ADL's Abraham Foxman
ADL's Abraham FoxmanIsrael news video screen shot

The Philadelphia branch of the New York-based Anti-Defamation League has raised an alert over an upcoming Fourth of July weekend event in Bucks Count, Pennsylvania, sponsored by an anti-Semitic newspaper published by a longtime white supremacist. 

The event, “Freedompalooza 2013" is a gathering of white supremacists, anti-Semites, anti-government extremists and conspiracy theorists, according to the ADL. 

Scheduled for the July 4-6 weekend, it is being organized by Paul Topete, an extremist lead singer of the band “Pokerface,” and sponsored by the “American Free Press,” published by Willis Carto.

The list of invited speakers includes two former members of Congress, both of whom have a history of hatred against Israel. Cynthia McKinney has long promoted anti-Israel rhetoric, and accused the pro-Israel lobby of sabotaging her political career.

James Traficant was imprisoned following convictions on federal racketeering and bribery charges. He has since joined the American Free Press, where he has expressed his own anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views, the ADL said in a statement issued Wednesday.

“It is particularly disturbing that former members of Congress will be prominent speakers at such a hate-filled event in our backyard,” said Barry Morrison, ADL Philadelphia regional director.  “It is troubling to think that people will converge on Bucks County to hear from some of the nation’s leading racists and anti-Semites.

The event will also host other speakers such as Jim Condit, Jr., who ran several times for Congress in Ohio, using the opportunity to express his anti-Semitic view in radio advertisements.  Also speaking will be Merlin Miller, 2012 presidential candidate of the white supremacist American Freedom Party, and Larry Pratt, head of the Gun Owners of America, a radical gun rights group.