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Revision as of 09:00, 18 December 2011 view sourceDutch32 (talk | contribs)61 editsm External links← Previous edit Latest revision as of 23:23, 11 December 2024 view source Misha Wolf (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,436 edits First para of Intro: Partially reverting the previous edit, as the cited source states that the ADL was formed to "fight anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry and discrimination." Thus the source makes quite clear that the "other forms" of bigotry and discrimination are not those whose targets are Jews.Tag: 2017 wikitext editor 
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{{Short description|International Jewish organization}}
{{Other uses}} {{Other uses}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox Organization
{{Use American English|date=July 2021}}
|name = Anti-Defamation League
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
|image = Adllogo.png
{{Infobox organization
|size = 100px
|caption = Logo of the Anti-Defamation League | name = Anti-Defamation League
| image = ADL logo (2018) cropped.svg
|motto = To stop the defamation of the Jewish people…to secure justice and fair treatment to all.
| size = 175px
|formation = October 1913
| formation = {{start date and age|mf=yes|1913|09}}
|headquarters = ], ], ]
| founder = ]
|type = ]
| status = ]
|leader_title = Director
| headquarters = {{nowrap|], ], U.S.}}
|leader_name = ]
| type = ] advocacy group
|key_people = ] (])<br>Robert Sugarman (])
| tax_id = 13-1818723 (])<ref>{{Cite web|title=Anti Defamation League – Nonprofit Explorer|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131818723|access-date=April 9, 2021|website=]|date=May 9, 2013|archive-date=November 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114203722/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131818723|url-status=live}}</ref>
|website =
| leader_title = Chair
| leader_name = Ben Sax
| leader_title2 = CEO
| leader_name2 = ]
| revenue = $101.1&nbsp;million<ref name="Form-990">{{cite web |title=2021 Form 990 |url=https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/2023-01/ADL%20-%202021%20Form%20990%20PD%20Copy_0.pdf |publisher=ADL |access-date=September 14, 2023 |archive-date=June 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611001554/https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/2023-01/ADL%20-%202021%20Form%20990%20PD%20Copy_0.pdf |url-status=live |page=1}}</ref>
| revenue_year = 2021
| expenses = $81.5 million<ref name="Form-990" />
| expenses_year = 2021
| endowment =
| endowment_year =
| staff = 501<ref name="Form-990" />
| staff_year = 2021
| volunteers = 3,500<ref name="Form-990" />
| volunteers_year = 2021
| website = {{URL|https://adl.org}}
| formerly = Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith
}} }}
{{Antisemitism}} {{Antisemitism}}
The '''Anti-Defamation League''' ('''ADL'''), formerly known as the '''Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith''',{{efn|The ADL became independent of B'nai B'rith and shortened its name in 2009.<ref name=Amistad>{{cite web |url=https://amistad-finding-aids.tulane.edu/agents/corporate_entities/411 |title=B'nai B'rith. Anti-defamation League |work=] |access-date=9 September 2023 |archive-date=September 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230913011312/https://amistad-finding-aids.tulane.edu/agents/corporate_entities/411 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} is a New York–based international ] that was founded to combat ], as well as other forms of ] and ].<ref name="Golembeski" /> ADL is also known for its pro-] advocacy.<ref>{{cite book |author=Craig, K. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1E8LAg40pwC |title=Crimes of Hate: Selected Readings |date=2004 |publisher=Sage |isbn=9780761929437 |editor=Phyllis B. Gerstenfeld, Diana R. Grant |page=58 |chapter=Retaliation, Fear, or Rage |access-date=October 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103104548/https://books.google.com/books?id=n1E8LAg40pwC |archive-date=November 3, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":18" /><ref name="Golembeski" /><ref>Theodore Sasson, ] 2015 {{isbn|978-1-479-80611-9}} p.45.</ref> Its current CEO is ]. ADL headquarters are located in ], in the ] borough of ]. The ADL has 25 regional offices in the United States<ref>{{cite web |title=Anti-Semitism in the US |url=https://www.adl.org/what-we-do/anti-semitism/anti-semitism-in-the-us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105180522/https://www.adl.org/what-we-do/anti-semitism/anti-semitism-in-the-us |archive-date=January 5, 2020 |access-date=December 10, 2019 |work=Anti-Defamation League |quote=Through our network of 25 regional offices}}</ref> including a Government Relations Office in Washington, D.C., as well as an office in Israel and staff in Europe.<ref>{{cite news |title=Anti-Semitism Globally |url=https://www.adl.org/what-we-do/anti-semitism/anti-semitism-globally |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227170231/https://www.adl.org/what-we-do/anti-semitism/anti-semitism-globally |archive-date=December 27, 2019 |access-date=December 10, 2019 |work=Anti-Defamation League}}</ref> In its 2019 annual information Form 990, ADL reported total revenues of $92 million, the vast majority from contributions and grants.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 17, 2020 |title=ADL 2019 Form 990 |url=https://www.adl.org/media/15405/download |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210402221138/https://www.adl.org/media/15405/download |archive-date=April 2, 2021 |access-date=March 23, 2021}}</ref> Its total operating revenue is reported at $80.9 million.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 27, 2020 |title=ADL 2019 Consolidated Financial Statements and Schedules |url=https://www.adl.org/media/15098/download |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210402221108/https://www.adl.org/media/15098/download |archive-date=April 2, 2021 |access-date=March 23, 2021}}</ref>
The '''Anti-Defamation League''' ('''ADL''') is an international ] based in the ]. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all" while it " for ] with policymakers, the media and the public" and "defends the security of Israel and ] worldwide".<ref name=ADLCharter>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/about.asp |title=About ADL |accessdate=May 28, 2007 |publisher=ADL }}</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/about_more.asp</ref>


It was founded in late September 1913 by the Independent Order of ], a Jewish ], in the wake of the contentious murder conviction of ]. ADL subsequently split from B'nai B'rith and continued as an independent US section 501(c)(3) ]. In an early campaign, ADL and allied groups pressured the automaker ], who had published virulently antisemitic propaganda.<ref name="Blakeslee" /><ref name=":18">{{Cite book |last=Hendricks |first=Nancy |title=Political Groups, Parties, and Organizations That Shaped America: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=2019 |isbn=9781440851964 |editor-last=Ainsworth |editor-first=Scott H. |volume=1 |chapter=Anti-Defamation League |editor-last2=Harward |editor-first2=Brian M.}}</ref> In the 1930s, ADL worked with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to oppose ] activity in the United States.<ref name=":14" /><ref name="Golembeski" /> It opposed ] during the ],<ref name=":18" /> and campaigned for major civil rights legislation in the 1960s.<ref name=":18" /><ref name="Golembeski" /> It also worked with the NAACP to discredit the far right in a spy operation.<ref name=":30" /> In the 1980s, it was involved in propaganda against ] of South Africa before embracing him the following decade.<ref name="fp1">{{Cite web |last=Frankel |first=Glenn |date=May 24, 2010 |title=Israel's Most Illicit Affair |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/05/24/israels-most-illicit-affair/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Foreign Policy |archive-date=March 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328050756/https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/05/24/israels-most-illicit-affair/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="thejc1">{{cite web |last=Pogrund |first=Benjamin |date=May 24, 2010 |title=The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship With Apartheid South Africa |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/world/the-unspoken-alliance-israels-secret-relationship-with-apartheid-south-africa-1.41865 |accessdate=2023-03-27 |publisher=] |archive-date=March 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328023023/https://www.thejc.com/news/world/the-unspoken-alliance-israels-secret-relationship-with-apartheid-south-africa-1.41865 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Founded in October 1913 by ], a ]ish ] in the United States, its original mission statement was "to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the ] of the ]. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair ] against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens."<ref name=ADLCharter/> The ADL has 29 offices in the United States and three offices in other countries, with its headquarters located in ]. Since 1987, ] has been the national director in the United States. The national chairman in the United States is Robert Sugarman.


ADL has advanced the concept of ], including a definition that says ] and some ] are antisemitic.<ref name="TG11" /><ref name="Romeyn 2020 pp. 199–214">{{cite journal |last=Romeyn |first=Esther |date=2020-03-14 |title=(Anti) 'new antisemitism' as a transnational field of racial governance |journal=Patterns of Prejudice |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=54 |issue=1–2 |pages=199–214 |doi=10.1080/0031322x.2019.1696048 |issn=0031-322X |s2cid=219029515 |quote=In the United States, one the strongest promoters of various installments of the ‘new antisemitism’ thesis has been the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) which in 1974 published a book entitled The New Anti-Semitism.}}</ref><ref name="Levin 2021 pp. 103–126">{{cite journal |last=Levin |first=Geoffery P. |year=2021 |title=Before the New Antisemitism: Arab Critics of Zionism and American Jewish Politics, 1917–1974 |journal=American Jewish History |publisher=Project MUSE |volume=105 |issue=1–2 |pages=103–126 |doi=10.1353/ajh.2021.0005 |issn=1086-3141 |s2cid=239741775 |quote=The ADL responded to these critiques as they came, but also in a cohesive way through a new book by Forster and Epstein titled The New Anti-Semitism, which would be their most important and best-selling publication.98 Like their previous books, The New Anti-Semitism stitched together a list of types of antisemitic threats, which had grown in length. In contrast to prior books focused on the far right and Arab propagandists, The New Anti-Semitism included the right-wing threat alongside threats that emanated from "The USSR, Western Europe, Latin America," and included "the Radical Left," "Arabs and Pro-Arabs," and Black Americans. Taken collectively, this bundle of threats, taken to include anti-Zionism, has been called the "New Anti-Semitism" from the book's publication onwards.}}</ref><ref name="raab11" /> It has received criticism, including from members of its staff, that such advocacy has diverted ADL from its historical fight against antisemitism.<ref name="TG11" /><ref name="tn111">{{cite web |date=31 January 2024 |title=The Anti-Defamation League: Israel's Attack Dog in the US |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/adl-israel-criticism-antisemitism-claims/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204122618/https://www.thenation.com/article/society/adl-israel-criticism-antisemitism-claims/ |archive-date=February 4, 2024 |accessdate=4 February 2024 |publisher=The Nation |quote=The ADL's priority today remains—as it has for decades—going after Americans who are simply opposed to Israel’s endless occupation and oppression of Palestinians.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Guyer |first=Jonathan |date=25 May 2023 |title=The high-stakes debate over how the US defines "antisemitism" |url=https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/5/25/23733396/internal-jewish-debate-definition-antisemitism-ihra-israel-zionism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927105818/https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/5/25/23733396/internal-jewish-debate-definition-antisemitism-ihra-israel-zionism |archive-date=September 27, 2023 |accessdate=27 September 2023 |work=]}}</ref>
==Origin==
Founded in October 1913 by ], the ADL's ] states, <blockquote>"The immediate object of the League is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens."<ref name=ADLCharter/></blockquote>


== History ==
Livingston established the ADL in direct response to the 1913 trial of ], a Jewish factory manager in ] accused of murdering a young female employee.


In its early decades, the ADL benefited from being among the few highly centralized Jewish community relations organizations alongside the American Jewish Committee and American Jewish Congress. This characteristic gave these three organizations greater influence on the national Jewish community at a time when most local congregations and organizations were splintered, with little outreach to the broader community. By the 1970s, decentralization yielded greater influence. By this point the ADL had succeeded in developing local branches, though the central office remained significant even in terms of local branch activities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sklare |first1=Marshall |title=The Jewish Community in America |date=1974 |publisher=Behrman House |location=New York, New York |isbn=0874412048 |pages=88–89}}</ref>
==Goals==
===Fighting anti-Semitism, bigotry, and racism===
The stated purpose of the ADL is to fight "] and all forms of ] (in the United States) and abroad, combat international ], probe the roots of ], advocate before the ], come to the aid of victims of bigotry, develop educational programs, and serve as a public resource for government, media, law enforcement, and the public, all towards the goal of countering and reducing hatred."


=== Origins ===
Historically, the ADL has opposed groups and individuals it considered to be anti-Semitic and/or ], including: ], the ], ], Father ] (leader of the Christian Front), the ] movement, the ], ], the ] movement and ]s (although the ADL acknowledges that there are also non-racist ]s).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/racist_skinheads/ |title=Racist Skinhead Project |publisher=ADL}}</ref><ref></ref> The ADL publishes reports on a variety of countries, regarding alleged incidents of anti-Jewish attacks and propaganda.
The ADL was founded in late September 1913 by ], with ] as its first leader.<ref name="ADLCharter">{{cite web|url=https://www.adl.org/who-we-are/our-mission|title=Our Mission|website=Anti-Defamation League|access-date=December 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030231725/https://www.adl.org/who-we-are/our-mission|archive-date=October 30, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Its goals were to counter antisemitism, prejudice and discrimination.<ref name="Golembeski" /> Initially the league largely represented Midwestern and Southern Jews concerned with antagonistic portrayals of Jews in popular culture along with social and economic discrimination.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Dinnerstein |first=Leonard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62319785 |title=Antisemitism in America |date=1995 |isbn=1-4237-3446-7 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=74 |oclc=62319785 |access-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214850/https://search.worldcat.org/title/62319785 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1913, Atlanta B'nai B'rith President ] was convicted of the murder of a 13-year-old employee at a factory where he was superintendent; historians today generally consider Frank to have been innocent.<ref name=":3" /> Jewish leadership viewed Frank as having been wrongly prosecuted and convicted because of local antisemitism and agitation by some of the local press.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leo Frank Case Leonard Dinnerstein |url=http://ia800300.us.archive.org/25/items/TheLeoFrankCaseByLeonardDinnerstein/leo-frank-case-leonard-dinnerstein.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The role that prejudice played in Frank's conviction was mentioned by ] when he announced the creation of the ADL.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Excerpt of the Anti-Defamation League Founding Charter |url=https://www.adl.org/excerpt-anti-defamation-league-founding-charter |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=ADL |archive-date=March 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325224312/https://www.adl.org/excerpt-anti-defamation-league-founding-charter |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Moore |first=Deborah Dash |url=https://archive.org/details/bnaibrithch00moor/page/108 |title=B'nai B'rith and the Challenge of Ethnic Leadership |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-87395-480-8 |page=108 |author-link=Deborah Dash Moore}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Jerome A. Chanes |title=Jews in American Politics: Essays |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7425-0181-2 |editor1=Louis S |page=105 |chapter=Who Does What? |editor2=y Maisel |editor3=Ira N. Forman |editor4=Donald Altschiller |editor5=Charles Walker Bassett}}</ref> According to historians, ADL's early strategy would be to pressure newspapers, theaters, and other businesses seen as defaming or discriminating against Jews; proposed methods included boycotts and pressuring advertisers, and it also considered demanding prior reviews of theater productions for antisemitism.<ref name=":1">In a letter to Simon Wolf, Marshall explained further that "this entire prosecution was set in motion by the yellow press of Georgia, which finally succeeded in forcing the police, from motives of self-protection, to frame-up this case. The remedy must be found. . .in Georgia, and the press." Wertheimer's analysis reveals that the ADL proposed to deal with defamations on the stage by asking for the right to "inspect proposed performances before the staging of the same;" were this right to prior censorship refused, "patrons of the theater would be enlisted for active cooperation"--that is, the ADL would organize a boycott of the given theater. Similarly, the ADL would fight newspaper defamations by "protests to the editor, by correcting all defamations through subsequent articles upon the same subject matter," and, if this did not happen, the ADL would appeal "to the patrons and advertisers for cooperation." Here again, the ADL threatened financial pressure.{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Deborah Dash|author-link=Deborah Dash Moore|title=B'nai B'rith and the Challenge of Ethnic Leadership|year=1981|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-87395-480-8|page=108|url=https://archive.org/details/bnaibrithch00moor/page/108}}</ref> After Georgia's outgoing governor commuted Frank's death sentence to life imprisonment in 1915, a ] abducted Frank from prison and killed him.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2009-05-13 |title=The People Revisit Leo Frank |url=https://forward.com/culture/105936/the-people-revisit-leo-frank/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=The Forward |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316042619/https://forward.com/culture/105936/the-people-revisit-leo-frank/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Frank was granted a posthumous ] from Georgia in 1986 after ADL requests.<ref name=":3" />


=== 1920s through 1960s ===
The ADL maintains that some forms of ] and ] are actually ]. The Anti-Defamation League states:
{{See also|Jews in the civil rights movement}}
<blockquote>"Criticism of particular Israeli actions or policies in and of itself does not constitute anti-Semitism. Certainly the sovereign State of Israel can be legitimately criticized just like any other country in the world. However, it is undeniable that there are those whose ] or of "Zionism" is used to mask anti-Semitism."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/israel/advocacy/how_to_respond/anti_semitism_criticism.asp?xflag=1 |title=Anti-Semitism and Criticism of Israel |publisher=ADL}}</ref></blockquote>
The historian Leonard Dinnerstein writes that until after World War II, the ADL had limited impact, particularly less than the ] (AJC).<ref name=":11" /> One of the ADL's early campaigns occurred in the 1920s when it organized a media effort and consumer boycott against '']'', a publication published by American automobile industrialist ]. The publication contained virulently antisemitic articles and quoted heavily from '']'', an antisemitic hoax. The ADL and allied organizations pressured Ford until he issued an apology in 1927.<ref name="Blakeslee">Blakeslee, Spencer (2000).''The Death of American Antisemitism''. Praeger/Greenwood. {{ISBN|0-275-96508-2}}, p. 83.</ref>


In 1933 the ADL moved offices to Chicago and Richard E. Gutstadt became director of national activities. With the change in leadership, the ADL shifted from Livingston's reactive responses to antisemitic action to a much more aggressive policy.<ref>{{cite news |last1=A. Goldman |first1=EricQ |title=Hollywood's Most Misunderstood and Forgotten Jewish Movie Returns |url=https://forward.com/culture/206197/hollywoods-most-misunderstood-and-forgotten-jewish/ |access-date=22 January 2022 |work=The Forward |date=September 23, 2014 |archive-date=July 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723203157/https://forward.com/culture/206197/hollywoods-most-misunderstood-and-forgotten-jewish/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The ADL gives out its ] to honor rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust era.


During the 1930s, ADL, along with the AJC, coordinated American Jewish groups across the country in monitoring the activities of the ] and its pro-Nazi, nativist allies in the United States. In many instances, these community-based defense organizations paid informants to infiltrate these groups and report on what they discovered. The longest-lived and most effective of these American Jewish resistance organizations was the Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee (LAJCC), which was backed financially by the Jewish leaders of the motion picture industry. The day-to-day operations of the LAJCC were supervised by a Jewish attorney, ]. Lewis was uniquely qualified to combat the rise of Nazism in Los Angeles, having served as the first national secretary of the Anti-Defamation League in Chicago from 1925 to 1931. From 1934 to 1941, the LAJCC maintained its undercover surveillance of the German-American Bund, the ] and dozens of other pro-Nazi, nativist groups that operated in Los Angeles. Partnering with the American Legion in Los Angeles, the LAJCC channeled eyewitness accounts of sedition on to federal authorities. Working with the ADL, Leon Lewis and the LAJCC played a strategic role in counseling the ] investigation of Nazi propaganda activities in the United States (1934) and the Dies Committee investigation of "un-American activities" (1938–1940). In their final reports to Congress, both committees found that the sudden rise in political ] during the decade was due, in part, to the German government's support of these domestic groups.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rosenzweig|first=Laura|url=https://nyupress.org/books/9781479855179/|title=Hollywood's Spies: The Undercover Surveillance of Nazis in Los Angeles|date=2017|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=9781479855179|location=New York|access-date=June 2, 2017|archive-date=August 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807022703/https://nyupress.org/books/9781479855179/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{cite book|last=Ross|first=Steven|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/hitler-in-los-angeles-9781620405642/|title=Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America|date=2017|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=9781620405642|location=New York|access-date=May 6, 2018|archive-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921215252/https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/hitler-in-los-angeles-9781620405642/|url-status=live}}</ref>
The ADL publishes a list of the "ten leading organizations responsible for maligning Israel in the US", which have included a group calling for the United States to "stop funding Israeli apartheid".<ref>Benhorin, Yitzhak y net news, 15 October 2010</ref><ref>Qumsiyeh, Mazin Salem-News.com, 16 October 2010</ref>


Paralleling its infiltration efforts, the ADL continued its attempts to reduce antisemitic caricatures in the media. Much like the ], it chose a non-confrontational approach, attempting to build long-lasting relationships and avoid backlash. The ADL requested its members avoid public confrontation, instead directing them to send letters to the media and advertising companies that included antisemitic or racist references in screening copies of their books and movies. This strategy kept the campaigns out of the public eye and instead emphasized the development of a relationship with companies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Greenberg |first1=Cheryl Lynn |title=Troubling the waters : Black-Jewish relations in the American century |date=2006 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=9780691058658 |pages=55–58}}</ref>
In October 2010, the ADL condemned remarks by Haham ] that the sole purpose of non-Jews was to serve the people of Israel.<ref>Mozgovaya, Natasha Haaretz Service, 20 October 2010</ref>


The ADL opposed ] and ] in the 1950s.<ref name=":18" /> The ADL campaigned for ] legislation including the ] and the ].<ref name="Golembeski">{{Cite web |last=Golembeski |first=Cynthia |date=2023-06-25 |title=Anti-Defamation League |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anti-Defamation-League |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=]|archive-date=November 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120153550/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anti-Defamation-League |url-status=live }}</ref> The ADL and the NAACP worked together to discredit the far right in the United States, according to Mathew Delleck, the ADL was perhaps the most effective group in discrediting extremist right wing elements in the United States.<ref name=":30" /> The ADL conducted a spy operation headed by Isadore Zack, against the far right<ref name=":30">{{Cite news |date=21 May 2023 |title=How an ADL spy operation helped bring down the far-right John Birch Society |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-an-adl-spy-operation-helped-bring-down-the-far-right-john-birch-society/ |work=Times of Israel}}</ref>
==Separation of church and state==
One of the ADL's major focuses is religious freedom for people of all faiths.<ref name = "RelFree">{{cite web
|url = http://www.adl.org/main_Religious_Freedom/default.htm
|title = Religious Freedom
|accessdate = December 2, 2007
|publisher = Anti-Defamation League
|quote = Safeguarding religious freedom for all Americans – whether in the majority or minority.
}}
</ref> In the context of public schools, the ADL has taken the position that because ] and ] are religious beliefs, and the government is prohibited from endorsing the beliefs of any particular religion, they should not be taught in ] classrooms: "The U.S. Constitution guarantees the rights of Americans to believe the religious theories of creation (as well as other theories) but it does not permit them to be taught in public school science classes."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://adl.org/issue_religious_freedom/create/creationism_QA.asp |title=Religion in the Science Class? Why Creationism and Intelligent Design Don't Belong |publisher=ADL}}</ref> Similarly, the ADL supports the legal precedent that it is ] for the government to post the ] in courthouses, schools, and other public places: "True religious liberty means freedom from having the government impose the religion of the majority on all citizens."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://adl.org/10comm/Prohibitions.asp |title=The Ten Commandments Controversy: A First Amendment Perspective – Prohibitions on Display of the Ten Commandments |publisher=ADL}}</ref> The ADL has also condemned the public school ] curriculum published by the ], saying that it raises "serious constitutional problems" and "advocates the acceptance of one faith tradition's interpretation of the Bible over another."<ref>{{cite press release |title=ADL Says Bible Teaching Guide for Public Schools 'Unacceptable' |publisher=ADL |date=November 7, 2005 |url=http://www.jewsonfirst.org/05a/public024.html}}</ref> The ADL opposed ] and supported the ].


