The Unz Review Explained

The Unz Review
Type:Alt-right, white nationalism
Language:English
Editor:Ron Unz
Launch Date:2013

The Unz Review is an American website and blog, founded and edited by far-right activist and Holocaust denier Ron Unz. It is known for its publication of far-right, conspiracy theory, white nationalist, antisemitic writings and pro-Russia propaganda.

The Unz Review has received support from pro-Putin, pro-Russian sources and hosts a number of commentators who promote pro-Russian propaganda.

History

Far-right activist and Holocaust denier Ron Unz[1] launched the The Unz Review in November 2013. Unz is editor-in-chief and publisher.[2] [3]

In May 2020, Facebook removed fake accounts tied to The Unz Review.[4]

Editorial positions

The Unz Review describes itself as a publication presenting an "alternative media selection"[5] and "controversial perspectives largely excluded from the American mainstream media."[6]

It has been described as alternative conservative,[7] far-right,[8] [9] white nationalist,[10] and a publisher of antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

The Unz Review has also been described as "mix of far-right and far-left anti-Semitic crackpottery", from 9/11 ‘truth’ conspiracy theorist Paul Craig Roberts and Norman Finkelstein, who believes Jews exploit the Holocaust to justify oppressing Palestinians”.[11]

The Associated Press describes the outlet as "a hodgepodge of views from corners of both the left and right."[12] According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the website is an "outlet for certain writers to attack Israel and Jews".

Writers

The Unz Review hosts the blogs of far-right writers Steve Sailer and Anatoly Karlin. The Review of General Psychology describes Sailer as "a political writer who uses the language of IQ and genetics to further a White nationalist political agenda" and Karlin as a promoter of "antisemitic conspiracy theories and associates with alt-right political activist Richard Spencer".[13] Polygraph.info have described Anatoly Karlin as a "Russian white nationalist blogger."[14]

In June 2023, an article in the The Guardian noted that "Among those whose writings Unz republishes are Andrew Anglin, founder of the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website [...] and Eric Striker (real name Joseph Jordan), a founder of the neo-Nazi National Justice Party".[15]

Writer Stephen Sniegoski said in The Unz Review in June 2016 that President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program had a greater "connection to fascism than anything Donald Trump has said."[16]

Controversy

Luisa Neubauer accused former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's intelligence agency, Hans-Georg Maaßen of antisemitism for sharing links to The Unz Review and using terms like "globalists" on his Twitter account.[17]

Former CIA operative Valerie Plame apologized in September 2017 after receiving attention for sharing an antisemitic article by Philip Giraldi titled "America's Jews Are Driving America's Wars" on her Twitter account.[18] The article's depictions of Jews controlling the media and politics echoed long-running tropes blaming them for a variety of social and economic ills.

