A
DOSSIER on the Anti-Defamation League's penetration of US
and San Francisco police agencies and its illegal use of
police databases. ADL officials were prosecuted for this
felony, and subsequently reached an out of court settlement
with the District Attorney under which they paid a
substantial penalty -- to be used for combatting racist
groups. | 
Website
visitors are encouraged to submit
authentic
materials, information, correspondence, press clippings,
etc., to this dossier. |
The
Anti-Defamation League's Spy Scandal of 1993 Summary:
The "Anti-Defamation League"
(ADL)
was found to be spying on Arab Americans and Progressive
Organizations, and sharing the information with Israeli and
South African Intelligence agencies. In early 1993, an employee of the (so-called)
Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith was found to be spying
on Arab Americans and a large number of progressive
organizations. He had collected files on over 10,000
individuals and 600 organizations - everyone from the Arab
Amercian Antidiscrimination Committee and the ACLU to the
African National Congress and the Centro Legal de La Raza,
to the Earth Island Institute and Greenpeace, including even
twenty San Francisco area labor unions and a large number of
Central America solidarity organizations. Information on
anti-apartheid activists was passed on to South African
intelligence agents.
At the time, a number of articles was written covering this
spy scandal. Most appeared in west coast newspapers. The
case was also covered by progressive magazines such as The
Nation. Related articles which are not reproduced on this
website are referenced in the list below.- Phil Bronstein, Suspect in Cop Spy Case Tells his
Story, San Francisco Examiner, January 22, 1993.
- Richard Paddock, San Francisco Probes Private Spy
Network, Los Angeles Times, February 26, 1993, Page
1.
- Dennis Opatrny, Scott Winokur, Police Said to Help
Spy on Political Groups - Anti-Defamation League Seeks
Info Nationwide, San Francisco Examiner, March 9, 1993,
Page A-1.
- Robert Friedman, in the May 11, 1993 issue of The
Village Voice.
- Chip Berlet and Dennis King in Tikkun magazine,
July/August 1993.
- Alexander Cockburn in his bi-weekly Beat the Devil
column, published in The Nation. [Cockburn predicts
(correctly) that the case will be dropped due to
political pressure on the district attorney and mayor's
office.]
- San Francisco Examiner, May 11, 1993.
Unfortunately, during this entire episode, there was
barely a mention of the case in the New York Times.
Index - The story breaks, May 3,
1993: ADL is target of probe, may have broken records
laws
- David Irving
writes to San Francisco police for his ADL dossier,
January 7, 1994
- The ADL'S illegal penetration
of US and San Francisco police agencies
- ADL in San
Francisco Court, resists Demand to Disclose its
Files
- November 11, 1998: The
Court says ADL must come clean, disclose files
- November 17, 1998: Court
allows Action to go Forward
- COUNTERPUNCH
1999 exposé: ADL's main fact-finder was
also spy for South African regime; buddy was San
Francisco cop who tutored El Salvadoran death
squads
- ADL in San
Francisco Court, resists Demand to Disclose its
Files
- COUNTERPUNCH
exposé: ADL's main fact-finder was also spy for
South African regime; buddy was San Francisco cop who
tutored El Salvadoran death squads
- Middle East
Labor Bulletin, Spring 1993 reports: ADL U.S. Spy
networks exposed in San Francisco
- May 31, 1993:
The ADL Spy Probe, by Alexander Cockburn: in Beat the
Devil, his bi-weekly column in The Nation
- Middle East Labor
Bulletin, spring 1993: The ADL's info helped the House
UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) in its 1947
Witch-Hunts
- Middle East Labor
Bulletin, Fall 1993: ADL not only acts as propaganda arm
of Israel but also provides secret intelligence on
Palestinians and Arab-Americans to the Mossad
- Middle East Labor
Bulletin, Fall 1993: Unions were among hundreds of groups
spied on by ADL informant
- Sept 28, 1998:
ADL court battle over secret spy files continues in San
Francisco state appeals court
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