=== 1970s and 1980s ===
==Defending other religions==
In 1973, ] took the role of national director, serving until his death in 1987.<ref name=JTAobit>{{cite news |title=Nathan Perlmutter, Author and ADL Director, Dead at 64 |url=https://www.jta.org/1987/07/14/archive/nathan-perlmutter-author-and-adl-director-dead-at-64 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=July 14, 1987 |access-date=June 16, 2021 |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200109/https://www.jta.org/1987/07/14/archive/nathan-perlmutter-author-and-adl-director-dead-at-64 |url-status=live }}</ref> Under the tenure of Perlmutter and his 1978–1983 co-director of interreligious affairs ], the ADL shifted its approach to the evangelical Christian movement. Through the 60s and early 70s, the ADL had conflicted with the American Jewish Congress over their collaborations with evangelicals. Perlmutter and Eckstein changed this orientation, increasing collaborations and developing long-lasting lines of communication between the ADL and evangelical groups. This collaboration continued under the Foxman administration.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hummel |first1=Daniel G. |title=His Land and the Origins of the Jewish-Evangelical Israel Lobby |journal=Church History |date=December 2018 |volume=87 |issue=4 |pages=1147–1150 |doi=10.1017/S0009640718002391|s2cid=166538830 | issn=0009-6407}}</ref>
Stating that its one of its goals is to defend not only Jews, but also "all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens," the ADL has periodically made statements against misrepresentations of other faiths. For example, when the ] film "]" was produced, Rhonda M. Abrams, Central Pacific (San Francisco) Regional Director for the ADL wrote a critical review, including the following statement:


Since the 1970s, the ADL has partnered with the ] (FBI) field offices, sharing information learned from the monitoring of extremist groups.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Michael|first=George|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SOAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA167|title=Confronting Right Wing Extremism and Terrorism in the USA|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-37762-6|page=167|volume=4|series=Routledge Studies in Extremism and Democracy|access-date=February 26, 2017|archive-date=June 21, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214724/https://books.google.com/books?id=5SOAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA167#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>
<blockquote>Had a similar movie been made with either Judaism or Catholicism as its target, it would be immediately denounced for the scurrilous piece that it is. I sincerely hope that people of all faiths will similarly repudiate "The Godmakers" as defamatory and untrue, and recognize it for what it truly represents—a challenge to the religious liberty of all.<ref>, Director of Public Communications, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, May 25, 1984</ref></blockquote>


In 1977 the ADL opened a headquarters in ].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wall |first1=Harry |title=Op-ed {{!}} Appreciation: Arnold Forster, ADL leader and Israel advocate |url=https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Appreciation-Arnold-Forster-ADL-leader-and-Israel-advocate |access-date=5 August 2021 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=March 14, 2010 |archive-date=August 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805183651/https://www.jpost.com/opinion/op-ed-contributors/appreciation-arnold-forster-adl-leader-and-israel-advocate |url-status=live }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2021}}
==Tracking "extremists"==
The ADL keeps track of the activities of various "extremist" groups and movements.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://adl.org/main_Extremism/default.htm |title=Extremism |publisher=ADL}}</ref> According to ADL Director Abe Foxman, "Our mission is to monitor and expose those who are anti-Jewish, racist, anti-democratic, and violence-prone, and we monitor them primarily by reading publications and attending public meetings …. Because extremist organizations are highly secretive, sometimes ADL can learn of their activities only by using undercover sources … function in a manner directly analogous to investigative journalists. Some have performed great service to the American people—for example, by uncovering the existence of right-wing extremist paramilitary training camps—with no recognition and at considerable personal risk."<ref>"A League of His Own," letter to the editor, ''The Village Voice'' 38:20 (May 18, 1993)</ref> A person apprehended in connection to the ] had drawn a cartoon of himself blowing up the Boston offices of the ADL.<ref>{{cite news |


It opposed an ] film called '']'' in 1982, viewing it a challenge to religious freedom.<ref name=":18" />
publisher=New York Times |
date=July 16, 2002 |
title=Boston Couple Plotted Blasts to Incite Race War, Prosecutor Says |
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/16/national/16PLOT.html }}</ref>


=== 1990s ===
The ADL regularly releases reports on anti-Semitism and extremist activities on the far left and the far right. For instance, as part of its Law Enforcement Agency Resource Network (L.E.A.R.N.), the ADL has published information about the Militia Movement<ref name="militia">{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/Militia_M.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=mm |title=The Militia Movement – Extremism in America |publisher=ADL}}</ref> in America and a guide for law enforcement officials titled ''Officer Safety and Extremists''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://adl.org/learn/safety/Whysafety.asp |title=Officer Safety and Extremists: An Overview for Law Enforcement Officers |publisher=ADL}}</ref> An archive of "]" research on U.S. right-wing extremism (including groups not specifically cited as anti-Semitic) from 1995 to 2000 is also available on the ADL website.<ref name="militia" />
The ADL released a 1991 report observing an increase in the use of public access television stations by extremist groups. The report came in the wake of the trial of ], a white supremacist leader found guilty of inciting a murder via his public access TV station.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rosenkrantz |first1=H. Glenn |title=Hate Group Makes Hay On Public Access |url=https://ajrarchive.org/article.asp?id=2118 |work=American Journalism Review |issue=September 1991}}</ref>


San Francisco police searched two offices of the ADL in April 1993, suspecting it of having monitored thousands of activists; in the search, they confiscated police records including fingerprints and copies of confidential reports, according to court documents.<ref name=":22" /> The San Francisco district attorney considered indictments, but settled with the ADL in November 1993 in exchange for the ADL paying $75,000 for use fighting hate crimes.<ref name=":23" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Paddock |first=Richard C. |date=1993-11-16 |title=ADL to Avoid Prosecution in Spying Case |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-16-mn-57514-story.html |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=Los Angeles Times |archive-date=September 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930215552/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-16-mn-57514-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> During the investigation, a private investigator hired by the ADL, Roy H. Bullock, told police he had tracked ], white supremacists, ], and critics of Israel. He confessed to trying to find "any sexual impropriety" on the late anti-apartheid activist ].<ref name="tn111"/> In court documents, state officials said that the ADL conspired to obtain the confidential police material, a felony in California, and that the ADL had violated state tax laws by paying Bullock through a lawyer.<ref name=":22" /> The court documents said ADL had a network of sympathetic police officers sharing data, and that investigators had questioned police about free sponsored trips to Israel they received from the ADL. The documents also mentioned that the ADL's spying operations were reported to the Israeli government and its intelligence agencies.<ref name="tn111"/> The ADL's Foxman contended that the ADL had a right to use the police information to combat antisemitism, and he argued in an interview that allegations that the ADL acted as an agent for Israel were "antisemitic".<ref name=":22">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/10/19/jewish-groups-tactics-investigated/96daef6a-a325-4a8a-ba09-da211fc1ba8a/ |last=McGee |first=Jim |title=JEWISH GROUP'S TACTICS INVESTIGATED |date=19 October 1993 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=September 10, 2023 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214737/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/10/19/jewish-groups-tactics-investigated/96daef6a-a325-4a8a-ba09-da211fc1ba8a/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In the 1990s, some details of the ADL's monitoring activities became public and controversial, including the fact that the ADL had gathered information about some non-extremist groups.


News of the investigation led Arab Americans listed in the ADL's files to sue the ADL, contending invasion of privacy and the forwarding of confidential information to Israel and South Africa.<ref name=":22" />
===Role in arrest of potential assassins of Barack Obama===
In 1996, ADL settled the federal civil lawsuit filed by groups representing ] and ]. The ADL did not admit any wrongdoing but agreed to a restraining injunction barring it from obtaining information from state employees who cannot legally disclose such information.<ref name=":21" /> The ADL agreed to contribute $25,000 to a fund that funds inter-community relationship projects, and cover the plaintiffs' legal costs of $175,000.<ref name=":21">{{Cite web|last=Weinstein|first=Henry|date=1996-09-04|title=Anti-Defamation League Settles Lawsuit by Civil Rights Groups|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-04-mn-40507-story.html|access-date=2023-03-11|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=March 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311163027/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-04-mn-40507-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Tugend |first=Tom |title=ADL to Pay $200,000 to Settle Suit Alleging Spying Activities |url=https://www.jta.org/1996/09/06/archive/adl-to-pay-200000-to-settle-suit-alleging-spying-activities |work=JTA Daily News Bulletin |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=September 6, 1996 |access-date=January 28, 2019 |archive-date=January 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128140128/https://www.jta.org/1996/09/06/archive/adl-to-pay-200000-to-settle-suit-alleging-spying-activities |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1=David Singer |editor2=Ruth R. Seldin |title=American Jewish year book, 1998. Vol. 98 |date=1998 |publisher=American Jewish Committee |location=New York |pages=96–97 |isbn=0874951135 |url=http://www.ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/1998_4_USCivicPolitical.pdf#PAGE=23 |access-date=March 24, 2021 |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721160851/http://www.ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/1998_4_USCivicPolitical.pdf#PAGE=23 |url-status=live }}</ref> It settled with three remaining plaintiffs in 2002 for $178,000.<ref name=":23">{{Cite web |last=Goldsmith |first=Aleza |date=2002-02-26 |title=ADL settles privacy lawsuit |url=https://www.jta.org/2002/02/26/lifestyle/adl-settles-privacy-lawsuit |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |archive-date=September 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930215156/https://www.jta.org/2002/02/26/lifestyle/adl-settles-privacy-lawsuit |url-status=live }}</ref>
In October 2008 the ADL reportedly assisted the US ] (ATF) by providing, on request, information on ] and ] and their associates and contacts, and on their ties to the ]. Shortly thereafter the two men were arrested on charges of plotting to murder dozens of African Americans and ].<ref>, ADL Press Release, October 27, 2008.</ref><ref>, Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA)(reprinted by the Jerusalem Post), October 28, 2008.</ref>


In 1994, ADL became involved in a dispute between neighbors in Denver, Colorado. The Aronson family reported this dispute to the ADL, which involved the Quigley family making antisemitic comments. The ADL advised the Aronsons to record the Quigleys' private telephone conversations via a police scanner. These recordings were legal at the time, but federal wiretap law was amended shortly after to make it illegal to record conversations from a cordless telephone, to transcribe the material, and to use the transcriptions for any purpose.<ref name="JewishSF-Colorado">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/13674/edition_id/264/format/html/displaystory.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060510144644/http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/13674/edition_id/264/format/html/displaystory.html|archive-date=May 10, 2006|title=Judge fines ADL $10.5 million in Colorado defamation suit|website=Jewish News Weekly of Northern California|date=May 12, 2000|first=Chris|last=Leppek}}</ref> ADL Regional Director Saul Rosenthal described the recorded remarks as part of a "vicious antisemitic campaign". This led to the family being ridiculed and excluded in their community and to career damage. These recordings were used as basis for a federal civil lawsuit against the Aronson family and the ADL for ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Quigley v. Rosenthall|url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-10th-circuit/1360107.html|work=Findlaw|access-date=June 23, 2015|archive-date=June 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623150242/http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-10th-circuit/1360107.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Lane|first1=George|title=Charges of bigotry backfire|url=http://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0429.htm|access-date=June 23, 2015|issue=April 29, 2000|newspaper=Denver Post|archive-date=June 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623145617/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0429.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The Quigleys and Aronsons settled out-of-court,<ref name="JewishSF-Colorado"/> and a jury awarded the Quigleys $10 million in damages from the ADL.<ref name=NYTdenver>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/13/us/privacy-rights-win-over-bias-charges-in-defamation-case.html | work=The New York Times | title=Privacy Rights Win Over Bias Charges In Defamation Case | date=May 13, 2000 | access-date=February 5, 2017 | archive-date=August 3, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803104909/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/13/us/privacy-rights-win-over-bias-charges-in-defamation-case.html | url-status=live }}</ref>
==Holocaust awareness==
The ADL holds that it is important to remember the ], in order to prevent such an event from ever coming to pass again. Along with sponsoring events and fighting ] and revisionists, the ADL has been active in urging action to stop modern-day "]" and ] in places such as ] and ], ].


This was the first-ever verdict against the ADL. Only once before had the League been subject to a defamation trial, a case it won in 1984. Other cases were dismissed before reaching trial.<ref name=NYTdenver /> The ADL appealed the case to a superior court, which upheld the verdict, and the Supreme Court ultimately declined to take the case. The ADL paid the original $10 million plus interest in 2004.<ref>{{cite news |title=ADL Pays More Than $12 Million to Former Evergreen Couple |date=March 12, 2004 |newspaper=Rocky Mountain News |last=Abbott |first=Karen|url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2723185,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040316024351/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2723185,00.html|archive-date=March 16, 2004}}</ref>
The ADL spoke out against an advertising campaign by ] (PETA) beginning in 2003 that equated meat-eating with the Holocaust. A press release from the ADL stated that "PETA's effort to seek 'approval' for their 'Holocaust on Your Plate' campaign is outrageous, offensive and takes ] to new heights. Rather than deepen our revulsion against what the Nazis did to the Jews, the project will undermine the struggle to understand the Holocaust and to find ways to make sure such catastrophes never happen again."<ref>{{cite press release |title=ADL Denounces Peta for its "Holocaust On Your Plate" Campaign; Calls Appeal for Jewish Community Support 'The Height Of Chutzpah' |publisher=ADL |date=February 24, 2003 |url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/HolNa_52/4235_52.htm}}</ref> On May 5, 2005, PETA issued an apology for comparing the treatment of farm animals to the victims of the Nazi concentration camps. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said she realized that the campaign had caused pain: "This was never our intention, and we are deeply sorry."


=== 2000s ===
The ADL has for many years refused to acknowledge that the ] constituted a ]. The ADL has actively engaged in efforts to oppose Congressional affirmation of the Armenian Genocide. Under pressure to do so, the national ADL issued a "Statement on the Armenian Genocide" on August 21, 2007. The statement declared, "The consequences of those actions were indeed tantamount to genocide." Activists felt that the statement was not a full, unequivocal acknowledgment of the Armenian genocide, because the use of the qualifier "tantamount" was seen as inappropriate, and the use of the word "consequences" was seen as an attempt to circumvent the international legal definition of genocide by avoiding any language that would imply intent, a crucial aspect of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention definition. The ADL convened its national meeting in New York City in early November at which time the issue of the Armenian Genocide was discussed. Upon conclusion, a one sentence press statement was issued that "The National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today, at its annual meeting, decided to take no further action on the issue of the Armenian genocide."<ref>http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/5162_00.htm</ref>
In 2003, the ADL opposed an advertising campaign by ] (PETA) called "Holocaust on Your Plate" that compared animals killed in the meat industry to victims of the ].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/28/peta.holocaust/|date=28 February 2003|publisher=CNN|title=Group blasts PETA 'Holocaust' project|access-date=March 8, 2022|archive-date=February 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202011423/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/28/peta.holocaust/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2005, PETA apologized for causing distress to the Jewish community through the campaign, though in 2008, the ] announced that it was planning to gradually phase out the use of the "shackle and hoist" method of ] in Israel and South America, in part in response to pressure from PETA.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/rabbinate-to-phase-out-shackle-and-hoist-animal-slaughter|title=Rabbinate to phase out 'shackle and hoist' animal slaughter. More humane method to be adopted following claims of cruelty|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=February 19, 2008|last=Wagner|first=Matthew|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=June 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602213011/https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/rabbinate-to-phase-out-shackle-and-hoist-animal-slaughter|url-status=live}}</ref>


As of 2007, the ADL said it was archiving MySpace pages associated with white supremacists as part of its effort to track extremism.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Spencer |first1=Jason |title=Found in (My)Space |url=https://ajrarchive.org/article.asp?id=4405&id=4405 |access-date=16 July 2021 |magazine=] |issue=October/November 2007}}</ref>
==Political positions==
The ADL supports the ] and has vociferously opposed resolutions such as the ] (]) that had equated Zionism and racism,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/durban/adl_quotes.asp |title=U.N. World Conference Against Racism |publisher=ADL}}</ref> and attempts to revive that formulation at the 2001 U.N. ] in ], ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/durban/un_anti-zionism.asp |title=U.N. World Conference Against Racism |publisher=ADL}}</ref>


The ADL opposed ], a ballot successful initiative that banned same-sex marriage. It did so alongside Jewish organizations, including the National Council of Jewish Women and the Progressive Jewish Alliance.<ref name="orthodox">{{cite web|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/14106/|title=Orthodox Join Fight Against Gay Nuptials|work=]| date=August 29, 2008 |access-date=September 19, 2008|archive-date=September 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911205150/http://www.forward.com/articles/14106/|url-status=live|first=Rebecca|last=Spence}}</ref> The ADL filed ]s urging the ], ], and the ] to invalidate Prop 8.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://38.106.4.56/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentID=1228|title=BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE ET AL. IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307154233/http://38.106.4.56/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentID=1228|archive-date=March 7, 2013|access-date=November 1, 2013}}</ref> In 2015, the ADL opposed the ], state laws that used the United States Supreme Court decision in ] recognizing a for-profit corporation's claim of religious belief. The ADL opposed these laws out of concern they largely targeted LGBT people or denied access to contraceptives to employees of religiously owned businesses.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sokol |first1=Sam |title=ADL slams controversial 'religious freedom' laws in US |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/ADL-slams-controversial-religious-freedom-laws-in-US-396007 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=March 29, 2020 |archive-date=March 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329163616/https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/ADL-slams-controversial-religious-freedom-laws-in-US-396007 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The ADL honors individuals throughout the year for various reasons. On September 23, 2003, at its Tribute to Italy Dinner, the ADL awarded Italian prime minister ] the ADL's distinguished statesman award, an honor "conferred on world leaders who exhibit a commitment to furthering the achievement of regional and world peace, and who possess a special commitment to promoting human and civil rights."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://adl.org/international/lfe/speech_berlusconi.asp |title=Speech by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the Anti-Defamation League Tribute to Italy Dinner |publisher=ADL}}</ref> Berlusconi is also known for his staunch pro-Israel stance.<ref>{{cite news |
url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/145288 |
title=Pro-Israel Italian leader Berlusconi To Visit in May |
date=April 22, 2008 |
publisher=Arutz Sheva}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |
title=Netanyahu Nixes Meeting With Obama Envoy |
date=June 23, 2009 |
url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/23/world/main5106588.shtml?source=related_story |
publisher=CBS News}} "Berlusconi's pro-Israel stance has made Italy perhaps Israel's best friend in Europe."</ref>


The ADL became independent from B'nai B'rith in 2009, dropping the reference to the other organization in its name.<ref name=Amistad/>
The ADL has spoken out against ] and ].{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}


=== 2010s ===
In 2006 the ADL condemned Senate Republicans in the United States for attempting to ban ] with the ] and praised its demise, calling it "discrimination".<ref>{{cite press release |title=ADL Welcomes Demise Of Same-Sex Marriage Amendment; Expresses 'Dismay' At Senate Vote |publisher=ADL |date=June 7, 2006 |url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/DiRaB_41/4832_41.htm}}</ref> That same year the ADL warned that the debate over ] was drawing ] and ] into the ranks of the ].
]
The ADL was one of the groups that opposed the '']'' decision by the ] in 2013 to strike down a portion of the ]. The court's decision ended the portion of the law that required states with a history of discrimination to undergo federal scrutiny for election rules.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 26, 2013 |title=Jewish Groups Blast Top U.S. Court's Changes to Voting Rights Act|work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2013-06-26/ty-article/u-s-jews-blast-voting-rights-ruling/0000017f-e343-df7c-a5ff-e37b6bfe0000 |access-date=2023-07-15 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214727/https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2013-06-26/ty-article/u-s-jews-blast-voting-rights-ruling/0000017f-e343-df7c-a5ff-e37b6bfe0000 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Zipken |first=Romy |date=June 26, 2013 |title=Jewish Groups Respond Voting Rights Act Decision |work=Tablet |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/jewish-groups-respond-voting-rights-act-decision |access-date=July 15, 2023 |archive-date=July 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715142808/https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/jewish-groups-respond-voting-rights-act-decision |url-status=live }}</ref>


In November 2014, the organization announced that ], a former Silicon Valley tech executive and former ] official who had not operated within the Jewish communal organization world prior to his hiring, would succeed ] as national director in July 2015.<ref>{{cite news |title=White House aide Jonathan Greenblatt to succeed Abe Foxman as ADL chief |first= Uriel |last=Heilman |url=http://www.jta.org/2014/11/06/news-opinion/united-states/white-house-aide-to-succeed-abe-foxman-as-adl-chief-1 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=November 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823093306/https://www.jta.org/2014/11/06/news-opinion/united-states/white-house-aide-to-succeed-abe-foxman-as-adl-chief-1 |archive-date=August 23, 2018}}</ref> Foxman had served as national director since 1987. The ADL board of directors renewed Greenblatt's contract as CEO and national director in fall 2020 for a second five-year term. The national chair of the governing board of directors is Esta Gordon Epstein; elected in late 2018 for a three-year term, she is the second woman to hold the organization's top volunteer leadership post.<ref>{{Cite press release|date=November 8, 2018|title=Longtime ADL Boston Leader Esta Gordon Named Chair of Organization's National Board|url=https://newengland.adl.org/news/longtime-adl-boston-leader-esta-epstein-named-chair-of-organizations-national-board/|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329170318/https://newengland.adl.org/news/longtime-adl-boston-leader-esta-epstein-named-chair-of-organizations-national-board/|url-status=live|website=ADL}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=November 29, 2018|title=Esta Epstein named chair of ADL's Board of Directors|url=https://jewishjournal.org/2018/11/29/esta-epstein-named-chair-of-adls-board-of-directors/|access-date=March 23, 2021|website=Jewish Journal|archive-date=July 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712222131/https://jewishjournal.org/2018/11/29/esta-epstein-named-chair-of-adls-board-of-directors/|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 1974 ADL national leaders Arnold Forster and Benjamin R. Epstein published a book called ''The ]'' (New York, 1974), arguing that a new kind of anti-Semitism is on the rise. In 1982, ADL national leader Nathan Perlmutter and his wife, Ruth Ann Perlmutter, released a book entitled ''The Real Anti-Semitism in America'' (New York, 1982). In 2003, ADL's national director Abraham Foxman published ''Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism'' (San Francisco, 2003), where on page 4 he states: "We currently face as great a threat to the safety and security of the Jewish people as the one we faced in the 1930s—if not a greater one."<ref name="adl.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/Anti_semitism/never_again.asp |title=Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism |publisher=ADL}}</ref>


ADL repeatedly accused ], when he was a presidential candidate in 2016, of making use of antisemitic tropes or otherwise exploiting divisive and bigoted rhetoric during the ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-campaign-fires-back-at-adl-over-ad-criticized-for-anti-semitic-tones/|title=Trump campaign fires back at ADL over ad criticized for anti-Semitic tones|last=Cortelless|first=Eric|date=November 7, 2016|website=The Times of Israel|access-date=April 22, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726054838/https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-campaign-fires-back-at-adl-over-ad-criticized-for-anti-semitic-tones/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL accused President Trump of politicizing charges of antisemitism for partisan purposes,<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/08/21/jonathan-greenblatt-trump-tweet-jewish-democrats-disloyal-nr-sot-vpx.cnn|work=CNN|title=ADL CEO: Jews are not political props for partisan gain|date=August 21, 2019|access-date=April 22, 2020|archive-date=July 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712222222/https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/08/21/jonathan-greenblatt-trump-tweet-jewish-democrats-disloyal-nr-sot-vpx.cnn|url-status=live}}</ref> and for continued use of antisemitic tropes.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jewish-leaders-trump-disloyalty_n_5d5d4d04e4b0aa0b840cb80d|title=Jewish Leaders Blast Trump's Accusations Of 'Disloyalty'|last=Kuruvilla|first=Carol|date=August 21, 2019|website=HuffPost|access-date=April 22, 2020|archive-date=February 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214010518/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jewish-leaders-trump-disloyalty_n_5d5d4d04e4b0aa0b840cb80d|url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL said it was facing a discredit campaign for its criticism of Trump.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 2016 |title=ADL chief sees 'organized' campaign to discredit group |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-chief-sees-organized-campaign-to-discredit-group/ |work=Times of Israel |access-date=July 29, 2024 |archive-date=July 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240729125700/https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-chief-sees-organized-campaign-to-discredit-group/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2010, during a hearing for Florida House Bill 11 (Crimes Against Homeless Persons) which was to revise the list of offenses judged to be hate crimes in Florida by adding a person's homeless status,<ref>
{{cite web
| title = flhouse.gov HB 11 – Crimes Against Homeless Persons
| url = http://flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=42143&
| accessdate = April 22, 2010
}}</ref> the League lobbied against the bill, which subsequently passed in the House by a vote of 80 to 28 and was sent to the Senate,<ref>
{{cite web
| title = flhouse.gov HB 11 Apr 20 2010 – Voting record Florida House of Representatives
| url = http://flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/floorvote.aspx?VoteId=10836&BillId=42143&
| accessdate = April 22, 2010
}}</ref> taking the position that adding more categories to the list would dilute the effectiveness of the law, which already includes race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and age.<ref>
{{cite web
| title = Homeless could be added to Florida's hate crimes law
| url = http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/21/1589541/homeless-could-be-added-to-floridas.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+StatelineorgRss-CrimeCourts+(Stateline.org+RSS+-+Crime+%26+Courts)
| accessdate = April 22, 2010
}} ''Miami Herald'', Miami Herald Media Co., April 21, 2010, by Lee Logan, Tallahassee Bureau: "During a committee hearing on the bill, the Anti-Defamation League spoke against the bill, arguing that adding more categories to the hate crimes law would dilute its effect. But lawmakers were swayed by arguments in favor of protecting the homeless."</ref>


In mid-2018, ADL raised concerns over President Donald Trump's nomination of then-DC Circuit Court of Appeals judge ] as an Associate Justice of the ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/jewish-groups-slam-trump-s-supreme-court-nominee-kavanaugh-1.6264823|title=Jewish Groups Slam Trump's Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh|newspaper=Haaretz|date=July 10, 2018|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-date=May 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200524141327/https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/jewish-groups-slam-trump-s-supreme-court-nominee-kavanaugh-1.6264823|url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Subsequently, in another move that enraged many on the right, ADL called for the resignation or firing of ] official ], the architect of the administration's immigration policy, on the basis of his association with white supremacists.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jewish-groups-stephen-miller-resign-white-nationalist_n_5dd69935e4b0e29d72800575?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly91cy5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAG5GoJ0dtOkPudr5tkzXMWY-wRmtd1nHDOfZ1c7WOW3gYQKtSQgDjZaIXDUnko0UMrEJVEYUXG3jMWrrsrV52jBKycFPCh7lje-saS6lbR17o5_4ikE4B7PIIACorUKfLxJXapH0BueU1WTMTER8dUqZKRH2Ep2TZ2Y83nmA0kDE|title=Jewish Groups Demand Stephen Miller Resign From White House|last=Mathias|first=Christopher|date=November 21, 2019|website=HuffPost|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726063407/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jewish-groups-stephen-miller-resign-white-nationalist_n_5dd69935e4b0e29d72800575?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly91cy5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAG5GoJ0dtOkPudr5tkzXMWY-wRmtd1nHDOfZ1c7WOW3gYQKtSQgDjZaIXDUnko0UMrEJVEYUXG3jMWrrsrV52jBKycFPCh7lje-saS6lbR17o5_4ikE4B7PIIACorUKfLxJXapH0BueU1WTMTER8dUqZKRH2Ep2TZ2Y83nmA0kDE|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Jewish-groups-again-call-for-Stephen-Miller-to-quit-614202|title=Jewish groups again call for Stephen Miller to quit|last=Kampeas|first=Ron|author-link=Ron Kampeas|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=January 15, 2020|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-date=April 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422045428/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/jewish-groups-again-call-for-stephen-miller-to-quit-614202|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Interfaith camp==
ADL's New England Regional Office has also established a faith-based initiative called "The Interfaith Youth Leadership Program," better known as "Camp If," or Camp Interfaith. Involving teenagers of the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths, the camp brings the teens together for a week at camp where the teens bond and learn about each other's cultures. The camp has emerged as a new attempt to foster good relations between younger members of the Abrahamic faiths.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Siek |first=Stephanie V. |date=April 6, 2006 |title=A different kind of camp |journal=] |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/04/06/a_different_kind_of_camp/}}</ref>


The ADL says it has participated in ]'s Trusted Flagger program and has encouraged YouTube to remove videos that they flag as hate speech, citing the need to "fight against terrorist use of online resources and cyberhate."<ref>{{cite web|first=Benjamin|last=Kerstein|url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/06/05/adl-praises-youtube-for-decision-to-remove-racist-extremist-content/|title=ADL Praises YouTube for Decision to Remove Racist, Extremist Content|website=Algemeiner|date=June 5, 2019|access-date=October 3, 2019|archive-date=October 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003210923/https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/06/05/adl-praises-youtube-for-decision-to-remove-racist-extremist-content/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL's Center on Technology and Society launched a survey in 2019 exploring online harassment in video games. It found that the majority of surveyed players experienced severe harassment of some kind, and the ADL recommended increased content moderation from game companies and governments. On the other hand, the survey found that over half of players experienced some form of positive community in video games. A separate, earlier survey of the general population found that around a third of people have experienced some form of online harassment.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Dean|work=Venturebeat|last=Takahashi|url=https://venturebeat.com/2019/07/25/anti-defamation-league-65-of-gamers-have-experienced-severe-harassment-in-online-games/|title=Anti-Defamation League: 65% of gamers have suffered severe harassment online|date=July 26, 2019|access-date=March 28, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726053839/https://venturebeat.com/2019/07/25/anti-defamation-league-65-of-gamers-have-experienced-severe-harassment-in-online-games/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Relations with ethnic groups==
===Relations with Arabs and Muslims===
{{See also|Projects working for peace among Israelis and Arabs}}
ADL publications on condemning bigotry towards Arabs, Muslims, Blacks and members of other minorities have often been used in synagogue adult education programs, and as part of Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim inter-faith dialogue.