Notes and References

  1. News: Sigler . Gall . The Supreme Court just hobbled affirmative action — and an antisemitic conspiracy theorist helped . 28 November 2023 . . 2023-06-29 . 2023-09-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230930100120/https://forward.com/fast-forward/552519/ron-unz-supreme-court-affirmative-action-harvard/ . live .
  2. Web site: Ron Unz: Controversial Writer and Funder of Anti-israel Activists. June 13, 2018. January 20, 2014. Anti-Defamation League. June 12, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162734/https://www.adl.org/news/article/ron-unz-controversial-writer-and-funder-of-anti-israel-activists. live.
  3. News: Should Anyone Be Able To Take A Job Anywhere? . 28 November 2023 . . 2013-11-06 . 2023-11-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231129021208/https://www.npr.org/2013/11/04/243009466/should-anyone-be-able-to-take-a-job-anywhere . live .
  4. News: Stubbs . jack . Facebook says it dismantles disinformation network tied to Iran's state media . 28 November 2023 . . 2020-05-05 . 2023-04-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230409152232/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-facebook-idUSKBN22H2DK . live .
  5. News: Amponsah . Michelle . Deep Within the Anti-Affirmative Action Lawsuit, a Holocaust Denier . 28 November 2023 . . 2023-06-23 . 2023-09-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230915085755/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/6/23/affirmative-action-lawsuit-holocaust-denier/ . live .
  6. Web site: Indiana U says it can't fire prof who made 'racist, sexist and homophobic' remarks . 9 November 2021 . . November 25, 2019 . November 9, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211109233209/https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.5372303/indiana-u-says-it-can-t-fire-prof-who-made-racist-sexist-and-homophobic-remarks-1.5372311 . live .
  7. News: Tatum . Sophie . Ex-CIA operative apologizes for tweet of anti-Semitic article . 28 November 2023 . . 2017-09-21 . 2018-11-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181130155129/https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/21/politics/valerie-plame-wilson-tweet/index.html . live .
  8. Panofsky . Aaron . How White nationalists mobilize genetics: From genetic ancestry and human biodiversity to counterscience and metapolitics . . 2021 . 175 . 2 . 387–398 . 10.1002/ajpa.24150 . 32986847 . 9909835 .
  9. Web site: Why White Supremacists Are Chugging Milk (and Why Geneticists Are Alarmed) . The New York Times . 2018-10-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181017091349/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/us/white-supremacists-science-dna.html . 2018-10-17 . live . 2021-11-10.
  10. News: The Strange Logic of Germany's Antisemitism Bureaucrats . 28 November 2023 . . Spring 2023 . 13 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231213071055/https://jewishcurrents.org/the-strange-logic-of-germanys-antisemitism-bureaucrats . live .
  11. Web site: Bevensee . Emmi . Ross . Alexander Reid . The Alt-Right and Global Information Warfare . 2018-12-01 . 10.1109/BigData.2018.8622270 . 2023-12-28 . 7 . 2024-03-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240303000703/https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1138&context=geog_fac . live . PDF page 7 of 11: "The most prominent and clearest connection between the Alt-Right and conspiracy theory sites in our conspiracy theory selection is called The Unz Review, which appeared very frequently amongst the Alt-Right twitter handles. The Unz Review is a “mix of far-right and far-left anti-Semitic crackpottery, from 9/11 ‘truther’ and conspiracy theorist Paul Craig Roberts to ‘Holocaust industry’ critic Norman Finkelstein, who believes Jews exploit the Holocaust to justify oppressing Palestinians”.[87] This website represents the heart of Alt-Right disinformation landscape, in that it sees itself as a radical opposition to the mainstream that transcends the traditional left-right political binary in order to propagate white-supremacist narratives amidst a wide range of conspiracy and propaganda. Among the sites that support the Unz Review is the anti-Semitic and pro-Kremlin website russia-insider.com [86], which also featured in the Alt-Right websites linked. Russia-Insider keeps a running feed of articles posted on The Unz Review. Russia-Insider was founded in tandem with a larger effort to generate a more positive view of the Kremlin in the US by taking a critical approach to US politics from a Russian perspective while advancing pro-Russian conspiracy theories. Russia-Insider’s top sources of traffic, according to Amazon’s Alexa site overlap tool are searches for ZeroHedge, and the top sites visited before it were Sputnik News and RT."
  12. News: Oxford . Andrew . Ex-CIA agent sparks Twitter controversy by sharing commentary on Jews . . Associated Press . September 21, 2017 . November 11, 2021 . March 14, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220314195504/https://apnews.com/article/f1ddf8768407408eb40a77785d42e545 . live .
  13. Jackson . John P. . The Mythical Taboo on Race and Intelligence . . 2021 . 25 . 1 . 3–26 . 10.1177/1089268020953622 . 225143131 . 28 November 2023 . 17 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231217201235/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1089268020953622?journalCode=rgpa#body-ref-bibr234-1089268020953622 . live .
  14. William Echols. Russian State TV Calls Video Game Metro Exodus "Russophobic". Polygraph.info. February 21, 2019.
  15. Ed Pilkington. Harvard affirmative action challenge partly based on Holocaust denier’s work. The Guardian. June 6, 2023.
  16. Rosenfeld . Gavriel . An American Führer? Nazi Analogies and the Struggle to Explain Donald Trump . . December 2019 . 52 . 4 . 570 . 10.1017/S0008938919000840 . 26870257 . 212950934 . free . 2023-11-28 . 2023-11-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231112193719/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26870257 . live .
  17. News: Neubauer erneuert und konkretisiert Vorwürfe gegen Maaßen . 28 November 2023 . . 2021-03-12 . German.
  18. News: Kirchick. James. Valerie Plame's Real Blunder. Tablet. September 25, 2017. May 20, 2019. May 31, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190531131912/https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/245720/valerie-plames-real-blunder. live.