The aim of this blog is not to pile it on the ADL, but to show that this organization that is expected to fight hate, discrimination and defamation, has little tolerance for the suffering of any group other than the Jewish population.
I was invited by the ADL sometime in 2002 to speak to a delegation of ADL chapter heads from all over the US who were making a visit to Israel. The group would not come to the Palestinian territories or even anywhere in East Jerusalem so I had to travel to see them at their hotel, the King David Hotel in West Jerusalem.
The meeting was scheduled for three in the afternoon, and the director, Abe Foxman asked if I could come ten minutes early. I did and he met with me separately saying that he had an important meeting and could not attend my talk but wanted to talk to me one on one. We talked in general terms and then I mentioned what had happened at a pro Israel rally in Washington, D.C., not long before, when the Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was booed as he told a packed crowd of thousands that "innocent Palestinians are suffering and dying as well. It is critical that we recognize and acknowledge that fact.''
Foxman was apologetic to me and reassured me that this was not a universal boo, but that it was a tiny minority certainly not representative of the majority of those attending the rally. Foxman then left for his meeting, and I entered the conference room where the directors of all the ADL branches were waiting for my talk.
In such situations I usually check, and I was assured that I was the only Palestinian that this group would meet. I often joke about being the token Palestinian and try to speak honestly to the group, explaining to them that I feel the responsibility of representing the entire Palestinian political spectrum and not just my own rather "moderate" point of view.
My discussion covered the usual aspirations of Palestinians wanting to end the Israeli occupation and live in freedom and independence. I often explain that both peoples have a choice of either sharing the power or the land, but one party can't forever subjugate the other party. After politely listening to me, the question-and-answer period came, and I was hit with a barrage of questions, mostly about Hamas and their refusal to recognize Israel and so on. I tried to answer them with whatever information and arguments I could without being a representative of Hamas. But I would always try to force them to consider the suffering of the Palestinian people and not to focus only on one radical party.
To help illustrate my position, I express again my displeasure at what happened in that Washington rally in which a pro-Israeli official was booed simply for reminding the American Jewish audience that Palestinians also suffer and die. This didn't go well with the audience, but I remembered what Foxman had said, so I thought of trying to gauge their position. Knowing that they didn't have any idea what Foxman had told me, I asked them whether the booing was from a small group or whether it was more representative of the entire group.
One of those in attendance (I think he headed the ADL in St. Louis, Missouri) quickly responded. I was there, he said, and we all booed Wolfowitz, it was not an isolated response. Others in the room shook their heads in agreement.
I never told the group that I had heard the exact opposite from their more sophisticated national director, and since he had left, I never had a chance to related what I had heard from the St. Louis ADL director.
I have not spoken at an ADL visit since then, but I thought of this story when I followed the flip-flopping position of the ADL director who was vehemently opposed to the creation of the Islamic Cultural center before the vote of the Manhattan council, only to backtrack the day after the unanimous vote. I couldn't help but remember the discrepancy between what I had heard from Foxman directly and what his local directors were saying.
My wife and daughter moved to the US for a while this summer, and when we went to register my daughter at the Cheltenham Township School District, I noticed ADL stickers all over the wall opposing Hate. I totally agree with the need for an anti-hate education beginning in schools, churches, synagogues and mosques. But the fight against hate has to be universal if it is to be effective.
The idea of an organization committed to fighting hate and defamation based on religion is a great idea. But if the ADL is committed only to stopping the defamation of the Jewish people while participating in the defamation of the Muslim community, then it has clearly gone against its own goals and vision.
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Stuart Whatley: Democratic Values, Islam and the Judeo-Christian Tradition Fallacy
Models for pluralistic societies based on liberal democratic values exist throughout the historical landscape, independent of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It bodes well that they may be freely adopted by all cultures.
And why would you criticizes where the event was held, is ridiculously picky. Your initial preamble and conclusive statement about the ADL is way off. There are numerous example's as posters have posted here from the ADL website supporting and defending Muslim rights. You can't erase all the good they have done, because of one questionable position they took which you find offensive. There were Muslim people also who were against the location of the Mosque/Center, seeing it as a provocation. Are they prejudice against their own people? I don't know of any Arab group that comes out and defends defamation against Jewish people. I think you could be a little more understanding of the ADL and Foxman, and not look for things which really aren't there. The fact that you were a guest, likely a paid one, ( you say token guest, again being negative,) you could be somewhat appreciative of that, if anything.