In July 2017, ADL announced that they would be developing profiles on 36 ] and ] leaders.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-releases-whos-who-guide-of-alt-right-and-alt-lite-extremists/|first=Eric|last=Cortellessa|date=July 18, 2017|title=ADL releases 'Who's Who' guide of alt-right and alt-lite extremists|work=The Times of Israel|access-date=July 19, 2017|archive-date=July 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718233451/http://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-releases-whos-who-guide-of-alt-right-and-alt-lite-extremists/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/from-alt-right-to-alt-lite-naming-the-hate|title=Backgrounder: From Alt Right to Alt Lite: Naming the Hate|website=Anti-Defamation League|access-date=July 19, 2017|archive-date=October 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024230932/https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/from-alt-right-to-alt-lite-naming-the-hate|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019 and 2020 ADL executives and staff testified multiple times in front of Congressional committees concerning the dangers of right-wing domestic extremists.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hershenov |first=Eileen |date=April 25, 2019 |title=I Testified at a Congressional Hearing on White Nationalism. Here's Some of What I Wish We Had Discussed. |url=https://www.adl.org/blog/i-testified-at-a-congressional-hearing-on-white-nationalism-heres-some-of-what-i-wish-we-had |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726063407/https://www.adl.org/blog/i-testified-at-a-congressional-hearing-on-white-nationalism-heres-some-of-what-i-wish-we-had |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |access-date=March 28, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cortellessa |first=Eric |date=January 16, 2020 |title=ADL tells Congress to curb online hate speech if social media giants won't |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-tells-congress-to-curb-online-hate-speech-if-social-media-giants-wont/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402094655/https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-tells-congress-to-curb-online-hate-speech-if-social-media-giants-wont/ |archive-date=April 2, 2020 |access-date=March 28, 2020 |work=Times of Israel}}</ref> In a report from 2018, the ADL noted that the majority of domestic extremist-related murders in the United States over the past decade had been committed by white supremacists.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 20, 2018 |title=New Hate and Old: The Changing Face of American White Supremacy |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/report/new-hate-and-old-changing-face-american-white-supremacy |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=www.adl.org |archive-date=February 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214030607/https://www.adl.org/resources/report/new-hate-and-old-changing-face-american-white-supremacy |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 2023 report, white supremacists were also deemed responsible for 45% of right-wing extremism in the US from 2017 to 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 15, 2023 |title=Right-Wing Extremist Terrorism in the United States |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/report/right-wing-extremist-terrorism-united-states |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=www.adl.org |archive-date=January 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131224006/https://www.adl.org/resources/report/right-wing-extremist-terrorism-united-states |url-status=live }}</ref>
The ADL is sometimes at odds with Arab and Muslim groups, particularly over issues involving Israel and antisemitism. For instance, the ADL regularly publishes updates to its web site reviewing and cataloguing negative portrayals of Jews in Arab nations' media.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/main_Arab_World/default.htm |title=Anti-Semitism in the Muslim/Arab World |publisher=ADL}}</ref>


=== 2020s ===
Arab and Muslim groups are often critical of the ADL as well. After the ADL became involved in a dispute between two New Jersey mayoral candidates, one of whom had made a campaign speech at a meeting of an organisation whose president had called for "armed resistance" against Israel, asking the candidates to calm down, the group accused the ADL of "] ]".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/20/nyregion/middle-east-politics-add-heat-to-campaigns-for-governor.html | work=The New York Times | title=Middle East Politics Add Heat To Campaigns for Governor | first=Robert | last=Hanley | date=July 20, 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=86&theType=AA |title=National Muslim groups condemn ADL "Anti-Muslim McCarthyism" |date=June 8, 2001 |publisher=]}}</ref>


In 2020, ADL joined with the ], ], ], ], the ] and other organizations in the ] campaign.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|date=September 18, 2020|title=Stop Hate for Profit|url=https://www.stophateforprofit.org/|access-date=October 10, 2020|website=StopHateForProfit.org|archive-date=June 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617204533/https://www.stophateforprofit.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> The campaign targeted online hate on Facebook, with over 1000 businesses pausing their ad buys on Facebook for a month. Subsequently, in September 2020, the campaign organized celebrity supporters including ], ], and ].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Oster|first=Marcy|date=September 16, 2020|title=Sacha Baron Cohen freezes Instagram to protest hate speech on Facebook|url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/sacha-baron-cohen-freezes-instagram-to-protest-hate-speech-on-facebook-642436|website=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=October 10, 2020|archive-date=October 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011033416/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/sacha-baron-cohen-freezes-instagram-to-protest-hate-speech-on-facebook-642436|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Byers |first=Dylan |date=2020-09-15 |title=Kim Kardashian West, other celebrities to freeze Facebook and Instagram accounts in protest |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/kim-kardashian-west-other-celebrities-freeze-facebook-instagram-accounts-protest-n1240156 |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=NBC News |archive-date=June 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602015223/https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/kim-kardashian-west-other-celebrities-freeze-facebook-instagram-accounts-protest-n1240156 |url-status=live }}</ref>
On June 18, 2004 the ADL issued a news release<ref>{{cite press release |title=ADL Statement On The Muslim Student Union at UC-Irvine |publisher=ADL |date=June 18, 2004 |url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/4520_00.htm}}</ref> about the ], Irvine (UCI) Muslim Students Union in which the ADL alleged that the student group had invited speakers to campus who "made public declarations of support for Hamas, advocated suicide bombings and called for the destruction of Israel." For graduation Group members chose to wear ] (the traditional colour of Islam) graduation stoles bearing the '']'', the Islamic ]. The ADL's press release described the Shahada as "a declaration of faith that has been closely identified with Palestinian terrorists," and claimed that ]s connected to the Palestinian group ] wear green armbands and headbands inscribed with the ''Shahada'' as a symbol of their movement, and further stated, "We are troubled that members of the ] have chosen to display symbolism that is closely identified with Palestinian terrorist groups and that can be especially offensive to Jewish students."


In 2020, the ADL trained staff to edit Misplaced Pages pages, but after the project caused Misplaced Pages editors to criticize this as a ], the ADL said it suspended the project in April 2021. At the time, the ADL was considered a ] on Misplaced Pages, and the ADL said its staff complied with Misplaced Pages policies by disclosing their affiliations, but some Misplaced Pages editors objected that the project cited ADL sources disproportionately and did not reflect the volunteer spirit of the website, especially in heavily editing its own Misplaced Pages article.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rosenfeld |first1=Arno |title=ADL may have violated Misplaced Pages rules — editing its own entries |url=https://forward.com/news/467423/adl-may-have-violated-wikipedia-rules-editing-its-own-entries/ |website=Forward |date=April 9, 2021 |access-date=30 January 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409122306/https://forward.com/news/467423/adl-may-have-violated-wikipedia-rules-editing-its-own-entries/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
A news release from the ] denied that the stoles were expressions of support for terrorism, called the ADL's comments "bigoted statements", and demanded an apology; the organization's communications director Sabiha Khan said: "The ADL's hate-filled Islamophobic rhetoric labels all Muslims as terrorists, because every Muslim believes in the declaration of faith as the essence of Islam."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=1085&theType=NR |title=Muslims Demand Apology for ADL's 'Hate-Filled Rhetoric' |date=June 19, 2001 |publisher=]}}</ref> The ADL released a clarifying statement saying the ADL has nothing against the Muslim statement of faith and that, "It was never our intent to offend anyone and we apologize to those who took offense."<ref>http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=32363</ref>


An internal email obtained by ] in 2024 showed that in May 2020, the ADL had surveilled and produced a "threat assessment" report on a Black ] activist who worked with the ] campaign in opposition to exchange programs between American and Israeli police. The email contained a photo and personal information about the activist. The ADL employee who shared the email with The Guardian said that "threat assessments" are conducted regularly by the ADL and that many staff members opposed the spying.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Perkins |first=Tom |date=2024-07-08 |title=Internal memo reveals Anti-Defamation League surveillance of leftwing activist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/08/anti-defamation-league-surveillance |access-date=2024-07-09 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
===Relations with African-Americans===
The ADL has worked to combat racism against all racial groups, including racism against blacks. In 1997, the ''National Center for Black-Jewish Relations'' of ], a ] in ] awarded the director of the ADL, Abraham H. Foxman, with the first Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. – Donald R. Mintz Freedom and Justice Award.


In early January 2021, the ADL called for the removal of Donald Trump as president in response to the ] and described the relationship of the storming of the Capitol to the far-right and antisemitic groups.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kampeas|first=Ron|date=January 9, 2021|title=Anti-Defamation League calls for Trump's removal from the presidency|url=https://www.jpost.com/international/anti-defamation-league-calls-for-trumps-removal-from-the-presidency-654799|access-date=January 16, 2021|website=Jerusalem Post|archive-date=January 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119072305/https://www.jpost.com/international/anti-defamation-league-calls-for-trumps-removal-from-the-presidency-654799|url-status=live}}</ref> In April 2021, Jonathan Greenblatt released a letter calling on the right-wing American network ] to drop commentator ] from its lineup, saying that Carlson had espoused the ] on his show.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Benveniste |first1=Alexis |title=Anti-Defamation League CEO: Fox needs to rethink its entire primetime lineup |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/11/media/adl-ceo-fox-news-lineup/index.html |access-date=April 25, 2021 |work=CNN |date=April 11, 2021 |archive-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425154248/https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/11/media/adl-ceo-fox-news-lineup/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Tucker">{{cite news |last1=Cameron |first1=Chris |title=The Anti-Defamation League calls for Tucker Carlson to be fired over 'replacement theory' remarks. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/us/tucker-carlson-adl-replacement-theory.html |work=The New York Times |date=April 9, 2021 |access-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423193219/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/us/tucker-carlson-adl-replacement-theory.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This call appeared shortly after research indicating that many who participated in the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol had been influenced by this conspiracy theory.<ref name="Tucker" /> The ADL again called for Carlson to be fired in September 2021 following Carlson expressing support for the ] theory.<ref name=":10">{{cite news |last1=Pengelly |first1=Martin |title=Fresh calls for Fox News to fire Tucker Carlson over 'replacement theory' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/sep/25/tucker-carlson-fox-news-anti-defamation-league |access-date=22 October 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=September 25, 2021 |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516145312/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/sep/25/tucker-carlson-fox-news-anti-defamation-league |url-status=live }}</ref> Carlson responded, saying "Fuck them" regarding the ADL, describing the ADL's call as politically motivated and defending his statements.<ref name=":10" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Schwartz |first1=Ian |title=Tucker Carlson Responds To Condemnation From Anti-Defamation League: "F*ck Them" |url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/09/24/tucker_carlson_responds_to_condemnation_from_anti-defamation_league_fuck_them.html |access-date=22 October 2021 |work=RealClearPolitics |date=September 24, 2021 |archive-date=October 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021042414/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/09/24/tucker_carlson_responds_to_condemnation_from_anti-defamation_league_fuck_them.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2023, Fox dropped Carlson, a move welcomed by ADL leadership.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lapin |first1=Andrew |title=ADL cheers Tucker Carlson's ouster at Fox News, where he had long embraced white nationalist rhetoric |url=https://www.jta.org/2023/04/24/united-states/adl-cheers-tucker-carlsons-ouster-at-fox-news-where-he-had-long-embraced-white-nationalist-rhetoric |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=April 24, 2023 |access-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425214416/https://www.jta.org/2023/04/24/united-states/adl-cheers-tucker-carlsons-ouster-at-fox-news-where-he-had-long-embraced-white-nationalist-rhetoric |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bidgood |first1=Jess |title=Tucker Carlson's hold on the GOP and role in the disinformation business isn't going anywhere |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/tucker-carlson-s-hold-on-the-gop-and-role-in-the-disinformation-business-isn-t-going-anywhere/ar-AA1ahVmM |work=Boston Globe |date=April 24, 2023 |via=MSN |access-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425221004/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/tucker-carlson-s-hold-on-the-gop-and-role-in-the-disinformation-business-isn-t-going-anywhere/ar-AA1ahVmM |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2004, the ADL became the lead partner in the ''Peace and Diversity Academy'', a new New York City public high school with predominantly black and Hispanic students.


In 2022, the ADL revised its 2020 definition of ] from "the marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges White people" to occurrence "when individuals or institutions show more favorable evaluation or treatment of an individual or group based on race or ethnicity."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chavez |first=Nicole |date=2022-02-04 |title=Anti-Defamation League revised its definition of racism because it was 'so narrow' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04/us/anti-defamation-league-racism-definition/index.html |access-date=2024-06-21 |website=CNN |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118074251/https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04/us/anti-defamation-league-racism-definition/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
In celebration of Black History Month, the ADL created and distributed lesson plans to middle and high school teachers about ], the first black woman elected to the US Congress, and an important civil rights leader.


Also in 2022, ADL published an analysis of a leaked list of members of ], an American far-right, anti-government militia. Of 38,000 names on that list, the ADL identified "at least 373 Oath Keepers currently serving in law enforcement", plus 117 active duty military, and 1,100 former law enforcement officers.<ref><!--Hoffman, Bruce; Ware, Jacob (2024) God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America (Columbia University Press)-->{{cite Q|Q130315309|page=241}}</ref>
The ADL has also publicly charged certain African Americans with anti-Semitism:


In November 2022, ADL acquired JLens, a pro-Israel advocacy group started in 2012 which campaigns against incentives for economic disengagement with Israel in ] (ESG) investing guidelines. JLens publishes company rankings based on participation in boycotts of Israel and publishes guidelines on investing used by around 30 Jewish companies with portfolios totaling around $200 million. JLens launched a campaign criticizing ]), a campaign the ADL collaborated on prior to the 2020 acquisition. The ADL said it would contribute funding to JLens.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Elia-Shalev |first1=Asaf |title=Anti-Defamation League acquires Jewish investment watchdog to fight threats to Israel on Wall Street |url=https://www.jta.org/2022/11/10/united-states/anti-defamation-league-muscles-up-to-fight-threats-to-israel-on-wall-street |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=10 November 2022 |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109165227/https://www.jta.org/2022/11/10/united-states/anti-defamation-league-muscles-up-to-fight-threats-to-israel-on-wall-street |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Shalev |first1=Asaf |title=A new BDS battlefront emerges in investing world, with spotlight on Morningstar |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-new-bds-battlefront-emerges-in-investing-world-with-spotlight-on-morningstar/ |website=Times of Israel |agency=JTA |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=9 February 2022 |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109165221/https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-new-bds-battlefront-emerges-in-investing-world-with-spotlight-on-morningstar/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The ADL has catalogued a three-decade history of ] leader ] espousing anti-Semitic rhetoric such as claims that certain Jews are "not real Jews" and are "wicked deceivers of the American people" who "sucked blood," and that powerful Jews promote homosexuality and control black leadership.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/special_reports/farrakhan_own_words2/farrakhan_own_words.asp |title=Farrakhan In His Own Words |publisher=ADL}}</ref> Farrakhan first attracted the attention of the ADL with comments in a March 11, 1984 radio broadcast saying that "Hitler was a very great man,".<ref name="finalcall">{{cite journal |title=Farrakhan and the Jewish Rift; How It All Started |journal=] |url=http://www.finalcall.com/perspectives/rift.html}}</ref> Farrakhan insists he was using the word 'great' in the sense of 'Great Depression' or 'great white shark'.<ref></ref> and on June 24, 1984 describing the Jewish state as "structured on injustice, thievery, lying and deceit and using the name of God to shield your dirty religion under His holy and righteous name."<ref name="finalcall" /> The ADL has urged various groups including the NAACP (whose leader ] developed a working relationship with Farrakhan in 1994) to dissociate themselves from Farrakhan and his views.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Foxman |first=Abraham H. |authorlink=Abraham Foxman |date=July 20, 1994 |title=Today's N.A.A.C.P. Draws on History; Set Farrakhan Aside |journal=] |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503E7DE143EF933A15754C0A962958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fR%2fReligion%20and%20Belief}}</ref>
* In 1984 '']'' reported that then ADL national director, Nathan Perlmutter, said Rev. ], Sr. was anti-Semitic, after Jackson referred to New York City as "Hymietown".<ref>{{cite journal |date=February 23, 1984 |title=Post Reaffirms Report On Jackson Comment |journal=] |pages=13 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E10FB3B5D0C708EDDAB0894DC484D81}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=February 27, 1984 |title=Jackson Admits Saying 'Hymie' And Apologizes At A Synagogue |journal=] |pages=16 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A14F83C5D0C748EDDAB0894DC484D81}}</ref> However, the ADL later reconciled with Jackson and has worked with him on the issue of the Iranian Jewish community.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Rev. Jesse Jackson Meets with Iranian Jewish Families Pledges to Intercede on Behalf of Imprisoned Jews |publisher=ADL |date=June 11, 1999 |url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASInt_13/3401_13.asp}}</ref>
* Film Director ] was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League for his portrayal of Jewish nightclub owners Moe and Josh Flatbush in his 1990 film '']''. The Anti-Defamation League claimed that the characterizations of the nightclub owners "dredge up an age-old and highly dangerous form of anti-Semitic stereotyping," and "...disappointed that Spike Lee – whose success is largely due to his efforts to break down racial stereotypes and prejudice – has employed the same kind of tactics that he supposedly deplores."<ref>{{cite journal |date=August 16, 1990 |title=Spike Lee's Jews and the Passage From Benign Cliche Into Bigotry|journal=] |author=Caryn James|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2D6113DF935A2575BC0A966958260}}</ref> Lee's portrayal also angered the B'Nai Brith and other such Jewish organizations causing Lee to apologize via an Opinion-Editorial article in '']''.<ref>{{cite journal |date=August 13, 2006 |title=The Angriest Auteur|journal=] |author=Ariel Levy|url=http://nymag.com/movies/profiles/19144/}}</ref>
* During the 2002 election cycle, the ADL, in a letter to ''The New York Times'', harshly criticized ] member ] of Georgia for launching attacks perceived as racial against her Jewish opponent. According to an August 19, 2002 article in ''The New York Times'' ADL Director Abraham Foxman said, "it made sense that Jewish Americans would want to contribute to efforts to replace Ms. McKinney."
* In February 2005, ADL National Director Abraham Foxman called it hypocritical for hip-hop producer ] to lead an ad campaign against anti-Semitism while also, according to Foxman's view, defending or excusing Louis Farrakhan's anti-Semitic statements.<ref>{{cite press release |title=ADL Calls on Russell Simmons to Distance Himself from Minister Farrakhan |publisher=ADL |date=February 14, 2005 |url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/4645_12.htm}}</ref> Later that year the ADL urged prominent black leaders including Simmons to reconsider their support for Farrakhan and ] organizing the ] and to "stand up" against black anti-Semitism.<ref>{{cite press release |title=ADL Urges Prominent African-American Leaders to Reconsider Their Support for the "Millions More Movement" |publisher=ADL |date=May 2, 2005 |url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/4707_12.htm}}</ref> Simmons, responding to ADL Director Abraham Foxman, said "simply put, you are misguided, arrogant, and very disrespectful of African Americans and most importantly your statements will unintentionally or intentionally lead to a negative impression of Jews in the minds of millions of African Americans." <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.millionsmoremovement.com/news/russell-simmons05-09-2005.htm |title=Russell Simmons Responds to Abraham Foxman about the Millions More Movement |last=Simmons |first=Russell |authorlink=Russell Simmons |date=May 9, 2005 |publisher=]}}</ref> Foxman replied, "If there were a Jewish event which was led by an out-and-out racist, I would expect Black leaders to say to me that ADL should have nothing to do with it. And I would agree with them, rather than condemn them for their action."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/media_watch/internet/20050510-Russell+Simmons.htm |title=Response to Russell Simmons |date=May 9, 2005 |publisher=ADL}}</ref>


The ADL tracked rapid growth in hate speech and harassment on ] after ] bought the social network in 2022.<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":20" /> In early September 2023, Musk liked and replied to a tweet by the Irish white nationalist Keith Woods that called for banning the ADL from X, which was Twitter's new name under Musk.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Dwoskin |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Oremus |first2=Will |date=2023-09-14 |title=Musk expected to meet with Netanyahu as antisemitism controversy rages |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/14/musk-antisemitism-x-twitter-adl-netanyahu/ |access-date=2024-01-27 |newspaper=Washington Post |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=February 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207213939/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/14/musk-antisemitism-x-twitter-adl-netanyahu/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Jason |date=2023-11-21 |title=Rightwing personalities use X to bring antisemitic theories to light in US |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/21/great-replacement-theory-antisemitism-racism-rightwing-mainstream |access-date=2024-01-27 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214728/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/21/great-replacement-theory-antisemitism-racism-rightwing-mainstream |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":19">{{Cite web|last=Kampeas|first=Ron|date=September 4, 2023|title=Elon Musk is amplifying a self-declared antisemite's call to ban the ADL from X|url=https://www.jta.org/2023/09/03/politics/elon-musk-is-amplifying-a-self-declared-antisemites-call-to-ban-the-adl-from-x|access-date=September 4, 2023|website=Jewish Telegraph Agence|archive-date=September 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904004836/https://www.jta.org/2023/09/03/politics/elon-musk-is-amplifying-a-self-declared-antisemites-call-to-ban-the-adl-from-x|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Novak |first=Matt |title=Elon Musk Promotes Campaign To Ban ADL While Agreeing With 'Raging Anti-Semite' |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/09/04/elon-musk-promotes-campaign-to-ban-adl-while-agreeing-with-raging-anti-semite/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=Forbes |archive-date=September 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905173031/https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/09/04/elon-musk-promotes-campaign-to-ban-adl-while-agreeing-with-raging-anti-semite/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-04 |title=Musk Fuels White Supremacist 'Ban the ADL' Campaign on Social Media |url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/09/04/musk-fuels-white-supremacist-ban-adl-campaign-social-media/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website= Algemeiner.com |archive-date=September 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905173032/https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/09/04/musk-fuels-white-supremacist-ban-adl-campaign-social-media/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Musk also accused the ADL of defamation and threatened to sue it, writing that advertising revenue was "still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that's what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!" The ADL said as matter of policy it did not comment on legal threats, but that it had recently met with X leadership including CEO ], who had thanked the ADL's CEO on the platform.<ref name=":20">{{Cite web |last=Valinsky |first=Jordan |date=2023-09-05 |title=Elon Musk blames the ADL for 60% ad sales decline at X, threatens to sue |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/05/tech/elon-musk-adl-lawsuit/index.html |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=CNN |archive-date=September 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929031925/https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/05/tech/elon-musk-adl-lawsuit/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Greenblatt later praised Musk after he announced policy banning phrases such as "]" and "]" on Twitter.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lanard |first=Noah |title=Days after he endorsed an antisemitic tweet, the ADL praises Elon Musk's clampdown on Palestinian speech. |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/elon-musk-river-sea-antidefamation-league/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=] |archive-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119073700/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/elon-musk-river-sea-antidefamation-league/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Heer |first=Jeet |date=2023-11-20 |title=Why the Anti-Defamation League Loves Certain Bigots |work=] |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/anti-defamation-league-musk-israel/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |issn=0027-8378 |archive-date=November 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120150819/https://www.thenation.com/article/society/anti-defamation-league-musk-israel/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Musk: Terms Such as 'Decolonization' and 'From the River to the Sea' Will Result in Suspension From X |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-11-18/ty-article/musk-decolonization-and-from-the-river-to-the-sea-will-result-in-suspension-from-x/0000018b-e2ce-dffa-adef-e6ce41b40000 |access-date=2023-11-20 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118210507/https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-11-18/ty-article/musk-decolonization-and-from-the-river-to-the-sea-will-result-in-suspension-from-x/0000018b-e2ce-dffa-adef-e6ce41b40000 |url-status=live }}</ref> The head of the ADL's Center for Technology and Society (CTS), Yael Eisenstat, reportedly quit in protest of the praise of Musk.<ref name="JC11">{{cite web |date=4 January 2024 |title=Top Executive Leaves ADL Over CEO's Praise of Elon Musk |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/top-executive-leaves-adl-over-ceos-praise-of-elon-musk |accessdate=5 January 2024 |work=Jewish Currents |archive-date=January 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105163914/https://jewishcurrents.org/top-executive-leaves-adl-over-ceos-praise-of-elon-musk |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=21 December 2023 |title=At Leading Anti-Hate Group, Boss's Embrace of Elon Musk Raises Tensions |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjkzm/adl-elon-musk-controversy |accessdate=5 January 2024 |work=Vice |archive-date=January 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105163915/https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjkzm/adl-elon-musk-controversy |url-status=live }}</ref>
==The ADL files controversy==
Since the 1930s the ADL has been gathering information and publishing reports on anti-Semitism, racism and prejudice, and on anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, racist, anti-democratic, violent, and extremist individuals and groups. As a result, the organization has amassed what it once called a "famous storehouse of accurate, detailed, unassailable information on extremist individuals and organizations."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/ADLHistory/1930_1940.asp |title=1930–1940 The World and ADL Were Changing... |work=History of the ADL |publisher=ADL}}</ref> Over the decades the ADL has assembled thousands of files.


