“We believe that we cannot collaborate with the ADL without betraying our movements,” the letter says.
By Josh Plank, World Israel News
Over 160 progressive organizations have signed a letter this month calling for a boycott of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
“Open letter to progressives: The ADL is not an ally” has been published on the website DropTheADL.org.
“We believe that we cannot collaborate with the ADL without betraying our movements,” the letter says.
Among the signatories are Christian Peacemaker Teams, CODEPINK, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Democratic Socialists of America, Dream Defenders, Jewish Voice for Peace, Methodist Federation for Social Action, Mijente, Movement for Black Lives, National Students for Justice in Palestine, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, and The Red Nation.
The letter accuses the ADL of an “ongoing pattern of attacking social justice movements led by communities of color, queer people, immigrants, Muslims, Arabs, and other marginalized groups.”
It also accuses the ADL of “aligning itself with police, right-wing leaders, and perpetrators of state violence.”
The website also contains a primer, laying out a long list of complaints against the ADL.
The accusations include “smearing critics of colonialism as ‘anti-Semites'” and demonstrating “support for actual anti-Semites, Donald Trump, and other right-wing, racist influencers.”
It calls the ADL, “a white-led organization that claims a role as civil rights leader, but shouts down communities of color advocating for their own rights.”
The ADL published a response to the letter on August 12.
“Recently, a laundry list of tired, false and misleading statements about ADL’s history was published by many of the same groups who have been pushing an anti-Israel agenda for years,” the ADL said.
“ADL supports the Jewish and democratic state of Israel. It also supports a negotiated two-state solution achieving rights and security for both Israelis and Palestinians,” said the statement.
“This support for Israel does not mean ADL is ‘anti-Palestinian,'” they said.
The organization called it “outrageous” to claim that the ADL hasn’t supported other justice movements and marginalized communities.
“ADL proudly stands with the Black Lives Matter movement,” the statement said.
Contrary to the accusations of the progressive groups, those on the right have criticized the ADL for downplaying Muslim anti-Semitism, being too soft on the anti-Israel rhetoric of Rep. Ilhan Omar, and partnering with famed anti-Semite Al Sharpton.
Jonathan Tobin, editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, said that the ADL under the leadership of Jonathan Greenblatt, a former Clinton and Obama administration staffer, “has become just one more liberal Jewish group with a partisan agenda.”