Washington, June 13, 1988
ADL
report diminished its
reputation by Leonard Larsen (Scripps
Howard News Service) | June 13, 1988 WASHINGTON--The
Anti-Defamation
League of B'nai
B'rith is a proud organization that is
celebrating its 75th anniversary in
fighting discrimination - sometimes
perilously, always unselfishly and
frequently wading into struggles on behalf
of non-Jews whose rights need a strong and
honest voice. But now in a just published ADL
"special report," an "Audit of
Anti-Semitic Incidents: The Anti-Israel
Component," the ADL clouds its own
record. Surprising, perhaps shocking from an
organization whose work and ideals are so
much a part of the American fabric, the
ADL dangles a suggestion that free speech
can be held suspect if the object of
criticism is the state of Israel. With the Palestinian uprising in the
occupied territories in its seventh month,
with more than 200 Palestinians killed by
Israeli soldiers and settlers, with harsh
treatment of Palestinians under Israeli
military rule now a settled way of life,
the ADL publication clearly implies that
to voice opposition to Israel's political
and military policy and to support a
Palestinian viewpoint is
"anti-Semitic. The ADL special report on "anti-Semitic
incidents," covering the first 4-1/2
months of 1988, dwells mainly on acts that
can be seen as vandalism, clear threats
against Jews and their institutions and
other products of thuggery and hate. But while the ADL, in its past annual
reports on anti-Semitism, has included in
its audits what have been called acts of
"propaganda carried on by anti-Israel and
anti-Zionist organizations," the authors
of the current special report say that a
"new anti-Semitic pattern has emerged" has
emerged in "anti-Jewish acts (which) have
been linked to unrest in the West Bank and
Gaza." Of the 88 "episodes" in which the ADL
finds such links, most are of brutish
behavior that is invariably the work of
bigoted fools of the night -
spray-painting of synagogues, anonymous
threatening telephone calls and mailings,
vandalism and verbal harassment. Included,
however, are a few incidents which, in
the ADL view as "anti-Semitic" only
because they recount brutal acts of
repression against Palestinians by the
Israeli government. One ADL account of "anti-Semitism," for
example, arrives from Palm Beach, Fla.,
where it was reported, there had been
"distribution of pro-Palestinian
literature on several occasions." Another incident in the ADL special
report came from East Tennessee State
University in the distribution of
"anti-Israel and anti-Semitic literature
featuring pro-Palestinian sympathies. From Boston, the ADL said, came more
"anti-Semitic" conduct by the person or
persons who set out for public display
"pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel graffiti
throughout the subway system." The Boston subway slogans cited by the
ADL - presumably the most vicious examples
of anti-Semitism - were "Victory to the
Palestinian People's Struggle" and "Down
With the Reactionary Israeli-Settler State
and Their U.S. Masters." Lumping together all the 1988 reports
of "Anti-Semitic Acts Linked to West
Bank/Gaza Unrest," the ADL describes
everything - from vandalism against
synagogues to pro-Palestinian pamphlets -
as "anti-Semitic crimes with a political
twist," and expresses confidence that "all
Americans, no matter their views on the
current conflict in the Middle East, will
join us in condemning such bigoted
activities." For months, years even, efforts to
equate criticism of Israel and support for
Palestinians with anti-Semitsim has come
from paid Israeli lobbyists. What is
disturbing is that an organization so
deserving of honor and respect as the ADL
would now join in the tactic. An obvious intent here is to use
intimidation to silence criticism of
Israel's political and military conduct.
The participation of the ADL in such work
diminishes its history and
tradition. |