In September 2023, the ADL launched a media and entertainment institute aimed at combating antisemitism and improving depictions of Jewish people in entertainment. The institute works with industry leaders and non-profit organizations such as ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sun |first=Rebecca |date=2023-09-12 |title=Anti-Defamation League Launches Media and Entertainment Institute |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/anti-defamation-league-media-entertainment-institute-1235588462/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=] |language=en-US |archive-date=February 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222024204/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/anti-defamation-league-media-entertainment-institute-1235588462/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Littleton |first=Cynthia |date=2023-09-12 |title=ADL Launches Media and Entertainment Institute to Engage Hollywood Insiders on Antisemitism and Portrayals of Jewish Communities |url=https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/adl-antisemitism-entertainment-institute-greenblatt-1235720529/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-date=May 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524163409/https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/adl-antisemitism-entertainment-institute-greenblatt-1235720529/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In February 2024, the institute appointed documentary producer and journalist Deborah Camiel as its leader.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sun |first=Rebecca |date=2024-02-21 |title=Anti-Defamation League Appoints Documentarian Deborah Camiel to Lead Media and Entertainment Institute (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/adl-media-entertainment-institute-deborah-camiel-1235830905/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>
One of its sources was '''Roy Bullock''', a person who collected information and provided it to the ADL as a secretly paid independent contractor over 32 years. Bullock often wrote letters to various groups and forwarded copies of their replies to the ADL, clipped articles from newspapers and magazines, and maintained files on his computer. He also used less orthodox, and possibly illegal, methods such as combing through trash and tapping into the ]'s phone message system to find evidence of ]s. Some of the information he obtained and then passed on to the ADL came from confidential documents (including intelligence files on various Nazi groups and driver's license records and other personal information on nearly 1,400 people) that were given to him by San Francisco police officer '''Tom Gerard'''.<ref name="Paddock">Richard C. Paddock, "," Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1993, A1</ref>


== Political positions ==
On April 8, 1993, police seized Bullock's computer and raided the ADL offices in ] and ]. A search of Bullock's computer revealed he had compiled files on 9,876 individuals and more than 950 groups across the political spectrum. Many of Bullock's files concerned groups that did not fit the mold of extremist groups, hate groups, and organizations hostile to Jews or Israel that the ADL would usually be interested in. Along with files on the Ku Klux Klan, White Aryan Resistance, Islamic Jihad and ] were data on the ], the ] (ANC), the ] (ACLU), the ], the AIDS activist group ], ], the ] Soviet/Russian news agency, ], ] and the ]; there were also files on politicians including Democratic U.S. Representative ], former Republican U.S. Representative ], and activist ].<ref name="Paddock" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.refuseandresist.org/big_brother/011697antifa.html |title=The 'Public-Private Partnership' |last=Burghardt |first=Tom |date=January 16, 1997 |publisher=Antifa Info-Bulletin}}</ref> Bullock told investigators that many of those were his own private files, not information he was passing on to the ADL. An attorney for the ADL stated that "We knew nothing about the vast extent of the files. Those are not ADL's files. … That is all doing."<ref name="Adams">Meredith Jane Adams, , ], May 3, 1993.</ref> As for its own records, the ADL indicated that just because it had a file on a group did not indicate opposition to the group. The San Francisco district attorney at the time accused the ADL of conducting a national "] network", but dropped all accusations a few months later.<ref name="jewishsf">{{cite news |first=Julie |last=Wiener |title=ADL settles with Arabs, others to wrap up 6-year lawsuit |url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/12169/ |publisher=The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California |date=October 1, 1999}}</ref>
===Israel===
The ADL is described as a pro-Israel group.<ref>{{cite web |date=4 September 2013 |title=Pro-Israel groups publicly back U.S. action in Syria |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-usa-israel/pro-israel-groups-publicly-back-u-s-action-in-syria-idUSBRE98213V20130903 |accessdate=4 September 2023 |work=Reuters |archive-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904134532/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-usa-israel/pro-israel-groups-publicly-back-u-s-action-in-syria-idUSBRE98213V20130903 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Middle East historian Asaf Romirowsky described the organization as "left of center" politically.<ref name="Bandler">{{Cite web |last=Bandler |first=Aaron |date=2024-06-21 |title=Misplaced Pages Editors Label ADL Only Reliable for Antisemitism When "Israel and Zionism Are Not Concerned" |url=https://jewishjournal.com/news/united-states/372532/wikipedia-editors-label-adl-only-reliable-for-antisemitism-when-israel-and-zionism-are-not-concerned/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US |archive-date=June 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622020506/https://jewishjournal.com/news/united-states/372532/wikipedia-editors-label-adl-only-reliable-for-antisemitism-when-israel-and-zionism-are-not-concerned/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


The ADL has taken a case-by-case approach to state ] enacted in response to the ]. Several of these laws, which seek to prohibit state agencies and instrumentalities from investing in companies that boycott Israel and from entering into contracts with entities that boycott Israel, have been successfully challenged in the courts. The legal challenges have primarily been brought by the ] and ] on First Amendment constitutional grounds.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/26/us/texas-bds-law/index.html|first=Joe|last=Sterling|title=Texas has a law that says contractors can't boycott Israel. But a federal judge just blocked it|access-date=March 28, 2020|publisher=CNN|date=April 26, 2019|archive-date=June 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605031318/https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/26/us/texas-bds-law/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Brian|last=Hauss|date=April 16, 2019|url=https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/arizona-lawmakers-running-scared-after-anti-boycott-law-ruled-unconstitutional|title=Arizona Lawmakers Running Scared After Anti-Boycott Law Ruled Unconstitutional|access-date=March 28, 2020|work=ACLU blog |archive-date=February 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214035621/https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/arizona-lawmakers-running-scared-after-anti-boycott-law-ruled-unconstitutional|url-status=live}}</ref> As a general matter the organization also has not publicly opposed such state laws, preferring to work behind the scenes to try to make such laws less infirm under the Constitution or to propose non-binding resolutions opposing BDS. A possible division of internal views in ADL was disclosed when the liberal Jewish publication, '']'', published ostensible leaked internal ADL staff memos dating from 2016 that opposed the anti-boycott laws.<ref name=":2">{{cite news |last1=Nathan-Kazis |first1=Josh |title=REVEALED: Secret ADL Memo Slammed Anti-BDS Laws As 'Harmful' To Jews |url=https://forward.com/news/416030/revealed-secret-adl-memo-slammed-anti-bds-laws-as-harmful-to-jews/ |work=The Forward |date=December 13, 2018 |access-date=March 28, 2020 |archive-date=May 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200525042943/https://forward.com/news/416030/revealed-secret-adl-memo-slammed-anti-bds-laws-as-harmful-to-jews/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ADL did not comment directly on the leaked memos, but the statement it issued in response appeared to acknowledge both that there were sharply divided views within the organization and that the organization did not try to suppress internal robust discussion.<ref name=":2" />
In the weeks following the raids, twelve civil rights groups led by the ] and the ], filed a lawsuit demanding ADL release its survellance information and end its investigations, as well as be ordered to pay punitive damages.<ref>James Bolden, , ], November 3, 1993.</ref> The plaintiffs' attorney, former Representative McCloskey, claimed that information the ADL gathered constituted an invasion of privacy. The ADL, while distancing itself from Bullock, countered that it is entitled like any researcher or journalist to research organizations and individuals. Richard Cohen, legal director of the ] in Montgomery, Alabama, stated that like journalists, the ADL's researchers "gather information however they can" and welcome disclosures from confidential sources, saying "they probably rely on their sources to draw the line" on how much can legally be divulged. Bullock admitted that he was overzealous, and that some of the ways he gathered information may have been illegal.<ref name="Adams" />


In 2010, ADL published a list of the "ten leading organizations responsible for maligning Israel in the US," which has included ], the ], and ] for its call for BDS.<ref>{{cite news |last=Benhorin |first=Yitzhak |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3969798,00.html |title=Jewish group makes ADL blacklist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017220700/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3969798,00.html |archive-date=October 17, 2010 |work=ynet news |date=October 15, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL published a similar list in 2013.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Eidelson |first1=Josh |title=Anti-Defamation League slams Jewish groups for Israel criticism |url=https://www.salon.com/2013/10/22/anti_defamation_league_slams_jewish_groups_for_israel_criticism/ |work=Salon |date=October 22, 2013 |access-date=May 27, 2021 |archive-date=March 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318163310/https://www.salon.com/2013/10/22/anti_defamation_league_slams_jewish_groups_for_israel_criticism/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The lawsuit was settled out of court in 1999. The ADL agreed to pay $175,000 for the court costs of the groups that sued it, promised that it would not seek information from sources it knew could not legally disclose such information, consented to remove sensitive information like criminal records or ]s from its files, and spent $25,000 to further relations between the Jewish, Arab and black communities. When the case was settled, ], director of communications for the ] (ADC), claimed that the ADL had gathered data "systematically in a program whose clear intent was to undermine civil rights and Arab-American organizations". ADL national director Abraham Foxman called the ADC's claims "absolutely untrue," saying that "if it were true, they would have won their case" and noting that no court found the ADL guilty of any wrongdoing. The ADL released a statement saying that the settlement "explicitly recognizes ADL's right to gather information in any lawful and constitutionally protected manner, which we have always done and will continue to do."<ref name="jewishsf" />


Alongside similar statements from StandWithUs and American Jewish Committee representatives, Greenblatt condemned the ]'s (UNHRC) list of companies doing business with Jewish settlements in Israeli-occupied territories, issued in February 2020, calling it a "blacklist".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bandler |first1=Aaron |title=UNHRC Releases 'Blacklist' of Companies Conducting Business in Israeli Settlements |url=https://jewishjournal.com/news/world/310631/unhrc-releases-blacklist-of-companies-conducting-business-in-israeli-settlements |work=Jewish Journal |date=February 12, 2020 |access-date=March 28, 2020 |archive-date=March 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328193741/https://jewishjournal.com/news/world/310631/unhrc-releases-blacklist-of-companies-conducting-business-in-israeli-settlements/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
===James Rosenberg===
A case which has been compared to the Bullock case was that of James Mitchell Rosenberg, AKA Jim Anderson. Rosenberg/Anderson was an undercover operative of the ADL who acted as an agent provocateur, posing as a racist right-wing paramilitary extremist. He appeared in this role as part of a TV documentary entitled "Armies of the Right" which premiered in 1981. Rosenberg was arrested that same year in New York for carrying an unregistered firearm in public view. In 1984, ADL fact-finding director ] identified Rosenberg as an ADL operative in a court deposition.<ref>Jeffrey Kaplan, Heléne Lööw, , ISBN 0-7591-0204-X</ref>


ADL expressed concern over Israeli legislative proposals requiring that NGOs publicize if they receive funding primarily from non-Israeli governments, a bill mostly opposed by centrist and left-wing and supported by right-wing Jewish American groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/reform-joins-adl-ajc-in-opposing-israels-ngo-bill/|title=Reform joins ADL, AJC in opposing Israel's NGO bill|website=]|access-date=February 5, 2016|archive-date=February 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217180518/http://www.timesofisrael.com/reform-joins-adl-ajc-in-opposing-israels-ngo-bill/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Armenian Genocide controversy==
In 2007, Abraham Foxman came under criticism for his stance on the ]. The ADL had previously described it as a "massacre" and "atrocity", but not a "genocide".<ref name="http">{{cite web
|url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/5114_00.htm
|title=ADL Statement on the Armenian Genocide
|date=August 21, 2007}}</ref> Foxman had earlier opposed calls for the U.S. Government to recognise it as a "genocide".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewcy.com/feature/2007-07-09/fire_foxman |title=Fire Foxman: Denying the Armenian Genocide should be the last atrocity perpetrated by the ADL chief.}}</ref> "I don't think congressional action will help reconcile the issue. The resolution takes a position; it comes to a judgment," said Foxman in a statement issued to the ]. “The ] and ]ns need to revisit their past. The Jewish community shouldn't be the arbiter of that history, nor should the U.S. Congress, and "a Congressional resolution on such matters is a counterproductive diversion and will not foster reconciliation between Turks and Armenians and may put at risk the Turkish Jewish community and the important multilateral relationship between Turkey, Israel and the United States."


In 2022, the ADL criticized the government formed by ] in ], which included representatives from the far-right ] and ], and their leaders, ] and ]. The ADL said that including these parties and lawmakers "would run counter to Israel's founding principles, and impact its standing, even among its strongest supporters."<ref>{{cite web |title=ADL says including far right in next government will hurt country globally |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/adl-says-including-far-right-in-next-government-will-hurt-country-globally/ |website=The Times of Israel |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=3 November 2022 |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172808/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/adl-says-including-far-right-in-next-government-will-hurt-country-globally/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Federman |first1=Josef |title=Jewish Americans express alarm over expected Israeli government |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/jewish-americans-express-alarm-over-expected-israeli-government |website=] |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=7 December 2022 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215236/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/jewish-americans-express-alarm-over-expected-israeli-government |url-status=live }}</ref>
In early August 2007, complaints about the Anti-Defamation League's refusal to acknowledge the ] led to the ] unanimous town council decision to end their participation in the ADL "No Place for Hate" campaign. Also in August 2007, an editorial in '']'' criticized the ADL saying that "as an organization concerned about human rights, it ought to acknowledge the ] against the Armenian people during ], and criticize Turkish attempts to repress the memory of this historical reality."<ref>{{cite news |date= August 3, 2007 |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/08/03/a_genocide_not_to_be_denied/ |title=A genocide not to be denied |publisher=]}}</ref> Then on 17 August 2007, the ADL fired its regional ] director, Andrew H. Tarsy, for breaking ranks with the main organization and saying the ADL should recognize the genocide.<ref name=obrien>{{cite news
|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/18/adl_local_leader_fired_on_armenian_issue/
|title=ADL local leader fired on Armenian issue: Genocide question sparked bitter debate
|publisher=The Boston Globe
|first=Keith
|last=O'Brien
|date=August 18, 2007}}</ref> In a 21 August 2007 press release, the ADL changed its position to one of acknowledging the genocide but maintained its opposition to congressional resolutions aimed at recognizing it.<ref name="http"/> Foxman wrote, "the consequences of those actions," by the ] against Armenians, "were indeed tantamount to genocide."<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/22/adl_chief_bows_to_critics/
|title=ADL chief bows to critics: Foxman cites rift, calls Armenian deaths genocide
|first=Keith
|last=O'Brien
|date=August 22, 2007
|publisher=The Boston Globe}}</ref> The ] condemned the league's statement.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/24/turkey_condemns_statement_by_adl/
|title=Turkey condemns statement by ADL
|first=Michael
|last=Levenson
|date=August 24, 2007
|publisher=The Boston Globe}}</ref> Andrew H. Tarsy was rehired by the league on 27 August,<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/08/antidefamation_1.html
|title=Anti-Defamation League rehires New England director
|first=Keith
|last=O'Brien
|publisher=The Boston Globe
|date=September 7, 2007}}</ref> though he has since chosen to step down from his position.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=4108
|title=Tarsy Resignation Draws Mixed Emotions From Area Colleagues
|first=Rachel
|last=Axelbank
|publisher=Jewish Advocate
|date=December 6, 2007}}</ref>


===Anti-Zionism and antisemitism===
The ADL was criticized by many in the Armenian community including ''The Armenian Weekly'' newspaper, in which writer Michael Mensoian stated:
{{See also|Anti-Zionism}}


In a 2022 speech to ADL leaders, Greenblatt said that "] is antisemitism".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Chotiner |first1=Isaac |date=11 May 2022 |title=Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/is-anti-zionism-anti-semitism |access-date=9 January 2023 |magazine=] |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109171432/https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/is-anti-zionism-anti-semitism |url-status=live }}</ref> '']'' noted that the "speech marked a rare moment of the organization unequivocally" making that assertion.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kampeas |first1=Ron |date=2 May 2022 |title=ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt equates anti-Zionist rhetoric with antisemitism |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-ceo-jonathan-greenblatt-equates-anti-zionist-rhetoric-with-antisemitism/ |access-date=9 January 2023 |website=] |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109171431/https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-ceo-jonathan-greenblatt-equates-anti-zionist-rhetoric-with-antisemitism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The remarks upset activists and Jewish groups critical of Israel, and also set off controversy within the ADL.<ref name="TG11">{{cite web |last1=Guyer |first1=Jonathan |last2=Perkins |first2=Tom |date=5 January 2024 |title=Anti-Defamation League staff decry 'dishonest' campaign against Israel critics |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/05/adl-pro-israel-advocacy-zionism-antisemitism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510035021/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/05/adl-pro-israel-advocacy-zionism-antisemitism |archive-date=May 10, 2024 |accessdate=5 January 2024 |work=] |quote=Critics of the group argue that these and other actions risk undermining the civil rights organization’s counter-extremism work and say the group has foregone much of its historical mission to fight antisemitism in favor of doing advocacy for Israel ... The ADL and many other Jewish establishment organizations have been pushing for years for governments to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition, which defines some criticisms of Israel, and anti-Zionism in particular, as antisemitic.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Mari |last2=Kane |first2=Alex |date=2023-03-08 |title=ADL Staffers Dissented After CEO Compared Palestinian Rights Groups to Right-Wing Extremists, Leaked Audio Reveals |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/adl-staffers-dissented-after-ceo-compared-palestinian-rights-groups-to-right-wing-extremists-leaked-audio-reveals |access-date=2024-08-10 |website=] |language=en |quote=TRANSCRIPT OF MAY 2022 ADL MEETING ... |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527193034/https://jewishcurrents.org/adl-staffers-dissented-after-ceo-compared-palestinian-rights-groups-to-right-wing-extremists-leaked-audio-reveals |url-status=live }}</ref> Internal ADL messages seen by ''The Guardian'' included a senior manager at ADL's Center on Extremism writing in protest that: "There is no comparison between white supremacists and insurrectionists and those who espouse anti-Israel rhetoric, and to suggest otherwise is both intellectually dishonest and damaging to our reputation as experts in extremism."<ref name="TG11"/> The newspaper reported that the speech, which "put opposition to Israel on a par with white supremacy as a source of antisemitism", had sparked controversy.<ref name="TG11" />
{{quote|The belated backtracking of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in acknowledging the planned, systematic massacre of 1,500,000 Armenian men, women and children as "…tantamount to genocide…" is discouraging. Tantamount means something is equivalent. If it’s equivalent, why avoid using the term? For the ADL to justify its newly adopted statement because the word genocide did not exist at the time indicates a halfhearted attempt to placate Armenians while not offending Turkey. Historians use the term genocide simply because it is the proper term to describe the horrific events that the Ottoman Turkish government unleashed on the Armenian people.<ref></ref>}}


In January 2024, two-thirds of ADL's tally of more than 3,283 antisemitic incidents in the United States since October 7, 2023, were tied to the ]; '']'' said the ADL acknowledged "that it significantly broadened its definition of antisemitic incidents following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack to include rallies that feature 'anti-Zionist chants and slogans,' events that appear to account for around 1,317 of the total count".<ref name="tf11">{{cite web |last=Rosenfeld |first=Arno |date=10 January 2024 |title=ADL counts 3,000 antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7, two-thirds tied to Israel |url=https://forward.com/news/575687/anti-defamation-league-adl-antisemitism-count-anti-zionism/ |accessdate=14 January 2024 |work=] |archive-date=June 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240629034642/https://forward.com/news/575687/anti-defamation-league-adl-antisemitism-count-anti-zionism/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chavez |first=Nicole |date=2024-01-10 |title=ADL records more than 3,200 antisemitic incidents since start of Israel-Hamas war |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/10/us/adl-antisemitism-reports-soar-reaj/index.html |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=CNN |archive-date=April 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405071238/https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/10/us/adl-antisemitism-reports-soar-reaj/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The ADL classified anti-war protest events led by Jewish groups including ] and ] as "anti-Israel", adding the protests to a database documenting rising antisemitism in the US. In response, an ADL staffer quit, who told the Guardian that "These were Jewish people who we were defaming, so that felt extremely, extremely confusing, and frustrating to me. And it makes it harder to talk about that when any criticism of Israel, or anyone who criticizes Israel, just becomes a terrorist."<ref name="TG11"/> The ADL told ''The Intercept'' that it did not consider the protests antisemitic, but Greenblatt labelled the protesting groups as hate groups.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lee |first=Micah |date=November 11, 2023 |title=Anti-Defamation League Maps Jewish Peace Rallies with Antisemitic Attacks |url=https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire-antisemitic/ |work=] |publisher= |access-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112091414/https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire-antisemitic/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Former staff told '']'' in 2023 of dissent within the ADL over the increasing equation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism, and over Greenblatt's calls for bans and investigations of pro-Palestinian organizations that he alleged had supported terrorist groups.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weill |first=Kelly |date=2023-11-22 |title=Dissent Over Zionism Is Splitting the ADL From Within: Ex-Staff |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-defamation-league-ex-staff-decry-ceo-jonathan-greenblatts-stance-on-ceasefire-rallies |access-date=2023-11-27 |archive-date=November 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127071537/https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-defamation-league-ex-staff-decry-ceo-jonathan-greenblatts-stance-on-ceasefire-rallies |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="DicksonRS" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://theintercept.com/2024/02/21/adl-palestine-terrorism-legislation|title=How the ADL's Anti-Palestinian Advocacy Helped Shape US Terror Laws|work=The Intercept|accessdate=23 March 2024|date=21 February 2024|archive-date=March 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323100011/https://theintercept.com/2024/02/21/adl-palestine-terrorism-legislation/|url-status=live}}</ref> In early 2024, two ADL staff quit the group in response to pro-Israel advocacy during the war.<ref name="TG11" />
After Foxman's capitulation, the New England ADL pressed the organization's national leadership to support a congressional resolution acknowledging the genocide.<ref name=Woolhouse/> After hours of closed-door debate at the annual national meeting in New York, the proposal was ultimately withdrawn.<ref name=Woolhouse/> The organization issued a statement saying it would "take no further action on the issue of the Armenian genocide." The ADL had earlier received direct pressure from the Turkish Foreign ministry.<ref> Haaretz, 10/10/07, Barak Ravid</ref> Tarsy submitted his resignation on December 4.<ref name=Woolhouse>{{cite news
|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/05/adls_regional_leader_resigns/
|title=ADL's regional leader resigns: Backers cite rift on genocide issue
|first=Megan
|last=Woolhouse
|publisher=The Boston Globe
|date=December 5, 2007}}</ref>


ADL supported a December 5, 2023, US Congress resolution that described anti-Zionism as antisemitism.<ref name="TG11" /> The ADL and "many other Jewish establishment organizations" have campaigned for governments to adopt the ] definition of antisemitism, which describes anti-Zionism and some forms of criticism of Israel as antisemitic, according to ''The Guardian''.<ref name="TG11" /> Some Jewish organizations, such as the ], whose work was welcomed by the ], take a different view.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jacoby |first=Jonathan |date=2022-10-26 |title=The mistake in equating right-wing and left-wing antisemitism |url=https://forward.com/opinion/522629/the-mistake-in-equating-right-wing-and-left-wing-antisemitism/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |work=] |archive-date=May 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501092316/https://forward.com/opinion/522629/the-mistake-in-equating-right-wing-and-left-wing-antisemitism/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacoby |first=Jonathan |date=2022-05-04 |title=Is it antisemitic to be anti-Zionist? |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/is-it-antisemitic-to-be-anti-zionist/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |website=] |archive-date=June 20, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620120653/https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/is-it-antisemitic-to-be-anti-zionist/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacoby |first=Jonathan |date=2024-01-18 |title=An open letter to Jonathan Greenblatt, National Director and CEO of the ADL |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-open-letter-to-jonathan-greenblatt-national-director-and-ceo-of-the-adl/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |website=] |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303100640/https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-open-letter-to-jonathan-greenblatt-national-director-and-ceo-of-the-adl/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Since August, some human rights commissions in other Massachusetts communities decided to follow Watertown's lead and withdraw from the ADL's No Place for Hate anti-discrimination program.<ref name=Woolhouse/>


