil Hitler.”

The Instagram posts demon-strated a stark reality. Over thelast 10 years, Silicon Valley’s so-cial media companies have ex-panded their reach and influenceto the furthest corners of theworld. But it has become glaringlyapparent that the companiesnever quite understood the nega-tive consequences of that influ-ence nor what to do about it — andthat they cannot put the genieback in the bottle.

“Social media is emboldeningpeople to cross the line and pushthe envelope on what they arewilling to say to provoke and to in-cite,” said Jonathan Albright, re-search director at Columbia Uni-versity’s Tow Center for DigitalJournalism. “The problem isclearly expanding.”

The repercussions of the socialmedia companies’ inability to han-dle disinformation and hatespeech have manifested them-selves abundantly in recent days.Cesar Sayoc Jr., who was chargedlast week with sending explosivedevices to prominent Democrats,appeared to have been radicalizedonline by partisan posts on Twit-ter and Facebook. Robert D. Bow-ers, who is accused of killing 11people at the Tree of Life syna-gogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday,posted about his hatred of Jews onGab, a two-year-old social net-work.

The effects of social media werealso evident globally. Close watch-ers of Brazil’s election on Sundayascribed much of the appeal of the

With Growth,Social MediaSpread Harm

Companies Struggle toCurb Violent Speech

This article is by Sheera Frenkel,Mike Isaac and Kate Conger.

Continued on Page A14

ACHMAD IBRAHIM/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Passenger belongings from a new Lion Air passenger jet that crashed into the Java Sea off Indonesia on Monday. Page A9.All on Board Feared Lost

RIO DE JANEIRO — Had theblade slashed a bit more of JairBolsonaro’s abdomen, the evan-gelical preacher who came to seehim in the hospital might have hadto prepare a eulogy about hisfriend’s presidential hopes beingdashed by the same plague of vio-lence that fueled his stunning rise.

Instead, when he saw Mr. Bol-sonaro in intensive care lastmonth, the preacher, SilasMalafaia, who is enormously pop-

ular in Brazil, saw fit to crack ajoke.

“Look what God did!” Mr.Malafaia recalls telling the candi-date, who was dazed after under-going numerous procedures tostitch up his intestinal tract andother organs. “You were stabbed,

and now all the other candidatesare complaining about all the tele-vision coverage you’re getting.”

Before the knife attack lastmonth, Mr. Bolsonaro had alreadybegun to look like an indomitablephenomenon in Brazilian politics,campaigning in angry outburstsagainst corruption and violencethat largely matched the nationalmood.

But far from blunting his rise,the near-fatal stabbing crystal-lized Mr. Bolsonaro’s convictionthat only he could straighten out acountry reeling from years of eco-

How a Far-Right Populist Rode Years of Crisis to Brazil’s Top JobBy ERNESTO LONDOÑO

and MANUELA ANDREONI

Jair Bolsonaro in São Paulo.NELSON ALMEIDA/A.F.P. — GETTY IMAGES

Tapping Into NationalUnrest Over Crime

and Corruption

Continued on Page A7

For Dr. Piero Anversa, the fallfrom scientific grace has beenlong, and the landing hard.

Researchers worldwide oncehailed his research as revolution-ary, promising the seemingly im-possible: a way to grow new heartcells to replace those lost in heartattacks and heart failure, leadingkillers in the United States.

But Harvard Medical Schooland Brigham and Women’s Hospi-tal in Boston, his former employ-ers, this month accused Dr. An-versa and his laboratory of exten-sive scientific malpractice. Morethan 30 research studiesproduced over more than a dec-ade contain falsified or fabricateddata, officials concluded, andshould be retracted. Last year thehospital paid a $10 million settle-ment to the federal governmentafter the Department of Justice al-leged that Dr. Anversa and two

members of his team were re-sponsible for fraudulently obtain-ing research funding from the Na-tional Institutes of Health.

“The number of papers is ex-traordinary,” said Dr. Jeffrey Flier,

His Promise to Heal Bad HeartsRelied on Mountain of False Data

By GINA KOLATA

Dr. Piero AnversaANNIE TRITT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A11

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. — AliciaHooten thinks the country hasplenty of problems. “So many; somany,” she said warily, beforesettling on the one at the top of

her mind with themidterm electionjust a week away.“I feel like we’refighting for our

freedom when it comes to ourborders.”

She spoke while waiting forPresident Trump’s campaignrally on Saturday, hours after thedeadly shootings in Pittsburgh.Ms. Hooten, a graphic designer

from nearby Sparta, Ill., said shewas especially concerned aboutthe caravan of migrants in south-ern Mexico, calling it “a ploy todestroy America, and to bring usto our knees.”

