In a surprising turn of events, Ford Motor Company's X account unleashed a series of anti-Israel posts on Monday, sparking speculation that the account may have been compromised.
The posts, which have since been removed, included statements such as "Free Palestine," "Israel is a terrorist state," and "ALL EYES ON GAZA." The account, which is managed by the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker, boasts a following of 1.4 million.
As reported by the Daily Caller, the incident sparked a wave of speculation online, with Democratic New York Rep. Ritchie Torres among those suggesting that the account may have been hacked. "Ford Motor Company must have been hacked by the Free Palestine movement," Torres stated. Others suggested that a member of Ford's social media team may have been responsible for the posts, perhaps forgetting to switch accounts. A more humorous theory proposed that the ghost of Henry Ford, the company's founder, was behind the posts.
Henry Ford's legacy is not without controversy, particularly regarding his anti-Semitic views. "The most controversial and least admirable aspect of Fords career was his descent into anti-Semitism, according to an article on the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation's website. In 1918, Ford purchased the financially struggling Dearborn Independent. He used the paper as a platform to voice his personal anti-Semitic views, starting with a front-page series titled, The International Jew: the Worlds Problem on May 22, 1920.
Ford's belief that Jewish financiers funded the First World War and intended to dominate the world was influenced by populist sentiments of the time. The basis for the articles was an ancient and notorious forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an anti-Semitic hoax, first published in Russia in 1903, the article stated. Ford, who yearned for a culturally conservative past, also blamed Jews for the moral progressivism of his era.
The public backlash against Ford's series and his use of the Dearborn Independent to attack Jewish-American lawyer Aaron Sapiro was significant. In response to a lawsuit from Sapiro, Ford agreed to an out-of-court settlement that included closing the paper in 1927, compensating Sapiro, and issuing a formal apology.
Ford's anti-Semitism was admired by Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany, despite the struggles of Ford's German subsidiary due to German nationalism. According to an article by the Anti-Defamation League, Hitler and the Nazi Party drew inspiration from The International Jew for their anti-Semitic platform and beliefs.
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