Critics of the ADL said that such advocacy for Israel had undermined the group's counter-extremism work and argued that it had foregone parts of its historical mission against antisemitism, according to ''The Guardian''.<ref name="TG11"/> In 2024, an article in '']'' said, "The ADL's priority today remains—as it has for decades—going after Americans who are simply opposed to Israel's endless occupation and oppression of Palestinians", and criticized what it described as US media outlets using ADL reports on antisemitism uncritically.<ref name="tn111"/> Middle East historian Asaf Romirowsky said that because ADL's clear stance on antisemitism does not conform to the "orthodoxy of the day", it has led to the discredition of the group whose purpose is to combat antisemitism.<ref name="Bandler" /> ] argues that "conflating real antisemitism with political disagreement" cheapens the term 'antisemitism' to the point of "rendering it almost meaningless."<ref>First, it cheapens the term, rendering it almost meaningless. When the Anti-Defamation League redefines the term ‘antisemitism’ to include any anti-Zionist protest, its own data — which used to be the authoritative reference for tracking this noxious bigotry — now becomes unreliable. When the word is used any time someone says or does something that an Israeli nationalist dislikes, it becomes just another meaningless political term, like ‘woke’ — or, in some liberal misuses of the term, ‘fascist.’], ] 8 August 2024.</ref>
==Criticism==
===Organizations===
The ADL has drawn criticism from the ]<ref></ref> and from the ].<ref></ref>


===Individuals=== === New antisemitism ===
{{main|New antisemitism}}
Linguist and activist ] has characterized ADL as having lost entirely its focus on civil rights issues to become solely an advocate for Israeli policy; he holds that ADL casts all left-wing opposition to Israeli interests as antisemitism.<ref></ref> ], a prominent left-wing rabbi, has criticized the ADL on similar grounds.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tikkun.org/rabbi_lerner/ask_the_rabbi |title=Ask the Rabbi |accessdate=May 31, 2007 |first=Michael |last=Lerner |authorlink=Michael Lerner (rabbi) |publisher=] |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20051110072600/http://www.tikkun.org/rabbi_lerner/ask_the_rabbi |archivedate=November 10, 2005}}</ref> Other critics include ],<ref></ref> ],<ref></ref> ],<ref></ref> ], ] and ].<ref></ref>


In 1974, ADL attorney ] and national director ] published the book ''The New Anti-Semitism''. They expressed concern about what they described as new manifestations of antisemitism coming from radical left, radical right, and pro-Arab figures in the US.<ref>Forster, Arnold & Epstein, Benjamin, ''The New Anti-Semitism''. McGraw-Hill 1974, p.165. See for instance chapters entitled "]'s Road" (19–48), "The Radical Right" (285–296), "Arabs and Pro-Arabs" (155–174), "The Radical Left" (125–154)</ref> Forster and Epstein argued that radical left antisemitism took the form of indifference to the fears of the Jewish people, apathy in dealing with anti-Jewish bias, and an inability to understand the importance of Israel to Jewish survival.<ref name="ForsterEpstein324">Forster, Arnold & Epstein, Benjamin, ''The New Anti-Semitism''. McGraw-Hill 1974, p. 324.</ref> A subsequent book, ''The Real Anti-Semitism in America'', published in 1982, was written by ADL national leader Nathan Perlmutter and his wife, Ruth Ann Perlmutter.<ref name="JTAobit" />
In 2003, journalist John Gorenfeld criticized the ADL in an article in '']'' for its silence on alleged antisemitic statements by members of the ], in contrast to its outspoken criticism of the Nation of Islam and other groups.<ref>, John Gorenfeld, ''Salon Magazine'', Sep 24, 2003</ref>


Reviewing Forster and Epstein's work in 1974 for the ] magazine '']'', Earl Raab, founding director of the Nathan Perlmutter Institute for Jewish Advocacy at ], agreed that a "new anti-Semitism" was indeed emerging in America in the form of opposition to the supposed collective rights of the Jewish people, but Raab criticized Forster and Epstein for "stretch the word in practice to mean anti-Israel bias in general".<ref name="raab11">{{cite magazine |last=Raab |first=Earl |date=May 1974 |title=Is there a New Anti-Semitism? |url=https://www.commentary.org/articles/earl-raab-2/is-there-a-new-anti-semitism/ |url-status=live |magazine=] |pages=53–54 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201144943/https://www.commentary.org/articles/earl-raab-2/is-there-a-new-anti-semitism/ |archive-date=December 1, 2021}}</ref> Allan Brownfeld, a columnist with ''The Lincoln Review'', wrote in the '']'' 1987 that Forster and Epstein's new definition of antisemitism trivialized the concept by turning it into "a form of political blackmail" and "a weapon with which to silence any criticism of either Israel or US policy in the Middle East,"<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brownfeld |first=Allan |year=1987 |title=Anti-Semitism: Its Changing Meaning |journal=] |publisher=] |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=53–67 |doi=10.2307/2536789 |issn=1533-8614 |jstor=2536789}}</ref> while ], in ''A Time for Healing: American Jewry Since World War II'', has written that, "Forster and Epstein implied that the new antisemitism was the inability of Gentiles to love Jews and Israel enough."<ref>{{cite book |last=Shapiro |first=Edward S. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780801843471/page/47 |title=A Time for Healing: American Jewry Since World War II |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1992 |isbn=0-8018-4347-2 |page= |author-link=Edward S. Shapiro}}</ref>
===Role in cancellation of speech by Tony Judt at Polish Consulate===
The ADL, in addition to the ], was criticized by academic ] for allegedly pressuring the Polish Consul General in New York to cancel a scheduled appearance by Judt at a non-profit organization that rents space from the consulate. In an interview with the '']'', Foxman claimed that the group "had nothing to do with the cancellation",<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stoll |first=Ira |authorlink=Ira Stoll |date=October 4, 2006 |title=Poland Abruptly Cancels a Speech By Local Critic of the Jewish State |journal=] |url=http://www.nysun.com/article/40911?page_no=1}}</ref> insisting that the ADL only called to ask if the event was being sponsored by the Polish government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/media_watch/newspapers/20061116-Chronicle+of+Higher+Ed.htm |title=Article on Free Speech and Israel Gets it Wrong |author= |last=Foxman |first=Abraham H. |authorlink=Abraham Foxman |date=November 16, 2006 |publisher=ADL}}</ref> Polish Consul General Krzysztof Kasprzyk suggested in an interview with '']'' that calls by the ADL and the American Jewish Committee were "exercising a delicate pressure".<ref name="WP sparks">{{cite journal |last=Powell |first=Michael |date=October 9, 2006 |title=In N.Y., Sparks Fly Over Israel Criticism |journal=] |pages=A03 |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/08/AR2006100800817.html}}</ref> In reference to the role of the ADL and American Jewish Committee in organizing the cancellations, Judt told ''The Washington Post'': "This is serious and frightening, and only in America—not in Israel—is this a problem. These are Jewish organizations that believe they should keep people who disagree with them on the Middle East away from anyone who might listen."<ref name="WP sparks" /> The ADL denied the charges. According to Foxman, "I think they made the right decision... He's taken the position that Israel shouldn't exist. That puts him on our radar."<ref name="WP sparks" />


In 2005, ] wrote that organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League have brought forward charges of new antisemitism at various intervals since the 1970s, "not to fight antisemitism, but rather to exploit the historical suffering of Jews in order to immunize Israel against criticism."<ref name="Finkelstein21">{{cite book |last=Finkelstein |first=Norman |title=Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History |title-link=Beyond Chutzpah |publisher=University of California Press |year=2005 |pages=21–22 |author-link=Norman Finkelstein}}</ref> '']'' reported in 2006 that the ADL had over the years repeatedly accused Finkelstein of being a "]", and that "these charges have proved baseless."<ref name="WP sparks">{{cite news |last=Powell |first=Michael |date=October 9, 2006 |title=In N.Y., Sparks Fly Over Israel Criticism |pages=A03 |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/08/AR2006100800817.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821144329/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/08/AR2006100800817.html |archive-date=August 21, 2017}}.</ref><ref>The terms the ADL website uses to describe Finkelstein are "an anti-Israel academic whose career has been marked by a vitriolic hatred of Zionism and Israel" ({{cite web |title=You are being redirected... |url=https://chicago.adl.org/former-depaul-professor-norman-finkelstein-to-speak-at-kinderusa-fundraiser/ |access-date=9 July 2023 |website=You are being redirected... |ref={{sfnref | You are being redirected...}} |archive-date=July 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709214021/https://chicago.adl.org/former-depaul-professor-norman-finkelstein-to-speak-at-kinderusa-fundraiser/ |url-status=live }}), "anti-Israel academic" ({{cite web |date=17 November 2022 |title=Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP): What You Need to Know |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/jewish-voice-peace-jvp-what-you-need-know |access-date=9 July 2023 |website=ADL |ref={{sfnref | ADL | 2022}} |archive-date=July 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709214021/https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/jewish-voice-peace-jvp-what-you-need-know |url-status=live }}, {{cite web |date=20 May 2020 |title=Antisemitism and the Radical Anti-Israel Movement on U.S. Campuses, 2019 |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/report/antisemitism-and-radical-anti-israel-movement-us-campuses-2019 |access-date=9 July 2023 |website=ADL |ref={{sfnref | ADL | 2020}} |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214903/https://www.adl.org/resources/report/antisemitism-and-radical-anti-israel-movement-us-campuses-2019 |url-status=live }}), "political scientist" ({{cite web |date=27 February 2020 |title=Antisemitism Uncovered: Myth – Jews Use Christian Blood for Religious Rituals |url=https://antisemitism.adl.org/blood/ |access-date=9 July 2023 |website=Antisemitism Uncovered |language=es |ref={{sfnref | Antisemitism Uncovered | 2020}} |archive-date=July 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709214021/https://antisemitism.adl.org/blood/ |url-status=live }}), "an anti-Israel speaker" ({{cite web |date=22 January 2014 |title=Ron Unz: Controversial Writer and Funder of Anti-israel Activists |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/news/ron-unz-controversial-writer-and-funder-anti-israel-activists |access-date=9 July 2023 |website=ADL |ref={{sfnref | ADL | 2014}} |archive-date=July 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709214022/https://www.adl.org/resources/news/ron-unz-controversial-writer-and-funder-anti-israel-activists |url-status=live }})</ref>
===Denver defamation suit===
According to an April 13, 2001 article in '']'', a federal judge "lambasted the organization for labeling a nasty neighborhood feud as an anti-Semitic event" and upheld most of William and Dorothy Quigley's $10 million ] for ]. In 1994, Candace and Mitchell Aronson, Jewish next door neighbors of the Quigleys, contacted the Denver ADL office, reporting overheard cordless phone conversations of the Quigleys discussing putting pictures of oven doors on the Aronsons' home (a reference to the Holocaust), burning the Aronson children and wishing the Aronsons had been killed in a suicide bombing. (The Quigleys later indicated that these remarks had been intended to be humorous.)<ref></ref> The Quigleys and the Aronsons had been engaged in an escalating series of petty disputes prior to this incident. The ADL also labelled the Quigleys as anti-Semites in a press conference which led to felony federal charges being filed against them.
Unknown to many at the time that the Aronsons were taping -- including Mr. Thomas -- was that Congress had amended federal wiretap law to make it illegal to record conversations on a cordless telephone, to transcribe the material and to use the transcriptions for any purpose.


=== Circumcision ===
Without knowing about the change, the Aronsons used the tapes as the basis for a federal civil lawsuit against the Quigleys in December 1994. A day later, Mr. Rosenthal appeared at a news conference with the Aronsons in which he described their encounter with the Quigleys as ''a vicious anti-Semitic campaign,'' based solely on conversations he and associates had with the Aronsons. Later that day, Mr. Rosenthal expanded on his remarks in an interview on a Denver radio talk show.
ADL has opposed efforts in the US and in Europe to ban ] of minors on the grounds of parental and religious freedom, citing the importance of circumcision in Judaism and Islam.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Madrid |first1=Carolina |title=Jews, Muslims sue to block referendum on circumcision |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-circumcision-sanfrancisco-idUSTRE75M05120110623 |website=Reuters |access-date=September 22, 2020 |date=June 22, 2011 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001214734/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-circumcision-sanfrancisco-idUSTRE75M05120110623 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Harkov |first1=Lahav |title=Germany must pass law to protect circumcision |url=https://www.jpost.com/National-News/Germany-must-pass-law-to-protect-circumcision |work=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=September 22, 2020 |date=June 27, 2012 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001183134/https://www.jpost.com/National-News/Germany-must-pass-law-to-protect-circumcision |url-status=live }}</ref> ADL has also criticized specific instances of anti-circumcision imagery, such as an anti-circumcision cartoon in the Norwegian newspaper '']''<ref>{{cite news |title=Jewish organizations slam circumcision cartoon |url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/jewish-organizations-slam-circumcision-cartoon-314819 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=September 22, 2020 |date=May 30, 2013 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112034402/https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Jewish-organizations-slam-circumcision-cartoon-314819 |url-status=live |agency=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}</ref> and the comic book '']''. Regarding the latter, Associate Regional Director Nancy Appel stated that while good people could disagree on the issue of circumcision, it was unacceptable to use antisemitic imagery within the debate.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Oster |first1=Marcy |title=Anti-circumcision cartoon called anti-Semitic |url=https://www.jta.org/2011/06/06/united-states/anti-circumcision-cartoon-called-anti-semitic |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |access-date=September 22, 2020 |date=June 6, 2011 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126124919/https://www.jta.org/2011/06/06/united-states/anti-circumcision-cartoon-called-anti-semitic |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018, Greenblatt sent ] a letter regarding a proposed infant circumcision ban in that country, arguing that the ban should be rejected due to circumcision's religious significance and health benefits. Greenblatt also said that if the ban passed, ADL would report on any celebration by antisemites and other extremists, asserting that this would deter tourism and harm Iceland's economy.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenblatt |first1=Jonathan A. |author-link1=Jonathan Greenblatt |title=Comments regarding: Þingskjal: 183–114. mál Umsögn um breytingu á almennum hegningarlögum nr. 19/1940 (bann við umskurði drengja) |url=https://www.althingi.is/altext/erindi/148/148-787.pdf |website=Alþingi |access-date=August 26, 2020 |archive-date=September 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922093925/https://www.althingi.is/altext/erindi/148/148-787.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The '']'' described this letter as a threat.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Demurtas |first1=Alice |title=American Anti-Defamation League Threatens Iceland Because Of Circumcision Ban |url=https://grapevine.is/news/2018/03/22/american-anti-defamation-league-speaks-up-about-circumcision-ban/ |website=The Reykjavík Grapevine |publisher=Fröken Ltd. |access-date=August 25, 2020 |date=March 22, 2018 |archive-date=July 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712222106/https://grapevine.is/news/2018/03/22/american-anti-defamation-league-speaks-up-about-circumcision-ban/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


=== Federal and state legislation ===
Two days later, Mr. Thomas used the tapes as the basis for filing criminal charges against the Quigleys.
ADL was among the lead organizations campaigning for thirteen years, ultimately successfully, for the ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://law.duke.edu/news/michael-lieberman-81/|title=Michael Lieberman '81|website=Duke Law News Releases|access-date=March 28, 2020|archive-date=March 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328193846/https://law.duke.edu/news/michael-lieberman-81/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-loretta-e-lynch-hosts-63rd-annual-attorney-general-awards-honoring|title=Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Hosts the 63rd Annual Attorney General Awards Honoring Department Employees and Others For Their Service|date=October 21, 2015|type=U.S. Department of Justice News Release|access-date=March 28, 2020|archive-date=March 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328193740/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-loretta-e-lynch-hosts-63rd-annual-attorney-general-awards-honoring|url-status=live}}</ref> The hold-up in passing that law focused on the inclusion of the term "sexual orientation" as one of the bases that a crime could be deemed a hate crime.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/year-blaze-bernsteins-killing-parents-turn-alleged-hate/story?id=59754707|title=1 year after Blaze Bernstein's killing, parents look to turn alleged hate crime into 'movement of hope'|website=]|date=December 30, 2018|access-date=April 1, 2020|archive-date=April 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429033814/https://abcnews.go.com/US/year-blaze-bernsteins-killing-parents-turn-alleged-hate/story?id=59754707|url-status=live}}</ref> ADL also drafted the model hate crimes legislation in the 1980s; it serves as a model for the legislation that a majority of states have adopted.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/hate-crime-laws-dont-prevent-violence-against-lgbt-people/|title=Hate Crime Laws Don't Prevent Violence Against LGBT People: So why do many LGBT people, and others, feel so deeply about the need to have them?|journal=The Nation|date=October 2, 2013|last1=Bronski|first1=Michael|last2=Pellegrini|first2=Ann|last3=Amico|first3=Michael|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329163617/https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/hate-crime-laws-dont-prevent-violence-against-lgbt-people/|url-status=live}}</ref>


In 2010, during a hearing for Florida House Bill 11 (Crimes Against Homeless Persons), which was to revise the list of offenses judged to be ] in Florida by adding a person's homeless status,<ref>{{cite web| title = flhouse.gov HB 11 – Crimes Against Homeless Persons| url = http://flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=42143&| access-date = April 22, 2010| archive-date = July 21, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721040919/http://flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=42143&| url-status = live}}</ref> the League lobbied against the bill, which subsequently passed in the House by a vote of 80 to 28 and was sent to the Senate,<ref>{{cite web| title = flhouse.gov HB 11 Apr 20 2010 – Voting record Florida House of Representatives| url = http://flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/floorvote.aspx?VoteId=10836&BillId=42143&| access-date = April 22, 2010| archive-date = July 21, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721040957/http://flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/floorvote.aspx?VoteId=10836&BillId=42143&| url-status = live}}</ref> taking the position that adding more categories to the list would dilute the effectiveness of the law, which already includes race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and age.<ref>{{cite web| title = Homeless could be added to Florida's hate crimes law| website = ]| url = http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/21/1589541/homeless-could-be-added-to-floridas.html| access-date = April 22, 2010}} ''Miami Herald'', Miami Herald Media Co., April 21, 2010, by Lee Logan, Tallahassee Bureau: "During a committee hearing on the bill, the Anti-Defamation League spoke against the bill, arguing that adding more categories to the hate crimes law would dilute its effect. But lawmakers were swayed by arguments in favor of protecting the homeless."</ref>
But after Mr. Thomas learned of the change in the wiretap law and heard on the tapes the context of Mrs. Quigley's remarks, he dropped all charges but one, a misdemeanor traffic violation against Mr. Quigley for the incident in the street. In an open letter released to reporters, Mr. Thomas apologized to the Quigleys, saying he found no evidence that either had engaged in ''anti-Semitic conduct or harassment.''<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/13/us/privacy-rights-win-over-bias-charges-in-defamation-case.html?pagewanted=3&src=pm</ref>


ADL supports ] and ] legislation that would provide conditional permanent residency to certain undocumented immigrants of good moral character who graduate from US high schools, arrived in the United States as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment.<ref>{{cite news|title=Afirman que con el debate de reforma migratoria subieron los crímenes de odio|publisher=EFE News Services|date=January 25, 2013|quote= La Liga Antidifamación Judía ( ADL ) aseguró hoy que desde que se inició el debate sobre una reforma migratoria integral en Estados Unidos se ha registrado un aumento de los crímenes de odio contra los hispanos. ... Por su parte, el director del Departamento de Asuntos Legales de ADL, Steven Freeman, dijo a Efe que esta organización aboga por una reforma migratoria integral y el Dream Act}}</ref>
===New antisemitism controversy===
{{Main|New antisemitism}}
In 1974, ADL national leaders Arnold Forster and Benjamin R. Epstein published a book called ''The New Anti-Semitism'' (New York, 1974), arguing that a new kind of anti-Semitism is on the rise. In 1982, ADL national leader Nathan Perlmutter and his wife, Ruth Ann Perlmutter, released a book entitled ''The Real Anti-Semitism in America'' (New York, 1982). In 2003, ADL's national director Abraham Foxman published ''Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism'' (San Francisco, 2003), where on page 4 he states: "We currently face as great a threat to the safety and security of the Jewish people as the one we faced in the 1930s—if not a greater one."<ref name="adl.org" />


=== College classes and student organizations ===
In 2005, ] published '']'' which devotes Part 1 to "The Not-So-New 'New Anti-Semitism'." In a 2006 appearance on ]'s ], Finkelstein denied there was any evidence for a rise of a new anti-Semitism in either Europe or North America. He continued, "Every time Israel comes under international pressure, as it did recently because of the war crimes committed in Lebanon, it steps up the claim of anti-Semitism, and all of Israel's critics are anti-Semitic." According to Finkelstein, the ADL and Foxman, its president, have advanced this "preposterous" deception.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/30/1418200 |title=Congressmember Weiner Gets It Wrong On Palestinian Group He Tried To Bar From U.S. |date=August 30, 2006 |publisher=]}}</ref>
In early 2023, the ADL unsuccessfully pressured ] to cancel a course called "] in Israel-Palestine" taught by Jerusalem-based researcher ]. The course had also been objected to by an Israeli consul. Bard's president, ], described the phone call with ADL CEO Greenblatt as "not civil".<ref>{{Cite news |last=McGreal |first=Chris |date=2023-11-08 |title=Israeli diplomat pressured US college to drop course on 'apartheid' debate|work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/08/israeli-diplomat-bard-college-apartheid-debate |access-date=2023-11-11 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214729/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/08/israeli-diplomat-bard-college-apartheid-debate |url-status=live }}</ref>


In October 2023, the ADL sent letters to almost two hundred college presidents condemning ] (SJP) chapters, encouraging college presidents to investigate the chapters and alleging that SJP may be funding or receiving funds from Hamas.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Green |first=Emma |date=2023-12-15 |title=How a Student Group Is Politicizing a Generation on Palestine |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/how-a-generation-is-being-politicized-on-palestine |access-date=2023-12-18 |issn=0028-792X |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214729/https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/how-a-generation-is-being-politicized-on-palestine |url-status=live }}</ref> National SJP denied the ADL's claims.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Valinsky |first=Jordan |date=2023-10-27 |title=Anti-Defamation League accuses pro-Palestine student groups of siding with terrorism|url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/27/business/adl-open-letter-colleges-spj/index.html |access-date=2024-06-21 |website=CNN |archive-date=January 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106013439/https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/27/business/adl-open-letter-colleges-spj/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Conflict with Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership===
ADL is an advocate for ] legislation.<ref>
{{cite web
|url= http://www.adl.org/civil_rights/platformcommittee-2004.pdf
|title= ADL Presentation to the Platform Committees of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions – June 2004
|accessdate= January 23, 2008
|date=
|year= 2004
|month=
|format=pdf
|work=
|publisher= ADL
|pages=
|language=
|doi=
|archiveurl=
|archivedate=
|quote= The Anti-Defamation League has been an advocate for strong, effective, and sensible gun control legislation.
}}</ref> The ADL supported the District of Columbia before the US Supreme Court in '']'' which argued that the city's ban on the possession of handguns and any functional firearms, even for self-defense in the home is not prohibited by the ].<ref>
{{cite press release
|title=ADL To Supreme Court: States Should Regulate Firearms
|publisher=ADL
|date=January 11, 2008
|url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/4645_12.htm
|quote="The League urged the Court to ensure that states retain the ability to keep guns out of the hands of "violent bigots.""
}}
</ref> The League urged the Court to ensure that states retain the ability to keep guns out of the hands of "violent bigots."