There are literally hundreds and they focus on the most egregious breaches of human rights in the so-called civilized World.
Take a look over the "Separation Wall".
Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights
http://www.aswat.com/en/node/1056
Al Haq
http://www.alhaq.org/
Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Center
http://www.ujrc-jordan.org/
Amman Centre for Civil Rights
http://www.achrs.org/english/
The Arab Organization for Human Rights
http://aohr.org/
The Arab Charter on Human rights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Charter_on_Human_Rights
The Arab Association for Human rights
http://www.arabhra.org/HRA/Pages/Index.aspx
The Arab Commission for Human rights
http://www.achr.nu/achr.en.htm
Arab Institute for Human Rights
http://en.euromedrights.org/index.php/members/list_of_members/3082.html
Wanna try the "bs" ?
However, it will NOT tolerate "pro-Arab' positions.
Say a kind word about a perceived "enemy of Israel" or a less than kind word about Israel and you risk an ADL spearheaded attack that can lead to you losing your job and/or reputation eg Octavia Nasr, Helen Thomas, Jimmy Carter, Norman Finkelstein, to name a few who have been pilloried.
A good example of the tendency of the ADL to view matters of toleration through the prism of "is it good for Israel" is the matter of the Armenian Genocide. For many years the ADL held the position that Turkish actions against Armenians in the early 20th Century did not meet the definition of a genocide. In 2007 Watertown, Mass [which has a large Armenian-American community] withdraw from an ADL campaign over the controversy.
In March 2010 for the first time the ADL gave its blessing to a proposal in the US Congress that the Armenian Genocide should be recognized as such.
What changed? Up until 2009 Israel was eager to maintain its alliance with Turkey, however in that year cracks began to appear in that alliance and now in the wake of the "Gaza Flotilla" incident the two governments are at daggers drawn. Could there be a linkage here?
To say that the ADL "has little tolerance for the suffering of any group other than the Jewish population" is simply a lie and everyone knows it. It takes away any credibility that you might have had to argue otherwise.
Shame on you.
When an article starts out with a false premise, all that follows has little credibility.
"# ADL Commends Savannah Authorities for Treating Gay Beating as Possible Federal Hate Crime (6/16/10)
# ADL Condemns Rash of Church Burnings in East Texas (2/17/10)
# ADL Welcomes Federal Indictment in Shenandoah Hate Crime Case (12/15/09)
# ADL Condemns Brutal Killing Of Gay Teenager In Possible Hate Crime In Puerto Rico (11/18/2009)
# ADL Condemns Vandalism of Orlando GLB Center (11/17/2009)
# ADL Condemns Beating of Mexican Immigrant in Brooklyn (10/19/09)
# ADL Welcomes Arrests In Brutal Assault of Gay Man In Queens (10/15/09)
# Beating Of Army Reserve Officer Demonstrates Need For Georgia Hate Crimes Law (9/16/09)
# ADL Praises Baltimore Police Department for Arrest of Three Involved in Hate Crime (8/21/09)
# Church's Anti-Islam Messages are Offensive (7/08/09)
# ADL Urges Justice Department to Prosecute Shenandoah Hate Crime (5/13/09)
# ADL Condemns Rep. Foxx's ‘Insensitive’ Remarks During Hate Crimes Legislative Debate (4/30/09)
# ADL Condemns Anti-Islam Remarks Made by Dutch Parliamentarian During Appearances in S. Florida (4/28/09)
# ADL Condemns Vandalism at Saints Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church (1/29/09)
http://www.adl.org/combating_hate/
Your arguement is the same as saying American's aren't fighting in Afghanistan the Republicans are.
But to say that they only care about Jewish people just isn't true, and it helps if you do a little bit of background research before you put pen to paper:
http://www.adl.org/combating_hate/
/sarcasm