“I’m not going to take it — notgoing to go down without afight,” she insisted.

For the last two weeks, Mr.Trump and his conservativeallies have operated largely in

tandem on social media andelsewhere to push alarmist,conspiratorial warnings aboutthe migrant caravan more than2,000 miles from the border.They have largely succeeded inanimating Republican voters likeMs. Hooten around the idea ofthese foreign nationals posing adire threat to the country’s secu-rity, stability and identity.

Caravan Rhetoric Intersects With Deadly Hatred

By JEREMY W. PETERS

Latin Americans in a U.S.-bound caravan have been portrayed as a threat to security and stability.TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

President Stokes SameFears That Appear to

Drive Attacks

Continued on Page A15

NEWSANALYSIS

BERLIN — Chancellor AngelaMerkel has been a seemingly in-vincible figure in German politics.In office 13 years, she has been Eu-rope’s most powerful leader, apresence so synonymous with sta-bility Germans call her Mutti, orMother. So it was a familiar sighton Monday to see her live on tele-vision, until she asked Germans todo something far less familiar, and“get ready for the time after me.”

The chancellor said she wouldstep down as leader of her conser-vative party in December andwould not seek re-election in 2021.That means Ms. Merkel may re-main on the political scene formonths to come. But few observ-ers believe she could hang on untilthe end of her term, speculatingthat new elections could be held asearly as next year.

The chancellor’s decision nowmakes clear that neither she norher country is immune to theforces that have reordered politicsacross the Continent — the crater-ing of the political center; the riseof populist forces; the blowbackfrom the migration crisis; and aredrawing of the political faultlines away from the historical left-right divide toward a battle be-tween liberal pro-European val-ues and their nationalist polar op-posite.

Speculation had grown formonths about Ms. Merkel’s even-tual exit from the political stage,but the announcement still came

Merkel to Exit,Jolting Nation And the Globe

By KATRIN BENNHOLDand MELISSA EDDY

Continued on Page A8

IN COURT Arriving in a wheelchair, the man accused of killing 11 con-gregants heard 29 charges against him. PAGE A12

JEWISH RIFTS The massacre brought to the surface political and theo-logical disputes between Israelis and American Jews. PAGE A13

TRAVEL PLANS The president will visit the Pittsburgh community thatwas the site of the synagogue massacre. PAGE A14

More than 5,000 active-dutymilitary troops will deploy to thesouthern border to counter the mi-grant caravan. Page A18.

Show of Force

Parliament has been suspended, and anex-president accused of war crimes hasbeen named prime minister. The otherprime minister won’t go. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

Political Mess in Sri LankaNever heard of Bytedance? Chancesare your teenager is already glued to itsmusic video app. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-5

China’s Web Fluff JuggernautNo one has claimed the bodies of the 16-and 22-year-old sisters, who turned upalong Manhattan’s Hudson River shore-line, duct-taped together. PAGE A19

NEW YORK A19-21

Mysterious Deaths of 2 SistersAn improvisatory hip-hop group thathas gotten rhymes from Lin-ManuelMiranda is returning onstage. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

Making It Up as They GoA citizen-science project is catalogingthe spiders and other many-leggedcreatures in our homes. PAGE D1

SCIENCE TIMES D1-8

Creepy-Crawly Dependents

Cellphone-size books meant to be readhorizontally in one hand could trans-form American publishing. PAGE B1

You May Need New BookmarksHeard the one about the disabled Mus-lim comic from New Jersey? If so,Maysoon Zayid probably told it. PAGE C1

She’s a Sit-Down Stand-UpSomething very large and dark, thebottomless grave of four million suns, isat the center of our galaxy. PAGE D1

At the Heart of the Milky Way

Michelle Goldberg PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

With the dismissal of one charge, thereare signs the case against Harvey Wein-stein may be fraying. PAGE A19

Cracks in Weinstein Case

Boston’s David Price defied his historyof postseason failure, earning an elusivechampionship. On Baseball. PAGE B6

SPORTSTUESDAY B6-10

Pitcher Finally at the Pinnacle

The man, a dual U.S. and Saudi citizen,had been held for over a year as a sus-pected Islamic State member. PAGE A6

U.S. ISIS Suspect Is Freed

There is a partisan divide over whetherit should be the goal to make it easy forpeople to vote. PAGE A17

NATIONAL A10-18

What if Everyone Voted?

Late EditionToday, sunshine and patchy clouds,cool, high 56. Tonight, clear, chilly,low 47. Tomorrow, periodic cloudsand sunshine, turning milder, high64. Weather map is on Page B10.

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