=== Policing in the United States ===
Gun rights group ] (JPFO) has been highly critical of the Anti-Defamation League. In pamphlets such as "Why Does the ADL Support Nazi-Based Laws?"<ref>The Liberty Crew (September 20, 2007) JPFO.org.</ref> and "JPFO Facts vs. ADL Lies,"<ref>Editors (1997–1999) JPFO.org.</ref> the JPFO has accused the ADL of undermining the welfare of the Jewish people by promoting ]. In a 2007 handbill the JPFO accused Director Abraham Foxman of knowingly supporting the "use of Nazi gun control laws in America."<ref>JPFO editors JPFO.org.</ref> Foxman has written about the JPFO: "] has a long and painful history, and the linkage to gun control is a tactic by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership to manipulate the fear of anti-Semitism toward their own end."<ref>Foxman, Abraham H. (May 21, 1995) ''New York Times.''</ref>
ADL advocacy work extends into police trainings on anti-semitism, hate crime reporting, and bias. ADL has also given awards and honors to various persons and agencies in law enforcement, including ] and ] of ],<ref name=":24" /> ] chief ],<ref>Targeted News Service. (June 3, 2019 Monday). Anti-Defamation League Honors Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo With Gorowitz Institute Service Award. Targeted News Service.</ref> and officers of ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cohn |first=Robert |date=2016-12-21 |title=ADL event pays tribute to Missouri law enforcement |url=https://stljewishlight.org/opinion/adl-event-pays-tribute-to-missouri-law-enforcement/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=St. Louis Jewish Light |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215348/https://stljewishlight.org/opinion/adl-event-pays-tribute-to-missouri-law-enforcement/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


Analysis of ] files shows a strong relationship between the ADL and American law enforcement agencies, with the ADL being among a small group of community organizations that provide training or are consulted by law enforcement officers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Jason |date=2023-12-08 |title=US police agencies took intelligence directly from IDF, leaked files show |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/08/us-police-agencies-idf-files-blueleaks |access-date=2023-12-13 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215349/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/08/us-police-agencies-idf-files-blueleaks |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Park 51 Community Center controversy===
{{POV-section|date=February 2011}}
On July 28, 2010 the ADL issued a statement in which it expressed opposition to the ] Community Center, which sponsors planned to build near ] in New York. The ADL stated, "The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of a Community Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found."<ref name ="berk"/> The ADL denounced what it saw as bigoted attacks on the project. Foxman opined that some of those who oppose the mosque are "bigots", and that the plan's proponents may have every right to build the mosque at that location. Nevertheless, he appealed to the builders to consider the sensitivities of the victims' families, saying that building the mosque at that site would unnecessarily cause more pain for families of some victims of 9/11.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jacoby |first=Susan |url=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/spirited_atheist/2010/08/ground_zero_mosque_protected_by_first_amendment--but_its_still_salt_in_a_wound.html |title=The Spirited Atheist: Ground Zero mosque protected by First Amendment-but it's still salt in a wound|publisher=The Washington Post |date=August 6, 2010 |accessdate=August 6, 2010}}</ref><ref name="nytimes6">{{cite news| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/opinion/l05mosque.html?_r=1 | work=The New York Times | title=The ADL, the Mosque and the Fight Against Bigotry | date=August 4, 2010}}</ref><ref name ="berk">Jacob Berkman , , ] , July 30, 2010.</ref><ref>, Anti-Defamation League, July 28, 2010.</ref>


==== Delegations ====
This opposition to the Community Center led to criticism of the statement from various parties, including one ADL board member, the ], the ], Rabbi ], columnists ] and ], the ],<ref>Adam Dickter, , ], August 3, 2010.</ref> and the ].<ref>Grace Rauh, , ], August 5, 2010.</ref> In an interview with the '']'' Abe Foxman published a statement in reaction to criticism.<ref>Abraham H. Foxman, , originally published in ], August 2, 2010.</ref> In protest of ADL’s stance, ] host ] returned the Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize the ADL awarded him in 2005.<ref>, ], August 9, 2010.</ref> ADL chair Robert G. Sugarman responded to a critical '']'' editorial<ref>, ] editorial, August 3, 2010.</ref> writing "we have publicly taken on those who criticized the mosque in ways that reflected anti-Muslim bigotry or used the controversy for that purpose" and noted that the ADL has combatted "]."<ref>Robert G. Sugarman, , ], August 4, 2010.</ref>
The ADL facilitates ] delegations to Israel and the National Counter-Terrorism Seminar. The focus is on ], tactics and strategies, and leadership. The ADL director of law enforcement initiatives expressed hope that Israeli police are seen as a model for police in the US, and says that police officers participating in trips to Israel "come back and they are Zionists." In addition to police agencies, participants in the program include leadership from ], ], and ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hartman |first=Ben |date=2015-09-09 |title=American law enforcement learns anti-terror tactics from Israeli experts |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/american-law-enforcement-delegation-learn-anti-terror-tactics-from-israeli-experts-415757 |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=The Jerusalem Post |archive-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213205602/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/american-law-enforcement-delegation-learn-anti-terror-tactics-from-israeli-experts-415757 |url-status=live }}</ref>


The National Counter-Terrorism Seminar received wide attention following the ] when it was revealed that former ] chief Timothy Fitch was a previous participant, as well as leaders of other police forces that had demonstrated undue force and surveillance against civilians.<ref>{{Cite web |last=#teamEBONY |date=2014-08-19 |title=The Ferguson/Palestine Connection |url=https://www.ebony.com/the-fergusonpalestine-connection-403/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=EBONY |archive-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213205603/https://www.ebony.com/the-fergusonpalestine-connection-403/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ], citing ] concerns, were successful in ]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keays |first=Alan J. |date=2018-11-30 |title=State police leader backs out of training in Israel after blowback |url=http://vtdigger.org/2018/11/29/state-police-leader-backs-training-israel-blowback/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=VTDigger |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215350/https://vtdigger.org/2018/11/29/state-police-leader-backs-training-israel-blowback/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Younes |first=Ali |title=US city bans police training with Israel |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/4/19/durham-first-us-city-to-ban-police-training-with-israeli-military |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=Al Jazeera |archive-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213205602/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/4/19/durham-first-us-city-to-ban-police-training-with-israeli-military |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2020, the program was put on pause due to the associated costs and controversies. An internal memo opened questions as to the purpose and unintended impacts of the delegations, and recommended ending them altogether.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kane |first1=Alex |last2=Levin |first2=Sam |date=March 17, 2022 |title=Internal ADL Memo Recommended Ending Police Delegations to Israel Amid Backlash |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/scoop-internal-adl-memo-recommended-ending-police-delegations-to-israel-amid-backlash |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=Jewish Currents |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215190723/https://jewishcurrents.org/scoop-internal-adl-memo-recommended-ending-police-delegations-to-israel-amid-backlash |url-status=live }}</ref> ADL told press that they intend to continue the program with revised curriculum and evaluation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=CRAMER |first=PHILISSA |date=2022-03-19 |title=ADL considered scrapping its US police training trips to Israel — but decided not to |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-701730 |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=The Jerusalem Post |archive-date=June 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625033631/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-701730 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==See also==
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===South Africa and apartheid===
==References==
The ADL, the AJC, and other American Jewish groups asked ] to clarify his views on the ] in 1990 in advance of a visit Mandela planned to the United States. The groups' leaders said they were concerned about the possibility of protests because Mandela had embraced ] Chairman ] and Libyan president ]. The ADL said it was "disturbed and pained" by comments Mandela had made in a meeting earlier that year with PLO leader Yasser Arafat.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jewish Groups Question ANC Leader Over Israel |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/06/09/jewish-groups-question-anc-leader-over-israel/eef75c4e-73fd-46dd-92cc-a0db57caf6cb/ |accessdate=2023-03-26 |archive-date=July 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719020859/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/06/09/jewish-groups-question-anc-leader-over-israel/eef75c4e-73fd-46dd-92cc-a0db57caf6cb/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Mandela met with a group of the American Jewish leaders in ] including ADL director Abe Foxman. At the event, Mandela expressed appreciation for South African Jews who opposed ]; he praised past Israeli leader ] for her opposition to apartheid, and ]'s book ], and said that the State of Israel had a "right to exist within the pre-1967 borders."<ref>{{cite web |date=June 11, 1990 |title=Mandela Regrets Offending Jews, Says He is Ready to Visit Israel |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/mandela-regrets-offending-jews-says-he-is-ready-to-visit-israel |accessdate=2023-03-26 |publisher=] |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326192216/https://www.jta.org/archive/mandela-regrets-offending-jews-says-he-is-ready-to-visit-israel |url-status=live }}</ref>

In his 2010 book ''The Unspoken Alliance'', ] criticized the ADL for hiring the private spy Roy Bullock to collect information on the anti-apartheid movement in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kane |first=Alex |date=December 29, 2021 |title=Desmond Tutu's Lifelong Struggle Against Apartheid |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/desmond-tutus-lifelong-struggle-against-apartheid |accessdate=2023-03-27 |website=] |publisher= |archive-date=March 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328023022/https://jewishcurrents.org/desmond-tutus-lifelong-struggle-against-apartheid |url-status=live }}</ref> ], writing about the book, said the ADL "participated in a blatant propaganda campaign against Nelson Mandela and the ANC" during the 1980s but had changed its stance on Mandela around 1990 with Foxman calling him a hero.<ref name="fp1" /> South African-born Israeli journalist ] said in a review of ''The Unspoken Alliance'' for '']'' that the ADL and South Africa's Jewish Board of Deputies "played toadying and inglorious roles over the years in defending ] and in support of the apartheid government".<ref name="thejc1" />

=== Other ===
In October 2010, the ADL condemned remarks by ] that the sole purpose of non-Jews was to serve the Jews.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mozgovaya |first=Natasha |author-link=Natasha Mozgovaya |title=ADL slams Shas spiritual leader for saying non-Jews 'were born to serve Jews' |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/adl-slams-shas-spiritual-leader-for-saying-non-jews-were-born-to-serve-jews-1.320235 |work=Haaretz |date=October 20, 2010 |access-date=October 21, 2010 |archive-date=October 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004155828/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/adl-slams-shas-spiritual-leader-for-saying-non-jews-were-born-to-serve-jews-1.320235 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Relations with religious and ethnic groups ==
=== Relations with African-Americans ===
During the 1970s, the ADL was a staunch opponent of ], with its then-leader Perlmutter one of the national figures in opposition.<ref name=":12" /> It filed an amicus brief in support of Allan Bakke, the white student in the landmark 1978 '']'' Supreme Court Case that struck down ]s for university students.<ref name=":13">{{cite web |date=June 29, 1978 |title=Jewish Organizations Hail Court Ruling in Bakke Case; Say It Vindicates Their Stand Against Quotas |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/jewish-organizations-hail-court-ruling-in-bakke-case-say-it-vindicates-their-stand-against-quotas |accessdate=2023-04-01 |publisher=] |archive-date=April 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401221815/https://www.jta.org/archive/jewish-organizations-hail-court-ruling-in-bakke-case-say-it-vindicates-their-stand-against-quotas |url-status=live }}</ref> Differences on the issue and others were described as leading to a rift between Jewish and African-American groups in the 1970s.<ref name=":12" /> In the 2003 landmark Supreme Court case '']'', the ADL filed a brief opposing the ]'s affirmative action program, but its argument did not propose to end affirmative action entirely; rather, the ADL contended that race "may appropriately be considered in the admissions process," but with no more weight than other characteristics of applicants.<ref name=":12">{{cite web |date=January 29, 2003 |title=Jews temper views on affirmative action |url=https://www.jta.org/2003/01/29/lifestyle/jews-temper-views-on-affirmative-action |accessdate=2023-04-01 |publisher=] |archive-date=April 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401221813/https://www.jta.org/2003/01/29/lifestyle/jews-temper-views-on-affirmative-action |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/amicus-brief/grutter-v-bollinger |title=Grutter v. Bollinger |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |accessdate=2023-04-01 |archive-date=April 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401221812/https://www.adl.org/resources/amicus-brief/grutter-v-bollinger |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1984, '']'' reported that then-ADL national director Nathan Perlmutter said that Rev. ], Sr. was antisemitic after Jackson referred to New York City as "Hymietown".<ref>{{cite journal |first=Fay |last=Joyce |date=February 23, 1984 |title=Post Reaffirms Report On Jackson Comment |journal=] |page=13 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/27/us/jackson-admits-saying-hymie-and-apologizes-at-a-synagogue.html |access-date=February 5, 2017 |archive-date=December 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210101315/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E10FB3B5D0C708EDDAB0894DC484D81 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Fay |last=Joyce |date=February 27, 1984 |title=Jackson Admits Saying 'Hymie' And Apologizes At A Synagogue |journal=] |page=16 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A14F83C5D0C748EDDAB0894DC484D81 |access-date=February 5, 2017 |archive-date=December 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210101255/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A14F83C5D0C748EDDAB0894DC484D81 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ADL criticized film director ] regarding his portrayal of Jewish nightclub owners Moe and Josh Flatbush in his film '']'' (1990). The ADL said the characterizations of the nightclub owners "dredge up an age-old and highly dangerous form of anti-Semitic stereotyping", and that it was "disappointed that Spike Lee – whose success is largely due to his efforts to break down racial stereotypes and prejudice – has employed the same kind of tactics that he supposedly deplores".<ref>{{cite journal|date=August 16, 1990|title=Spike Lee's Jews and the Passage From Benign Cliche Into Bigotry|journal=]|author=Caryn James|author-link=Caryn James|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/16/movies/critic-s-notebook-spike-lee-s-jews-passage-benign-cliche-into-bigotry.html|access-date=July 27, 2018|archive-date=July 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708193813/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/16/movies/critic-s-notebook-spike-lee-s-jews-passage-benign-cliche-into-bigotry.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Lee's portrayal also angered the B'nai B'rith and other such Jewish organizations, causing Lee to address the criticism in an opinion piece for '']'', where he stated "...if critics are telling me that to avoid charges of anti-Semitism, all Jewish characters I write have to be model citizens, and not one can be a villain, cheat or a crook, and that no Jewish people have ever exploited black artists in the history of the entertainment industry, that's unrealistic and unfair".<ref>{{cite journal|date=August 22, 1990|title=I Am Not an Anti-Semite|journal=]|author=Spike Lee|author-link=Spike Lee|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/082290lee-editorial.html|access-date=June 9, 2020|archive-date=October 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023112110/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/082290lee-editorial.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2004, ADL became the lead partner in the ], a new New York City public high school with predominantly black and Hispanic students. The school was part of a Bloomberg-led effort to open many smaller schools. In 2014, the school was designated among New York's schools with the lowest graduation rates.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Darville |first1=Sarah |title=City's struggling schools face another annual test: enrollment |url=https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/5/28/21095019/city-s-struggling-schools-face-another-annual-test-enrollment |work=] |date=May 28, 2015 |access-date=April 4, 2021 |archive-date=July 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712222149/https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/5/28/21095019/city-s-struggling-schools-face-another-annual-test-enrollment |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wall |first1=Patrick |title=After 30-year career, founding principal reflects on his school and the city's plan to revamp it |url=https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/1/27/21092164/after-30-year-career-founding-principal-reflects-on-his-school-and-the-city-s-plan-to-revamp-it |work=Chalkbeat New York |date=January 27, 2015 |access-date=April 4, 2021 |archive-date=July 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712222122/https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/1/27/21092164/after-30-year-career-founding-principal-reflects-on-his-school-and-the-city-s-plan-to-revamp-it |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2018 the ADL criticized US Representative ] for not condemning ].<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 5, 2018|first=Leo |last=Giosue|title=ADL pans congressman who won't condemn Farrakhan for lacking 'courage'|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/ADL-pans-congressman-who-wont-condemn-Farrakhan-for-lacking-courage-544221|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726075426/https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/ADL-pans-congressman-who-wont-condemn-Farrakhan-for-lacking-courage-544221|url-status=live}}</ref>{{clarify|date=May 2023}} Davis subsequently condemned Farrakhan's views, saying, "So let me be clear: I reject, condemn and oppose Minister Farrakhan's views and remarks regarding the Jewish people and the Jewish religion."<ref name="JTA">{{cite web|last1=Kampeas|first1=Ron|title=Democratic congressman who praised Louis Farrakhan now denounces him|url=https://www.jta.org/2018/03/09/news-opinion/democratic-congressman-praised-louis-farrakhan-now-denounces|access-date=October 30, 2018|website=JTA|date=9 March 2018|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|archive-date=November 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121022116/https://www.jta.org/2018/03/09/news-opinion/democratic-congressman-praised-louis-farrakhan-now-denounces|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Interfaith camp ===
In 1996 ADL's New England Regional Office established a faith-based initiative called "The Interfaith Youth Leadership Program", better known as "Camp If", or Camp Interfaith. Involving teenagers of the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths, the camp brings the teens together for a week at camp where the teens bond and learn about each other's cultures. The camp has emerged as a new attempt to foster good relations between younger members of the Abrahamic faiths.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Siek |first=Stephanie V. |date=April 6, 2006 |title=A different kind of camp |journal=] |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/04/06/a_different_kind_of_camp/|archive-date=May 22, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060522062202/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/04/06/a_different_kind_of_camp/|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Reception and controversies ==
ADL has been criticized both from the ]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/anti-defamation-league-trump-232049|title=ADL combats criticism of being too tough on Trump|date=January 1, 2016|website=Politico|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329180908/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/anti-defamation-league-trump-232049|url-status=live}}</ref> and ] of the US political spectrum, including from within the American Jewish community.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-from-left-and-right-why-is-a-league-of-haters-descending-on-the-adl-1.6053744|title=Opinion From Left and Right, Why Is a League of Haters Descending on the ADL?|newspaper=Haaretz|date=May 3, 2018|access-date=March 29, 2020|last1=Cohen|first1=Debra Nussbaum|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329182415/https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-from-left-and-right-why-is-a-league-of-haters-descending-on-the-adl-1.6053744|url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref> ADL positions and actions that have generated criticism include domestic spying,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paddock |first=Richard C. |date=April 13, 1993 |title=New Details of Extensive ADL Spy Operation Emerge : Inquiry: Transcripts reveal nearly 40 years of espionage by a man who infiltrated political groups. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-13-mn-22383-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=September 15, 2023 |archive-date=September 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912041843/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-13-mn-22383-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bamford |first=James |date=2023-11-17 |title=Israel's War on American Student Activists |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-spying-american-student-activists/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |issn=0027-8378 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118003447/https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-spying-american-student-activists/ |url-status=live }}</ref> its former ] (since repudiated and apologized for),<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last1=Janbazian |first1=Rupen |date=May 16, 2016 |title=ADL's Official Recognition of Armenian Genocide Ends Years-Long Controversy |url=http://armenianweekly.com/2016/05/16/adl-armenian-genocide-2016/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104195629/https://armenianweekly.com/2016/05/16/adl-armenian-genocide-2016/ |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |access-date=September 25, 2019 |website=The Armenian Weekly}}</ref> and what parts of the American left argue is the ADL's view that ] can be antisemitic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-a-jewish-civil-rights-group-became-a-villain-on-the-far-left/|title=How a Jewish civil rights group became a villain on the far-left|last=Sales|first=Ben|website=timesofisrael.com|access-date=December 6, 2018|archive-date=June 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616105822/https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-a-jewish-civil-rights-group-became-a-villain-on-the-far-left/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first1=Shira|last1=Hanau|access-date=September 25, 2019|title=Can ADL Be A Moral Voice For Millennials?|url=https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/can-adl-be-a-moral-voice-for-millennials/|website=jewishweek.timesofisrael.com|date=November 28, 2018 |archive-date=September 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925110618/https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/can-adl-be-a-moral-voice-for-millennials/|url-status=live}}</ref>

ADL's support for the ]'s decision to move the US Embassy from ] to Jerusalem in May 2018<ref>{{Cite press release|last=ADL|date=May 14, 2018|title=ADL Celebrates 'Historic Milestone' as U.S. Embassy Opens in Jerusalem|url=https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-celebrates-historic-milestone-as-us-embassy-opens-in-jerusalem|access-date=October 10, 2020|website=ADL|archive-date=October 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024143923/https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-celebrates-historic-milestone-as-us-embassy-opens-in-jerusalem|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Roth|first=Daniel J.|date=May 15, 2018|title=U.S. Jewish groups laud Trump's 'courageous' embassy move|url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/us-jewish-groups-laud-trumps-courageous-embassy-move-556426|access-date=October 10, 2020|website=The Jerusalem Post|archive-date=September 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920175739/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/us-jewish-groups-laud-trumps-courageous-embassy-move-556426|url-status=live}}</ref> drew criticism.{{From whom?|date=March 2022}} Conversely, some right-wing groups and pundits, including right-wing Jewish groups, have criticized ADL as having moved too far to the left under Jonathan Greenblatt, labeling it a "] auxiliary".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/amari-sohrab/the-adl-smears-mike-pompeo/|title=The ADL Smears Mike Pompeo|last=Ahmari|first=Sohrab|author-link=Sohrab Ahmari|date=April 19, 2018|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329180910/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/amari-sohrab/the-adl-smears-mike-pompeo/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jns.org/opinion/whatever-happened-to-the-adl/|title=Opinion: Whatever happened to the ADL?|last=Tobin|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan S. Tobin|work=Jewish News Syndicate|date=July 13, 2018|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329180908/https://www.jns.org/opinion/whatever-happened-to-the-adl/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL repeatedly criticized Trump for what they viewed as antisemitic tropes and engagement in apologetics for white supremacists.<ref name=":6">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-condemns-president-trumps-remarks|title=ADL Condemns President Trump's Remarks|date=August 15, 2017|website=ADL|access-date=April 22, 2020|archive-date=August 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817122535/https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-condemns-president-trumps-remarks|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /> Alongside at least eight other Jewish advocacy organizations, dozens of civil rights organizations, and more than one hundred members of congress, ADL called on the Trump administration to fire administration executive ], the architect of the Trump administration policies on immigration, condemning Miller as a white supremacist.<ref name=":5" />

Graduate student and activist Emmaia Gelman wrote in the ''Boston Review'' in 2019 that the ADL has conducted a "vigorous, and successful campaign, alongside ], specifically to characterize Arab American political organizing as dual loyalty." She wrote that the ADL's role in anti-hate efforts had insulated it from deserved scrutiny, and that it had undermined the American left including some black-led groups in such efforts.<ref name="Gelman">{{cite news |last1=Gelman |first1=Emmaia |title=The Anti-Defamation League Is Not What It Seems |url=https://bostonreview.net/politics/emmaia-gelman-anti-defamation-league-not-what-it-seems |access-date=31 October 2021 |work=Boston Review |date=May 21, 2019 |archive-date=October 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031125353/https://bostonreview.net/politics/emmaia-gelman-anti-defamation-league-not-what-it-seems |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Armenian genocide ===
Prior to 2007, the ADL described the ] as a massacre and an atrocity, but not a ].<ref name="http">{{cite press release |url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/5114_00.htm |title=ADL Statement on the Armenian Genocide |date=August 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720091135/http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/5114_00.htm |archive-date=July 20, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Then-CEO Foxman had earlier opposed calls for the US Government to recognise it as a genocide.<ref name="jewcy1">{{cite web |last=Kurtzman |first=Joey |date=July 8, 2007 |title=Fire Foxman: Denying the Armenian genocide should be the last atrocity perpetrated by the ADL chief. |url=http://www.jewcy.com/feature/2007-07-09/fire_foxman |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308081305/http://www.jewcy.com/feature/2007-07-09/fire_foxman |archive-date=March 8, 2008 |access-date=March 14, 2008 |website=] |publisher=Tablet magazine}}</ref> Turkey maintains a position of ]; ADL was reported to have deferred to Turkey as a strategic ally of America and Israel and received direct pressure from the Turkish foreign ministry.<ref name=":25" /><ref name="JPost Armenian genocide"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Ravid |first=Barak |date=October 10, 2007 |title=טורקיה לישראל: עזרו לנו לעצור הכרה אמריקאית בשואה הארמנית |newspaper=Haaretz |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/911393.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215025515/http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/911393.html |archive-date=February 15, 2009}}</ref>

In ], which has a significant Armenian population, the town council in early August 2007 decided unanimously to withdraw from ADL's "No Place for Hate" anti-discrimination campaign over the issue. Human rights commissions in some other Massachusetts communities also withdrew in subsequent months.<ref name="Woolhouse">{{cite news |last=Woolhouse |first=Megan |date=December 5, 2007 |title=ADL's regional leader resigns: Backers cite rift on genocide issue |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/05/adls_regional_leader_resigns/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217152919/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/05/adls_regional_leader_resigns/ |archive-date=February 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Esker |first=Sharon Tosto |title=City recognizes Armenian genocide, suspends ADL membership |work=Medford Transcript |url=http://medford.wickedlocal.com/x96464381 |url-status=live |access-date=May 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505212320/http://medford.wickedlocal.com/x96464381 |archive-date=May 5, 2018}}</ref> An editorial in '']'' criticized the ADL, saying, "as an organization concerned about human rights, it ought to acknowledge the genocide against the Armenian people during World War I, and criticize Turkish attempts to repress the memory of this historical reality."<ref>{{cite news |date=August 3, 2007 |title=Editorial: A genocide not to be denied |work=] |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/08/03/a_genocide_not_to_be_denied/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104144821/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/08/03/a_genocide_not_to_be_denied/ |archive-date=November 4, 2011}}</ref> On August 17, 2007, ADL fired its regional New England director, Andrew H. Tarsy, for breaking ranks and saying that ADL should recognize the genocide.<ref name="obrien">{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Keith |date=August 18, 2007 |title=ADL local leader fired on Armenian issue: Genocide question sparked bitter debate |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/18/adl_local_leader_fired_on_armenian_issue/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517001844/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/18/adl_local_leader_fired_on_armenian_issue/ |archive-date=May 17, 2008}}</ref> In its August 21, 2007, "Statement on the Armenian Genocide", ADL acknowledged the genocide, but maintained its opposition to congressional resolutions aimed at recognizing it.<ref name="http" /> Foxman wrote that "the consequences of those actions" by the ] against Armenians "were indeed tantamount to genocide" and "If the word genocide had existed then, they would have called it genocide".<ref name=":16">{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Keith |date=August 22, 2007 |title=ADL chief bows to critics: Foxman cites rift, calls Armenian deaths genocide |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/22/adl_chief_bows_to_critics/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510155457/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/22/adl_chief_bows_to_critics/ |archive-date=May 10, 2008 |access-date=March 14, 2008 |work=The Boston Globe}}</ref><ref name=":25" /> The Turkish government condemned the league's statement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Levenson |first=Michael |date=August 24, 2007 |title=Turkey condemns statement by ADL |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/24/turkey_condemns_statement_by_adl/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826204901/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/24/turkey_condemns_statement_by_adl/ |archive-date=August 26, 2007}}</ref> It was criticized by activists and groups pushing for recognition of the genocide, who argued that the ADL hedged by using the qualifier "tantamount" and still opposed legislation.<ref name=":25">{{cite news |last1=Schwartz |first1=Penny |date=October 17, 2007 |title=Armenians push forward with ADL fight |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |url=https://www.jta.org/2007/10/17/united-states/armenians-push-forward-with-adl-fight |url-status=live |access-date=March 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925120309/https://www.jta.org/2007/10/17/united-states/armenians-push-forward-with-adl-fight |archive-date=September 25, 2020}}</ref> Tarsy won his job back,<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Keith |date=September 7, 2007 |title=Anti-Defamation League rehires New England director |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/08/antidefamation_1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831110745/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/08/antidefamation_1.html |archive-date=August 31, 2009}}</ref> but he subsequently submitted his resignation, on December 4, 2007.<ref name="Woolhouse" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Axelbank |first=Rachel |date=December 6, 2007 |title=Tarsy Resignation Draws Mixed Emotions From Area Colleagues |url=http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=4108 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210223450/http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=4108 |archive-date=December 10, 2007 |access-date=January 7, 2008 |publisher=Jewish Advocate |df=mdy-all}}</ref> By 2016, the ADL had joined other groups urging Congress to pass a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide; it endorsed such a resolution in 2019.<ref name="JPost Armenian genocide">{{cite news |last=Kampeas |first=Ron |title=Jews didn't support the designation of the Armenian Genocide, why now? |date=April 27, 2021 |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/jews-didnt-support-the-designation-of-the-armenian-genocide-why-now-666433 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240618170917/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/jews-didnt-support-the-designation-of-the-armenian-genocide-why-now-666433 |archive-date=June 18, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ADL Endorses Congressional Resolution Commemorating the Armenian Genocide|url=https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-endorses-congressional-resolution-commemorating-armenian-genocide |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=ADL |archive-date=May 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519100321/https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-endorses-congressional-resolution-commemorating-armenian-genocide |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Park51 Community Center opposition ===
In 2010, ADL issued a statement opposing the ] Community Center, a proposed Islamic community center and mosque two blocks from the ] in New York. It said, "The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of a Community Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found."<ref name="berk">{{cite news |last=Berkman |first=Jacob |date=July 30, 2010 |title=ADL opposes World Trade Center Mosque |work=] |url=http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/article/2010/07/30/2740283/adl-opposes-world-trade-center-mosque |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803005159/http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/article/2010/07/30/2740283/adl-opposes-world-trade-center-mosque |archive-date=August 3, 2010}}</ref> ADL denounced what it saw as bigoted attacks on the project. Foxman opined that some of those who oppose the mosque are "bigots", and that the plan's proponents may have every right to build the mosque at that location. Nevertheless, he said that building the mosque at that site would unnecessarily cause more pain for the families of some victims of 9/11.<ref name="berk" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Jacoby |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Jacoby |date=August 6, 2010 |title=The Spirited Atheist: Ground Zero mosque protected by First Amendment – but it's still salt in a wound |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/spirited_atheist/2010/08/ground_zero_mosque_protected_by_first_amendment--but_its_still_salt_in_a_wound.html |url-status=dead |access-date=April 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817115334/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/spirited_atheist/2010/08/ground_zero_mosque_protected_by_first_amendment--but_its_still_salt_in_a_wound.html |archive-date=August 17, 2010}}</ref><ref name="nytimes6">{{cite news |date=August 4, 2010 |title=The ADL, the Mosque and the Fight Against Bigotry |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/opinion/l05mosque.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803041802/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/opinion/l05mosque.html |archive-date=August 3, 2017}}</ref>

