http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200211\CUL20021
108a.html CNS
NewsNovember 08, 2002 Group
Lumps Conservatives with Klansmen and
Neo-Nazis By Michael L. Betsch
CNSNews.com Staff
Writer THE Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
claims its organizational mission is to
"expose and combat the purveyors of hatred
in our midst." However, some conservatives
say they are offended by the ADL's
deliberate efforts to equate the right
wing with hate groups such as the Ku Klux
Klan and Nazi Low Riders.  Website
note: Abraham Foxman,
wealthy and controversial chief
of the Anti Defamation league,
likes to refer to himself as a
"Holocaust survivor." As a
biography
on this website shows, he was not
even born when Hitler invaded his
native Poland, and he was looked
after by Polish Catholics
throughout the war; his parents
also "survived". |
The ADL maintains an extensive database
of information on a broad range of
"dangerous extremists" and closely
monitors the nationwide activities of the
predominantly anti-Semitic, white
supremacist organizations. The group's
website also features a calendar of
"Upcoming Extremist Events" in order to
alert concerned citizens across the
country of hate gatherings occurring in
their cities and towns.Yet some question why the ADL has
issued a warning for the Free American's
2002 Home-Land Security Expo that will
take place in McDonough, Georgia, from
Nov. 8-10. The Georgia event is billed as an
"exposition and book fair" and will
feature lectures by notable conservative
commentators Tom DeWeese of the
American Policy Center and Larry
Pratt, president of Gun Owners of
America. CNSNews.com asked the ADL to
define the extremist threat that the
Home-Land Security Expo poses to
America. Define
'Extremist'"I don't know that the ADL has a formal
definition for the term 'extremist'," said
Mark Pitcavage, director of fact
finding for the ADL. "But you can
typically use the rougher definition of
someone whose views are so far out of the
mainstream that they have effectively
disenfranchised themselves simply because
so few people agree with them," he
said.  Pitcavage
said the ADL has labeled the Home-Land
Security Expo an extremist event because
most of the participants and vendors are
right-wing extremists, white supremacists,
anti-government extremists, and conspiracy
theorists. And, he said the event closely
resembles the Y2K "preparedness" trade
shows of the 1990s.
"The preparedness expos of the 1990s
were sort of traveling trade fairs for
survivalists and right wing extremists,"
Pitcavage explained. He said those expos
typically featured booths exhibiting
survival products such as "dried beans"
and "shark cartilage" pills; right-wing
extremists, tax protesters and militias;
and white supremacists selling books and
other items. Pitcavage said the ADL is concerned
that the Home-Land Security Expo's
organizer, Clay Douglas, is trying
to revive the extremist trade shows.
Douglas is also the founder of the Free
American, which the ADL has deemed a
"conspiracy-oriented magazine that focuses
on anti-government and anti-Semitic
theories." Conservatives
Defend Their HonorDeWeese, who will discuss the issue of
sustainable development at the Home-Land
Security Expo, said he never would have
accepted Douglas' invitation to speak at
the event if he was anti-Semitic as the
ADL accuses him of being. "I'm massively offended by that and
it's wrong," he said. "There is no one who
will be at this conference who would be a
spokesman for anything like that." DeWeese said he is not surprised that
the ADL has labeled the Home-Land Security
Expo an extremist event. After all, he
said the event will feature information
that is important to people who believe in
national sovereignty, limited government
and don't like the United Nations. The ADL, he noted, has trouble
accepting the notion that conservatives
question government, taxes and the
U.N. "They want to shut us up," DeWeese said
of the ADL. "We have no point that should
be exposed; we should not be allowed to
speak out on these things because it's
dangerous to peace on earth. "We are told that we are not allowed to
have our point of view; that that just is
not to be discussed in polite society,
that we are extremists, that we are
dangerous, that this is the reason why we
have trouble in this country," DeWeese
said. "Well, yeah, it's probably true
because we say, 'No,' to these things and
they don't want that." Pratt, from Gun Owners of America, also
said he was offended that the ADL would
equate the Home-Land Security Expo with
hate groups. He has been invited to
discuss Second Amendment issues at the
weekend event. Pratt said the ADL is experiencing the
same problem the Federal Bureau of
Investigation faced prior to the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks. Before then, Pratt
said, the conviction had always been that
the threat to America came from
conservatives and the "vast right wing
conspiracy" that Hilary Clinton
feared. "The ADL has got its similar,
ultra-liberal blinders on," Pratt said.
"For them, anything to the right of
Hilary Clinton is a massive threat
to the security of the commonwealth." Pratt said the ADL has never understood
that people might want to take care of
themselves rather than rely on the
government to care for them. Contrary to
the liberal ideology of the ADL, he said
those who attend the Home-Land Security
Expo are more than likely of the mindset,
"No, I think I'll do it
myself." Related
items on this website: 
Dossier
on the origins of
anti-Semitism-
Dossier on the
Anti-Defamation League
| 
write to David
Irving