This opposition to the Community Center led to criticism of the statement from various parties, including one ADL board member, the American Jewish Committee, the ], Rabbi ], columnists ] and ], the ],<ref>Adam Dickter, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806183447/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/wake_adl_jewish_groups_back_ground_zero_mosque|date=August 6, 2010}}, '']'', August 3, 2010.</ref> and the ].<ref>Grace Rauh, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816033945/http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/top_stories/123265/jewish-leaders-rally-in-support-of-wtc-mosque|date=August 16, 2010}}, '']'', August 5, 2010.</ref> In an interview with ''The New York Times'' Abraham Foxman published a statement in reaction to criticism.<ref>Abraham H. Foxman, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806020909/http://www.adl.org/ADL_Opinions/Interfaith/Mosque_Ground_Zero.htm|date=August 6, 2010}}, originally published in '']'', August 2, 2010.</ref> In protest of ADL's stance, ] host ] returned the Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize ADL awarded him in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 9, 2010 |title=CNN host returns ADL award over stance on Islamic center |work=] |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/07/new.york.zakaria.adl/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108133149/http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/07/new.york.zakaria.adl/ |archive-date=November 8, 2012}}</ref> ADL chair Robert G. Sugarman responded to a critical ''New York Times'' editorial<ref>{{cite news |date=August 3, 2010 |title=Editorial {{!}} A Monument to Tolerance |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/opinion/04wed1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107035929/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/opinion/04wed1.html |archive-date=January 7, 2017}}</ref> writing, "we have publicly taken on those who criticized the mosque in ways that reflected anti-Muslim bigotry or used the controversy for that purpose" and stating that ADL has combated Islamophobia.<ref name="nytimes6" />
On September 5, 2021, the national director and CEO of ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, apologized for ADL's opposition to the center, stating, "We were wrong, plain and simple".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Greenblatt |first=Jonathan A. |date=September 5, 2021 |title=Opinion {{!}} ADL head: On NY Islamic center, we were wrong, plain and simple |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/04/opinions/park-51-anti-defamation-league-9-11-greenblatt/index.html |access-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913002710/https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/04/opinions/park-51-anti-defamation-league-9-11-greenblatt/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnard |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Barnard |date=September 11, 2021 |title=Painful memory for Muslims: Outrage over a proposed Islamic center in Manhattan. |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/11/nyregion/muslim-islamic-center-9-11.html |access-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913151952/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/11/nyregion/muslim-islamic-center-9-11.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Elfer |first=Helen |date=September 5, 2021 |title=Anti-Defamation League apologises for opposing mosque near Ground Zero after 9/11 |url=https://news.yahoo.com/anti-defamation-league-apologises-opposing-181649708.html |website=Yahoo!News |publisher=The Independent |access-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913151953/https://news.yahoo.com/anti-defamation-league-apologises-opposing-181649708.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Accusations of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinianism===
The ADL considers ] to be antisemitic.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Alterman |first1=Eric |title=What Does the ADL Stand for Today? |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/175013/anti-defamation-league-where-stand-today |access-date=June 15, 2024 |magazine=] |date=August 21, 2023 |quote=The ADL counts certain sorts of criticism of Israel, including straightforward statements of Palestinian solidarity, in its statistics on antisemitism—even if no mention is made of Jews, and even if those doing the criticizing are themselves Jews. What’s more, the group is not exactly subtle about any distinctions to be made when it comes to this most complicated of issues. In 2022, Greenblatt made the organization’s position crystal clear when he announced: “Anti-Zionism is antisemitism, full stop.” Speaking to an audience at the Aspen Ideas Festival more recently, he instructed the crowd that the words “free Palestine,” when said to a Jewish person, were “antisemitic, plain and simple.” |archive-date=May 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517185501/https://newrepublic.com/article/175013/anti-defamation-league-where-stand-today |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gelman"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Owen |first1=Tess |title=At Leading Anti-Hate Group, Boss's Embrace of Elon Musk Raises Tensions |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjkzm/adl-elon-musk-controversy |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=] |date=December 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231221205041/https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjkzm/adl-elon-musk-controversy |archive-date=December 21, 2023 |quote=In a speech in May 2022, Greenblatt made clear that his position—and the ADL’s position— was that anti-Zionism and anti-Zionist groups that are critical of Israel, including Jewish Voice for Peace, often known as JVP, are antisemitic.}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |author= |author-link= |date=November 2023 |title=Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine-Israel Discourse |url=https://csrr.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/csrr-presumptively-antisemitic-report.pdf|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240615222542/https://csrr.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/csrr-presumptively-antisemitic-report.pdf|archive-date=June 15, 2024 |publisher=Rutgers University Law School Center for Security, Race and Rights |docket= |access-date=June 15, 2024 |quote=The workshop was replaced by a program on antisemitism by the AntiDefamation League, a staunchly pro-Israel organization that labels criticism of Zionism as antisemitism.|page=55}}</ref> According to '']'''s Joshua Leifer, this stance, in part, positions the ADL as "an anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian outfit",<ref>{{cite news |last1=Leifer |first1=Joshua |title=The ADL Goes Full Bully |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/adl-greenblatt-extremist/ |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=] |date=May 6, 2022 |archive-date=May 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503160304/https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/adl-greenblatt-extremist/ |url-status=live }}</ref> while ] has said ADL's support for the prohibition of the anti-Zionist slogan<ref>{{cite news |last1=Girgis |first1=Lauren |title=Antisemitism in WA rose dramatically in 2023, audit finds |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/northwest/antisemitism-in-wa-rose-dramatically-in-2023-audit-finds/ |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=] |date=April 16, 2024 |quote=For instance, the ADL counts the anti-Zionist slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic rhetoric. |archive-date=June 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617024450/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/northwest/antisemitism-in-wa-rose-dramatically-in-2023-audit-finds/ |url-status=live }}</ref> "]" on social media is "both morally wrong and disastrously counterproductive".<ref name="DicksonRS">{{cite magazine |last1=Dickson |first1=EJ |title=Musk Endorsement Has a Top ADL Advisor Ready to Quit |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/anti-defamation-league-elon-musk-jonathan-greenblatt-antisemitism-critics-interviews-1234897065/ |access-date=June 16, 2024 |magazine=] |date=November 26, 2023 |archive-date=May 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501193421/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/anti-defamation-league-elon-musk-jonathan-greenblatt-antisemitism-critics-interviews-1234897065/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ADL staff have also criticized the ADL's leadership for equating Palestinian opposition to Zionism with anti-Semitism, while a former regional development director for the group has claimed that it is "willing to throw ... Palestinians under the bus" in order to maximize fundraising.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Guyer |first1=Jonathan |title=Anti-Defamation League staff decry 'dishonest' campaign against Israel critics |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/05/adl-pro-israel-advocacy-zionism-antisemitism |access-date=January 5, 2024 |work=] |date=June 14, 2024 |archive-date=May 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510035021/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/05/adl-pro-israel-advocacy-zionism-antisemitism |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2022, the ADL's CEO denounced Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine as the "photo inverse of the extreme right that the ADL has long tracked", a statement that was in turn denounced by more than 50 American Muslim and civil rights groups.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ain |first1=Stewart |title=More than 50 groups reject ADL's critique of pro-Palestinian activism |url=https://forward.com/fast-forward/502594/muslim-cair-adl-critique-greenblatt-palestinian/ |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=Forward |date=June 16, 2024 |archive-date=June 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617024451/https://forward.com/fast-forward/502594/muslim-cair-adl-critique-greenblatt-palestinian/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Two years later, in 2024, the ADL asserted that ] (SJP) had violated federal law concerning material support for Hamas, a statement that both '']'' and '']'' observed was made without any evidence.<ref>{{cite news |title=How the ADL's Anti-Palestine Advocacy Helped Shape US Terror Laws |url=https://theintercept.com/2024/02/21/adl-palestine-terrorism-legislation/ |access-date=June 14, 2024 |work=] |issue=February 21, 2024 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215258/https://theintercept.com/2024/02/21/adl-palestine-terrorism-legislation/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ackerman |first1=Spencer |title=The ADL Is Defaming Palestinian Students as Terrorist Supporters |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/adl-palestine-terrorism-letter/ |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=] |date=October 31, 2023 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215424/https://www.thenation.com/article/society/adl-palestine-terrorism-letter/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The SJP responded by stating that "rather than combating and organizing for genuine social justice, the ADL has leveraged Islamophobia, anti-Arab sentiment, and conservatism to delegitimize the movement for Palestine liberation".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kane |first1=Alex |title=ADL Staffers Dissented After CEO Compared Palestinian Rights Groups to Right-Wing Extremists, Leaked Audio Reveals |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/adl-staffers-dissented-after-ceo-compared-palestinian-rights-groups-to-right-wing-extremists-leaked-audio-reveals |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=Jewish Currents |date=March 8, 2023 |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527193034/https://jewishcurrents.org/adl-staffers-dissented-after-ceo-compared-palestinian-rights-groups-to-right-wing-extremists-leaked-audio-reveals |url-status=live }}</ref> The ADL's claims against the SJP were criticized by the ] which contended they "chill speech, foster an atmosphere of mutual suspicion, and betray the spirit of free inquiry".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marcetic |first1=Branko |title=A Tidal Wave of State and Private Repression Is Targeting Pro-Palestinian Voices |url=https://jacobin.com/2023/11/anti-palestine-mccarthyism-censorship |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=] |date=November 2023 |archive-date=March 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315051306/https://jacobin.com/2023/11/anti-palestine-mccarthyism-censorship |url-status=live }}</ref> ] issued a public condemnation of the ADL for "slandering ... Palestinian students"<ref>{{cite web |title=CAIR Condemns ADL for Slandering Jewish and Palestinian Students as 'Iranian Proxies,' Calls on MSNBC to Ban Him |url=https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-condemns-adl-for-slandering-jewish-and-palestinian-students-as-iranian-proxies-calls-on-msnbc-to-ban-him/ |website=cair.org |publisher=] |access-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-date=May 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524165848/https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-condemns-adl-for-slandering-jewish-and-palestinian-students-as-iranian-proxies-calls-on-msnbc-to-ban-him/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and, the same year, a coalition of ] student groups denounced ADL leadership as racist against Palestinians and the organization itself as "widely discredited".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Haidar |first1=Emma H. |title=Harvard President Garber Meets With ADL Head To Discuss Antisemitism Amid Encampment |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/5/13/garber-jonathan-greenblatt-meeting-encampment/ |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=] |date=May 13, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240615223436/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/5/13/garber-jonathan-greenblatt-meeting-encampment/|archive-date=June 15, 2024|quote=“Hours after been spotted meeting with top administration, notable anti-Palestinian racist & president of the widely-discredited ADL Jonathan Greenblatt congratulates Garber for suspending students before EVER coming to the negotiating table,” HOOP wrote.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=I joined the ADL to fight racism. It's actually doing the opposite |url=https://www.972mag.com/adl-racism-palestine/ |access-date=June 14, 2024 |work=] |date=February 7, 2022 |archive-date=April 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426134124/https://www.972mag.com/adl-racism-palestine/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of CAIR's Los Angeles office, has said that the ADL "contributes to the growth and rise of Islamophobia in America".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kane |first1=Alex |title=How the ADL's Israel Advocacy Undermines Its Civil Rights Work |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/how-the-adls-israel-advocacy-undermines-its-civil-rights-work |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=Jewish Currents |date=Spring 2021 |archive-date=June 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619215517/https://jewishcurrents.org/how-the-adls-israel-advocacy-undermines-its-civil-rights-work |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2024, according to ]'s Bridge Initiative, the ADL's CEO "vilified the Palestinian people by making an offensive analogy between the Palestinian keffiyeh and the Nazi swastika".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tazamal |first1=Mobashra |title=Mapping Islamophobia on Facebook |url=https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/israel-palestine-mapping-islamophobia-on-facebook-by-u-s-presidential-candidates/ |website=georgetown.edu |publisher=] |access-date=June 16, 2024 |archive-date=June 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617024450/https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/israel-palestine-mapping-islamophobia-on-facebook-by-u-s-presidential-candidates/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Internal dissent over ADL leadership ===
Yael Eisenstat, head of the ADL's Center for Technology and Society (CTS), said she was resigning in 2024 to refocus her work on election protection, though an anonymous ADL staffer said the real reason for her departure was objection to Greenblatt's praise of billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk. Eisenstat's announcement followed the resignation of three other CTS employees who disagreed with ADL post-October 7th policies targeting pro-Palestine activism rather than antisemitism.<ref name="JC11" />

=== "Drop the ADL" campaign ===
In August 2020, a coalition of progressive organizations launched the "Drop the ADL" campaign, arguing that "the ADL is not an ally" in social justice work. The campaign consisted of an open letter and a website, which were shared on social media with the ] "#DropTheADL". Notable signatories included the ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="forwardadl">{{Cite web|last=Klein|first=David Ian|title=Left-wing activists call for boycott of Anti-Defamation League|url=https://forward.com/fast-forward/452610/left-wing-activists-call-for-boycott-of-anti-defamation-league/|date=August 13, 2020|access-date=January 3, 2021|website=The Forward|archive-date=December 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206023039/https://forward.com/fast-forward/452610/left-wing-activists-call-for-boycott-of-anti-defamation-league/|url-status=live}}</ref> The open letter stated that the ADL "has a history and ongoing pattern of attacking social justice movements led by communities of color, ] people, immigrants, Muslims, Arabs, and other marginalized groups, while aligning itself with police, right-wing leaders, and perpetrators of state violence."<ref name="mme1">{{Cite web|title='Don't work with Anti-Defamation League,' progressive groups urge|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/progressive-organisations-urged-not-work-anti-defamation-league|date=August 12, 2020|first=Sheren|last=Khalel|access-date=January 3, 2021|website=Middle East Eye|archive-date=December 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222104424/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/progressive-organisations-urged-not-work-anti-defamation-league|url-status=live}}</ref> Some liberal groups responded by defending the ADL, with ] CEO Mark Hetfield characterizing Drop the ADL as a "smear campaign". The ADL published a statement that the campaign involved "many of the same groups who have been pushing an anti-Israel agenda for years."<ref name=":15">{{Cite web|last=Sales|first=Ben|title=Liberal groups defend ADL after renewed attack from progressive coalition|url=https://forward.com/fast-forward/452834/liberal-jewish-groups-defend-adl-after-renewed-attack-from-progressive/|access-date=January 3, 2021|website=The Forward|date=August 18, 2020|archive-date=September 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921035149/https://forward.com/fast-forward/452834/liberal-jewish-groups-defend-adl-after-renewed-attack-from-progressive/|url-status=live}}</ref> Around sixty organizations supported the campaign on its initial launch, and an additional hundred groups had joined by February 2021.<ref name=":24">{{cite news |last1=Hutt |first1=Jacob |last2=Kane |first2=Alex |title=How the ADL's Israel Advocacy Undermines Its Civil Rights Work |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/how-the-adls-israel-advocacy-undermines-its-civil-rights-work/ |work=Jewish Currents |date=February 8, 2021 |access-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425073821/https://jewishcurrents.org/how-the-adls-israel-advocacy-undermines-its-civil-rights-work/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Misplaced Pages determination of unreliability on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict ===
{{See also|Misplaced Pages and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict}}
In June 2024, the ] of the ] reached a consensus that the ADL was "generally unreliable" on the topic of the ],<ref name="jta1">{{cite news |last1=Elia-Shalev |first1=Asaf |date=June 18, 2024 |title=ADL faces Misplaced Pages ban over reliability concerns on Israel, antisemitism |url=https://www.jta.org/2024/06/18/united-states/adl-faces-wikipedia-ban-over-reliability-concerns-on-israel-antisemitism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240618211732/https://www.jta.org/2024/06/18/united-states/adl-faces-wikipedia-ban-over-reliability-concerns-on-israel-antisemitism |archive-date=June 18, 2024 |access-date=June 18, 2024 |agency=]}}</ref><ref name=":26">{{cite news |last1=Marcus |first1=Josh |title=Why Misplaced Pages just labeled a top Jewish civil rights organization 'unreliable' on the Israel-Palestine crisis |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/adl-wikipedia-israel-palestine-b2564991.html |access-date=June 18, 2024 |work=] |date=June 18, 2024 |archive-date=June 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619001726/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/adl-wikipedia-israel-palestine-b2564991.html |url-status=live }}</ref> including "the intersection of antisemitism and the conflict, such as labeling pro-Palestinian activists as antisemitic".<ref name="Bandler" /> The ADL condemned the initial decision, alleging it was part of a "campaign to delegitimize" the organization. The decision was also criticized by over 40 Jewish organizations, including ], ] and ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nechin |first=Etan |date=June 25, 2024 |title=Leading Jewish Groups Rebuke Misplaced Pages's 'Attack' on ADL's Credibility on Antisemitism |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2024-06-25/ty-article/.premium/leading-jewish-groups-rebuke-wikipedias-attack-on-adls-credibility-on-antisemitism/00000190-4f10-da42-a1ba-7f7a12ad0000 |work=]}}</ref><ref name="jta1" />

] of ], a professor of modern Jewish history, commented that the English Misplaced Pages's decision was a "significant hit" to the credibility of the ADL.<ref name="jta1" /> ], professor of Israel Studies, said that if "Misplaced Pages and other sources and the journalists start ignoring the ADL's data, it becomes a real issue for Jewish Americans who are understandably concerned about the rise of antisemitism".<ref name="jta1" />

== See also ==
{{Div col}}
* ]
* ]
* '']'' (film)
* ]
* ]
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* ]
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* ]{{Div col end}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}} {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}


==External links== ==External links==
* {{Official website}}
*
* {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|131818723}}
*


{{Antisemitism topics|state=collapsed}} {{Anti-Defamation League|state=uncollapsed}}
{{antisemitism topics}}
{{Organized Jewish Life in the United States}} {{Organized Jewish Life in the United States}}
{{World Jewish Congress}}
{{B'nai B'rith}}
{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 23:23, 11 December 2024

International Jewish organization For other uses, see Anti-Defamation League (disambiguation).

Anti-Defamation League
FormationSeptember 1913; 111 years ago (1913-09)
FounderSigmund Livingston
TypeCivil rights advocacy group
Tax ID no. 13-1818723 (EIN)
Legal status501(c)(3) organization
HeadquartersNew York City, New York, U.S.
ChairBen Sax
CEOJonathan Greenblatt
Revenue$101.1 million (2021)
Expenses$81.5 million (2021)
Staff501 (2021)
Volunteers3,500 (2021)
Websiteadl.org
Formerly calledAnti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith
Part of a series on
Antisemitism
Definitions
Geography
Manifestations
Antisemitic tropes
Antisemitic publications
Persecution
Antisemitism on the Internet
Opposition
Category

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is a New York–based international non-governmental organization that was founded to combat antisemitism, as well as other forms of bigotry and discrimination. ADL is also known for its pro-Israel advocacy. Its current CEO is Jonathan Greenblatt. ADL headquarters are located in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The ADL has 25 regional offices in the United States including a Government Relations Office in Washington, D.C., as well as an office in Israel and staff in Europe. In its 2019 annual information Form 990, ADL reported total revenues of $92 million, the vast majority from contributions and grants. Its total operating revenue is reported at $80.9 million.

It was founded in late September 1913 by the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, a Jewish service organization, in the wake of the contentious murder conviction of Leo Frank. ADL subsequently split from B'nai B'rith and continued as an independent US section 501(c)(3) nonprofit. In an early campaign, ADL and allied groups pressured the automaker Henry Ford, who had published virulently antisemitic propaganda. In the 1930s, ADL worked with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to oppose pro-Nazi activity in the United States. It opposed McCarthyism during the Cold War, and campaigned for major civil rights legislation in the 1960s. It also worked with the NAACP to discredit the far right in a spy operation. In the 1980s, it was involved in propaganda against Nelson Mandela of South Africa before embracing him the following decade.

ADL has advanced the concept of new antisemitism, including a definition that says anti-Zionism and some criticisms of Israel are antisemitic. It has received criticism, including from members of its staff, that such advocacy has diverted ADL from its historical fight against antisemitism.

History

In its early decades, the ADL benefited from being among the few highly centralized Jewish community relations organizations alongside the American Jewish Committee and American Jewish Congress. This characteristic gave these three organizations greater influence on the national Jewish community at a time when most local congregations and organizations were splintered, with little outreach to the broader community. By the 1970s, decentralization yielded greater influence. By this point the ADL had succeeded in developing local branches, though the central office remained significant even in terms of local branch activities.

Origins

The ADL was founded in late September 1913 by B'nai B'rith, with Sigmund Livingston as its first leader. Its goals were to counter antisemitism, prejudice and discrimination. Initially the league largely represented Midwestern and Southern Jews concerned with antagonistic portrayals of Jews in popular culture along with social and economic discrimination. In 1913, Atlanta B'nai B'rith President Leo Frank was convicted of the murder of a 13-year-old employee at a factory where he was superintendent; historians today generally consider Frank to have been innocent. Jewish leadership viewed Frank as having been wrongly prosecuted and convicted because of local antisemitism and agitation by some of the local press. The role that prejudice played in Frank's conviction was mentioned by Adolf Kraus when he announced the creation of the ADL. According to historians, ADL's early strategy would be to pressure newspapers, theaters, and other businesses seen as defaming or discriminating against Jews; proposed methods included boycotts and pressuring advertisers, and it also considered demanding prior reviews of theater productions for antisemitism. After Georgia's outgoing governor commuted Frank's death sentence to life imprisonment in 1915, a lynch mob abducted Frank from prison and killed him. Frank was granted a posthumous pardon from Georgia in 1986 after ADL requests.

1920s through 1960s

See also: Jews in the civil rights movement

The historian Leonard Dinnerstein writes that until after World War II, the ADL had limited impact, particularly less than the American Jewish Committee (AJC). One of the ADL's early campaigns occurred in the 1920s when it organized a media effort and consumer boycott against The Dearborn Independent, a publication published by American automobile industrialist Henry Ford. The publication contained virulently antisemitic articles and quoted heavily from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an antisemitic hoax. The ADL and allied organizations pressured Ford until he issued an apology in 1927.

In 1933 the ADL moved offices to Chicago and Richard E. Gutstadt became director of national activities. With the change in leadership, the ADL shifted from Livingston's reactive responses to antisemitic action to a much more aggressive policy.

During the 1930s, ADL, along with the AJC, coordinated American Jewish groups across the country in monitoring the activities of the German-American Bund and its pro-Nazi, nativist allies in the United States. In many instances, these community-based defense organizations paid informants to infiltrate these groups and report on what they discovered. The longest-lived and most effective of these American Jewish resistance organizations was the Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee (LAJCC), which was backed financially by the Jewish leaders of the motion picture industry. The day-to-day operations of the LAJCC were supervised by a Jewish attorney, Leon L. Lewis. Lewis was uniquely qualified to combat the rise of Nazism in Los Angeles, having served as the first national secretary of the Anti-Defamation League in Chicago from 1925 to 1931. From 1934 to 1941, the LAJCC maintained its undercover surveillance of the German-American Bund, the Silver Shirts and dozens of other pro-Nazi, nativist groups that operated in Los Angeles. Partnering with the American Legion in Los Angeles, the LAJCC channeled eyewitness accounts of sedition on to federal authorities. Working with the ADL, Leon Lewis and the LAJCC played a strategic role in counseling the McCormack-Dickstein Committee investigation of Nazi propaganda activities in the United States (1934) and the Dies Committee investigation of "un-American activities" (1938–1940). In their final reports to Congress, both committees found that the sudden rise in political antisemitism in the United States during the decade was due, in part, to the German government's support of these domestic groups.

Paralleling its infiltration efforts, the ADL continued its attempts to reduce antisemitic caricatures in the media. Much like the NAACP, it chose a non-confrontational approach, attempting to build long-lasting relationships and avoid backlash. The ADL requested its members avoid public confrontation, instead directing them to send letters to the media and advertising companies that included antisemitic or racist references in screening copies of their books and movies. This strategy kept the campaigns out of the public eye and instead emphasized the development of a relationship with companies.

The ADL opposed red-baiting and McCarthyism in the 1950s. The ADL campaigned for civil rights legislation including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The ADL and the NAACP worked together to discredit the far right in the United States, according to Mathew Delleck, the ADL was perhaps the most effective group in discrediting extremist right wing elements in the United States. The ADL conducted a spy operation headed by Isadore Zack, against the far right

1970s and 1980s

In 1973, Nathan Perlmutter took the role of national director, serving until his death in 1987. Under the tenure of Perlmutter and his 1978–1983 co-director of interreligious affairs Yechiel Eckstein, the ADL shifted its approach to the evangelical Christian movement. Through the 60s and early 70s, the ADL had conflicted with the American Jewish Congress over their collaborations with evangelicals. Perlmutter and Eckstein changed this orientation, increasing collaborations and developing long-lasting lines of communication between the ADL and evangelical groups. This collaboration continued under the Foxman administration.

Since the 1970s, the ADL has partnered with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field offices, sharing information learned from the monitoring of extremist groups.

In 1977 the ADL opened a headquarters in Jerusalem.

It opposed an anti-Mormon film called The God Makers in 1982, viewing it a challenge to religious freedom.

1990s

The ADL released a 1991 report observing an increase in the use of public access television stations by extremist groups. The report came in the wake of the trial of Tom Metzger, a white supremacist leader found guilty of inciting a murder via his public access TV station.

San Francisco police searched two offices of the ADL in April 1993, suspecting it of having monitored thousands of activists; in the search, they confiscated police records including fingerprints and copies of confidential reports, according to court documents. The San Francisco district attorney considered indictments, but settled with the ADL in November 1993 in exchange for the ADL paying $75,000 for use fighting hate crimes. During the investigation, a private investigator hired by the ADL, Roy H. Bullock, told police he had tracked skinheads, white supremacists, Arab Americans, and critics of Israel. He confessed to trying to find "any sexual impropriety" on the late anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu. In court documents, state officials said that the ADL conspired to obtain the confidential police material, a felony in California, and that the ADL had violated state tax laws by paying Bullock through a lawyer. The court documents said ADL had a network of sympathetic police officers sharing data, and that investigators had questioned police about free sponsored trips to Israel they received from the ADL. The documents also mentioned that the ADL's spying operations were reported to the Israeli government and its intelligence agencies. The ADL's Foxman contended that the ADL had a right to use the police information to combat antisemitism, and he argued in an interview that allegations that the ADL acted as an agent for Israel were "antisemitic".

News of the investigation led Arab Americans listed in the ADL's files to sue the ADL, contending invasion of privacy and the forwarding of confidential information to Israel and South Africa. In 1996, ADL settled the federal civil lawsuit filed by groups representing African Americans and Arab Americans. The ADL did not admit any wrongdoing but agreed to a restraining injunction barring it from obtaining information from state employees who cannot legally disclose such information. The ADL agreed to contribute $25,000 to a fund that funds inter-community relationship projects, and cover the plaintiffs' legal costs of $175,000. It settled with three remaining plaintiffs in 2002 for $178,000.

In 1994, ADL became involved in a dispute between neighbors in Denver, Colorado. The Aronson family reported this dispute to the ADL, which involved the Quigley family making antisemitic comments. The ADL advised the Aronsons to record the Quigleys' private telephone conversations via a police scanner. These recordings were legal at the time, but federal wiretap law was amended shortly after to make it illegal to record conversations from a cordless telephone, to transcribe the material, and to use the transcriptions for any purpose. ADL Regional Director Saul Rosenthal described the recorded remarks as part of a "vicious antisemitic campaign". This led to the family being ridiculed and excluded in their community and to career damage. These recordings were used as basis for a federal civil lawsuit against the Aronson family and the ADL for defamation. The Quigleys and Aronsons settled out-of-court, and a jury awarded the Quigleys $10 million in damages from the ADL.

This was the first-ever verdict against the ADL. Only once before had the League been subject to a defamation trial, a case it won in 1984. Other cases were dismissed before reaching trial. The ADL appealed the case to a superior court, which upheld the verdict, and the Supreme Court ultimately declined to take the case. The ADL paid the original $10 million plus interest in 2004.

2000s

In 2003, the ADL opposed an advertising campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) called "Holocaust on Your Plate" that compared animals killed in the meat industry to victims of the Holocaust. In 2005, PETA apologized for causing distress to the Jewish community through the campaign, though in 2008, the Chief Rabbinate announced that it was planning to gradually phase out the use of the "shackle and hoist" method of kosher slaughter in Israel and South America, in part in response to pressure from PETA.

As of 2007, the ADL said it was archiving MySpace pages associated with white supremacists as part of its effort to track extremism.

The ADL opposed 2008 California Proposition 8, a ballot successful initiative that banned same-sex marriage. It did so alongside Jewish organizations, including the National Council of Jewish Women and the Progressive Jewish Alliance. The ADL filed amicus briefs urging the Supreme Court of California, Ninth Circuit, and the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8. In 2015, the ADL opposed the State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, state laws that used the United States Supreme Court decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. recognizing a for-profit corporation's claim of religious belief. The ADL opposed these laws out of concern they largely targeted LGBT people or denied access to contraceptives to employees of religiously owned businesses.

The ADL became independent from B'nai B'rith in 2009, dropping the reference to the other organization in its name.

2010s

Greenblatt in 2017

The ADL was one of the groups that opposed the Shelby County v. Holder decision by the Supreme Court in 2013 to strike down a portion of the Voting Rights Act. The court's decision ended the portion of the law that required states with a history of discrimination to undergo federal scrutiny for election rules.

In November 2014, the organization announced that Jonathan Greenblatt, a former Silicon Valley tech executive and former Obama administration official who had not operated within the Jewish communal organization world prior to his hiring, would succeed Abraham Foxman as national director in July 2015. Foxman had served as national director since 1987. The ADL board of directors renewed Greenblatt's contract as CEO and national director in fall 2020 for a second five-year term. The national chair of the governing board of directors is Esta Gordon Epstein; elected in late 2018 for a three-year term, she is the second woman to hold the organization's top volunteer leadership post.

ADL repeatedly accused Donald Trump, when he was a presidential candidate in 2016, of making use of antisemitic tropes or otherwise exploiting divisive and bigoted rhetoric during the 2016 presidential election campaign. The ADL accused President Trump of politicizing charges of antisemitism for partisan purposes, and for continued use of antisemitic tropes. The ADL said it was facing a discredit campaign for its criticism of Trump.

In mid-2018, ADL raised concerns over President Donald Trump's nomination of then-DC Circuit Court of Appeals judge Brett Kavanaugh as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Subsequently, in another move that enraged many on the right, ADL called for the resignation or firing of Trump administration official Stephen Miller, the architect of the administration's immigration policy, on the basis of his association with white supremacists.

The ADL says it has participated in YouTube's Trusted Flagger program and has encouraged YouTube to remove videos that they flag as hate speech, citing the need to "fight against terrorist use of online resources and cyberhate." The ADL's Center on Technology and Society launched a survey in 2019 exploring online harassment in video games. It found that the majority of surveyed players experienced severe harassment of some kind, and the ADL recommended increased content moderation from game companies and governments. On the other hand, the survey found that over half of players experienced some form of positive community in video games. A separate, earlier survey of the general population found that around a third of people have experienced some form of online harassment.

In July 2017, ADL announced that they would be developing profiles on 36 alt-right and alt-lite leaders. In 2019 and 2020 ADL executives and staff testified multiple times in front of Congressional committees concerning the dangers of right-wing domestic extremists. In a report from 2018, the ADL noted that the majority of domestic extremist-related murders in the United States over the past decade had been committed by white supremacists. In a 2023 report, white supremacists were also deemed responsible for 45% of right-wing extremism in the US from 2017 to 2022.

2020s

In 2020, ADL joined with the NAACP, Color of Change, LULAC, Free Press, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and other organizations in the Stop Hate For Profit campaign. The campaign targeted online hate on Facebook, with over 1000 businesses pausing their ad buys on Facebook for a month. Subsequently, in September 2020, the campaign organized celebrity supporters including Sacha Baron Cohen, Kim Kardashian, and Mark Ruffalo.

In 2020, the ADL trained staff to edit Misplaced Pages pages, but after the project caused Misplaced Pages editors to criticize this as a conflict of interest, the ADL said it suspended the project in April 2021. At the time, the ADL was considered a reliable source on Misplaced Pages, and the ADL said its staff complied with Misplaced Pages policies by disclosing their affiliations, but some Misplaced Pages editors objected that the project cited ADL sources disproportionately and did not reflect the volunteer spirit of the website, especially in heavily editing its own Misplaced Pages article.

An internal email obtained by The Guardian in 2024 showed that in May 2020, the ADL had surveilled and produced a "threat assessment" report on a Black Indianapolis activist who worked with the Deadly Exchange campaign in opposition to exchange programs between American and Israeli police. The email contained a photo and personal information about the activist. The ADL employee who shared the email with The Guardian said that "threat assessments" are conducted regularly by the ADL and that many staff members opposed the spying.

In early January 2021, the ADL called for the removal of Donald Trump as president in response to the storming of the United States Capitol and described the relationship of the storming of the Capitol to the far-right and antisemitic groups. In April 2021, Jonathan Greenblatt released a letter calling on the right-wing American network Fox News to drop commentator Tucker Carlson from its lineup, saying that Carlson had espoused the white genocide conspiracy theory on his show. This call appeared shortly after research indicating that many who participated in the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol had been influenced by this conspiracy theory. The ADL again called for Carlson to be fired in September 2021 following Carlson expressing support for the great replacement theory. Carlson responded, saying "Fuck them" regarding the ADL, describing the ADL's call as politically motivated and defending his statements. In 2023, Fox dropped Carlson, a move welcomed by ADL leadership.

In 2022, the ADL revised its 2020 definition of racism from "the marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges White people" to occurrence "when individuals or institutions show more favorable evaluation or treatment of an individual or group based on race or ethnicity."

Also in 2022, ADL published an analysis of a leaked list of members of Oath Keepers, an American far-right, anti-government militia. Of 38,000 names on that list, the ADL identified "at least 373 Oath Keepers currently serving in law enforcement", plus 117 active duty military, and 1,100 former law enforcement officers.

In November 2022, ADL acquired JLens, a pro-Israel advocacy group started in 2012 which campaigns against incentives for economic disengagement with Israel in environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing guidelines. JLens publishes company rankings based on participation in boycotts of Israel and publishes guidelines on investing used by around 30 Jewish companies with portfolios totaling around $200 million. JLens launched a campaign criticizing Morningstar, Inc.), a campaign the ADL collaborated on prior to the 2020 acquisition. The ADL said it would contribute funding to JLens.

The ADL tracked rapid growth in hate speech and harassment on Twitter after Elon Musk bought the social network in 2022. In early September 2023, Musk liked and replied to a tweet by the Irish white nationalist Keith Woods that called for banning the ADL from X, which was Twitter's new name under Musk. Musk also accused the ADL of defamation and threatened to sue it, writing that advertising revenue was "still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that's what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!" The ADL said as matter of policy it did not comment on legal threats, but that it had recently met with X leadership including CEO Linda Yaccarino, who had thanked the ADL's CEO on the platform. Greenblatt later praised Musk after he announced policy banning phrases such as "decolonization" and "from the river to the sea" on Twitter. The head of the ADL's Center for Technology and Society (CTS), Yael Eisenstat, reportedly quit in protest of the praise of Musk.

In September 2023, the ADL launched a media and entertainment institute aimed at combating antisemitism and improving depictions of Jewish people in entertainment. The institute works with industry leaders and non-profit organizations such as Common Sense Media. In February 2024, the institute appointed documentary producer and journalist Deborah Camiel as its leader.

Political positions

Israel

The ADL is described as a pro-Israel group. The Middle East historian Asaf Romirowsky described the organization as "left of center" politically.

The ADL has taken a case-by-case approach to state anti-BDS laws enacted in response to the BDS movement. Several of these laws, which seek to prohibit state agencies and instrumentalities from investing in companies that boycott Israel and from entering into contracts with entities that boycott Israel, have been successfully challenged in the courts. The legal challenges have primarily been brought by the ACLU and CAIR on First Amendment constitutional grounds. As a general matter the organization also has not publicly opposed such state laws, preferring to work behind the scenes to try to make such laws less infirm under the Constitution or to propose non-binding resolutions opposing BDS. A possible division of internal views in ADL was disclosed when the liberal Jewish publication, The Forward, published ostensible leaked internal ADL staff memos dating from 2016 that opposed the anti-boycott laws. ADL did not comment directly on the leaked memos, but the statement it issued in response appeared to acknowledge both that there were sharply divided views within the organization and that the organization did not try to suppress internal robust discussion.

In 2010, ADL published a list of the "ten leading organizations responsible for maligning Israel in the US," which has included ANSWER, the International Solidarity Movement, and Jewish Voice for Peace for its call for BDS. The ADL published a similar list in 2013.

Alongside similar statements from StandWithUs and American Jewish Committee representatives, Greenblatt condemned the United Nations Human Rights Council's (UNHRC) list of companies doing business with Jewish settlements in Israeli-occupied territories, issued in February 2020, calling it a "blacklist".

ADL expressed concern over Israeli legislative proposals requiring that NGOs publicize if they receive funding primarily from non-Israeli governments, a bill mostly opposed by centrist and left-wing and supported by right-wing Jewish American groups.

In 2022, the ADL criticized the government formed by Benjamin Netanyahu in his sixth term, which included representatives from the far-right Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionist Party, and their leaders, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. The ADL said that including these parties and lawmakers "would run counter to Israel's founding principles, and impact its standing, even among its strongest supporters."

Anti-Zionism and antisemitism

See also: Anti-Zionism

In a 2022 speech to ADL leaders, Greenblatt said that "anti-Zionism is antisemitism". The Times of Israel noted that the "speech marked a rare moment of the organization unequivocally" making that assertion. The remarks upset activists and Jewish groups critical of Israel, and also set off controversy within the ADL. Internal ADL messages seen by The Guardian included a senior manager at ADL's Center on Extremism writing in protest that: "There is no comparison between white supremacists and insurrectionists and those who espouse anti-Israel rhetoric, and to suggest otherwise is both intellectually dishonest and damaging to our reputation as experts in extremism." The newspaper reported that the speech, which "put opposition to Israel on a par with white supremacy as a source of antisemitism", had sparked controversy.

In January 2024, two-thirds of ADL's tally of more than 3,283 antisemitic incidents in the United States since October 7, 2023, were tied to the Israel-Hamas war; The Forward said the ADL acknowledged "that it significantly broadened its definition of antisemitic incidents following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack to include rallies that feature 'anti-Zionist chants and slogans,' events that appear to account for around 1,317 of the total count". The ADL classified anti-war protest events led by Jewish groups including Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow as "anti-Israel", adding the protests to a database documenting rising antisemitism in the US. In response, an ADL staffer quit, who told the Guardian that "These were Jewish people who we were defaming, so that felt extremely, extremely confusing, and frustrating to me. And it makes it harder to talk about that when any criticism of Israel, or anyone who criticizes Israel, just becomes a terrorist." The ADL told The Intercept that it did not consider the protests antisemitic, but Greenblatt labelled the protesting groups as hate groups. Former staff told The Daily Beast in 2023 of dissent within the ADL over the increasing equation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism, and over Greenblatt's calls for bans and investigations of pro-Palestinian organizations that he alleged had supported terrorist groups. In early 2024, two ADL staff quit the group in response to pro-Israel advocacy during the war.

ADL supported a December 5, 2023, US Congress resolution that described anti-Zionism as antisemitism. The ADL and "many other Jewish establishment organizations" have campaigned for governments to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which describes anti-Zionism and some forms of criticism of Israel as antisemitic, according to The Guardian. Some Jewish organizations, such as the Nexus Task Force, whose work was welcomed by the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, take a different view.

Critics of the ADL said that such advocacy for Israel had undermined the group's counter-extremism work and argued that it had foregone parts of its historical mission against antisemitism, according to The Guardian. In 2024, an article in The Nation said, "The ADL's priority today remains—as it has for decades—going after Americans who are simply opposed to Israel's endless occupation and oppression of Palestinians", and criticized what it described as US media outlets using ADL reports on antisemitism uncritically. Middle East historian Asaf Romirowsky said that because ADL's clear stance on antisemitism does not conform to the "orthodoxy of the day", it has led to the discredition of the group whose purpose is to combat antisemitism. Jay Michaelson argues that "conflating real antisemitism with political disagreement" cheapens the term 'antisemitism' to the point of "rendering it almost meaningless."

New antisemitism

Main article: New antisemitism

In 1974, ADL attorney Arnold Forster and national director Benjamin Epstein published the book The New Anti-Semitism. They expressed concern about what they described as new manifestations of antisemitism coming from radical left, radical right, and pro-Arab figures in the US. Forster and Epstein argued that radical left antisemitism took the form of indifference to the fears of the Jewish people, apathy in dealing with anti-Jewish bias, and an inability to understand the importance of Israel to Jewish survival. A subsequent book, The Real Anti-Semitism in America, published in 1982, was written by ADL national leader Nathan Perlmutter and his wife, Ruth Ann Perlmutter.

Reviewing Forster and Epstein's work in 1974 for the neoconservative magazine Commentary, Earl Raab, founding director of the Nathan Perlmutter Institute for Jewish Advocacy at Brandeis University, agreed that a "new anti-Semitism" was indeed emerging in America in the form of opposition to the supposed collective rights of the Jewish people, but Raab criticized Forster and Epstein for "stretch the word in practice to mean anti-Israel bias in general". Allan Brownfeld, a columnist with The Lincoln Review, wrote in the Journal of Palestine Studies 1987 that Forster and Epstein's new definition of antisemitism trivialized the concept by turning it into "a form of political blackmail" and "a weapon with which to silence any criticism of either Israel or US policy in the Middle East," while Edward S. Shapiro, in A Time for Healing: American Jewry Since World War II, has written that, "Forster and Epstein implied that the new antisemitism was the inability of Gentiles to love Jews and Israel enough."

In 2005, Norman Finkelstein wrote that organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League have brought forward charges of new antisemitism at various intervals since the 1970s, "not to fight antisemitism, but rather to exploit the historical suffering of Jews in order to immunize Israel against criticism." The Washington Post reported in 2006 that the ADL had over the years repeatedly accused Finkelstein of being a "Holocaust denier", and that "these charges have proved baseless."

Circumcision

ADL has opposed efforts in the US and in Europe to ban circumcision of minors on the grounds of parental and religious freedom, citing the importance of circumcision in Judaism and Islam. ADL has also criticized specific instances of anti-circumcision imagery, such as an anti-circumcision cartoon in the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet and the comic book Foreskin Man. Regarding the latter, Associate Regional Director Nancy Appel stated that while good people could disagree on the issue of circumcision, it was unacceptable to use antisemitic imagery within the debate. In 2018, Greenblatt sent Iceland's Parliament a letter regarding a proposed infant circumcision ban in that country, arguing that the ban should be rejected due to circumcision's religious significance and health benefits. Greenblatt also said that if the ban passed, ADL would report on any celebration by antisemites and other extremists, asserting that this would deter tourism and harm Iceland's economy. The Reykjavík Grapevine described this letter as a threat.

Federal and state legislation

ADL was among the lead organizations campaigning for thirteen years, ultimately successfully, for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The hold-up in passing that law focused on the inclusion of the term "sexual orientation" as one of the bases that a crime could be deemed a hate crime. ADL also drafted the model hate crimes legislation in the 1980s; it serves as a model for the legislation that a majority of states have adopted.

In 2010, during a hearing for Florida House Bill 11 (Crimes Against Homeless Persons), which was to revise the list of offenses judged to be hate crimes in Florida by adding a person's homeless status, the League lobbied against the bill, which subsequently passed in the House by a vote of 80 to 28 and was sent to the Senate, taking the position that adding more categories to the list would dilute the effectiveness of the law, which already includes race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and age.

ADL supports Comprehensive and DREAM Act legislation that would provide conditional permanent residency to certain undocumented immigrants of good moral character who graduate from US high schools, arrived in the United States as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment.

College classes and student organizations

In early 2023, the ADL unsuccessfully pressured Bard College to cancel a course called "Apartheid in Israel-Palestine" taught by Jerusalem-based researcher Nathan Thrall. The course had also been objected to by an Israeli consul. Bard's president, Leon Botstein, described the phone call with ADL CEO Greenblatt as "not civil".

In October 2023, the ADL sent letters to almost two hundred college presidents condemning Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters, encouraging college presidents to investigate the chapters and alleging that SJP may be funding or receiving funds from Hamas. National SJP denied the ADL's claims.

Policing in the United States

ADL advocacy work extends into police trainings on anti-semitism, hate crime reporting, and bias. ADL has also given awards and honors to various persons and agencies in law enforcement, including Raymond Kelly and William Bratton of NYPD, Houston Police chief Art Acevedo, and officers of St. Louis County Police Department.

Analysis of BlueLeaks files shows a strong relationship between the ADL and American law enforcement agencies, with the ADL being among a small group of community organizations that provide training or are consulted by law enforcement officers.

Delegations

The ADL facilitates US police delegations to Israel and the National Counter-Terrorism Seminar. The focus is on counterterrorism, tactics and strategies, and leadership. The ADL director of law enforcement initiatives expressed hope that Israeli police are seen as a model for police in the US, and says that police officers participating in trips to Israel "come back and they are Zionists." In addition to police agencies, participants in the program include leadership from ICE, US Marshals, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

The National Counter-Terrorism Seminar received wide attention following the Ferguson Uprising when it was revealed that former St. Louis County Police chief Timothy Fitch was a previous participant, as well as leaders of other police forces that had demonstrated undue force and surveillance against civilians. Campaigns against the trips, citing militarization of police concerns, were successful in Vermont and Durham, North Carolina. In 2020, the program was put on pause due to the associated costs and controversies. An internal memo opened questions as to the purpose and unintended impacts of the delegations, and recommended ending them altogether. ADL told press that they intend to continue the program with revised curriculum and evaluation.

South Africa and apartheid

The ADL, the AJC, and other American Jewish groups asked Nelson Mandela to clarify his views on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 1990 in advance of a visit Mandela planned to the United States. The groups' leaders said they were concerned about the possibility of protests because Mandela had embraced Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat and Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi. The ADL said it was "disturbed and pained" by comments Mandela had made in a meeting earlier that year with PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Mandela met with a group of the American Jewish leaders in Geneva including ADL director Abe Foxman. At the event, Mandela expressed appreciation for South African Jews who opposed apartheid; he praised past Israeli leader Golda Meir for her opposition to apartheid, and Menachem Begin's book The Revolt, and said that the State of Israel had a "right to exist within the pre-1967 borders."

In his 2010 book The Unspoken Alliance, Sasha Polakow-Suransky criticized the ADL for hiring the private spy Roy Bullock to collect information on the anti-apartheid movement in the United States. Glenn Frankel, writing about the book, said the ADL "participated in a blatant propaganda campaign against Nelson Mandela and the ANC" during the 1980s but had changed its stance on Mandela around 1990 with Foxman calling him a hero. South African-born Israeli journalist Benjamin Pogrund said in a review of The Unspoken Alliance for The Jewish Chronicle that the ADL and South Africa's Jewish Board of Deputies "played toadying and inglorious roles over the years in defending Israel's ties and in support of the apartheid government".

Other

In October 2010, the ADL condemned remarks by Ovadia Yosef that the sole purpose of non-Jews was to serve the Jews.

Relations with religious and ethnic groups

Relations with African-Americans

During the 1970s, the ADL was a staunch opponent of affirmative action, with its then-leader Perlmutter one of the national figures in opposition. It filed an amicus brief in support of Allan Bakke, the white student in the landmark 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke Supreme Court Case that struck down racial quotas for university students. Differences on the issue and others were described as leading to a rift between Jewish and African-American groups in the 1970s. In the 2003 landmark Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger, the ADL filed a brief opposing the University of Michigan's affirmative action program, but its argument did not propose to end affirmative action entirely; rather, the ADL contended that race "may appropriately be considered in the admissions process," but with no more weight than other characteristics of applicants.

In 1984, The Boston Globe reported that then-ADL national director Nathan Perlmutter said that Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. was antisemitic after Jackson referred to New York City as "Hymietown".

The ADL criticized film director Spike Lee regarding his portrayal of Jewish nightclub owners Moe and Josh Flatbush in his film Mo' Better Blues (1990). The ADL said the characterizations of the nightclub owners "dredge up an age-old and highly dangerous form of anti-Semitic stereotyping", and that it was "disappointed that Spike Lee – whose success is largely due to his efforts to break down racial stereotypes and prejudice – has employed the same kind of tactics that he supposedly deplores". Lee's portrayal also angered the B'nai B'rith and other such Jewish organizations, causing Lee to address the criticism in an opinion piece for The New York Times, where he stated "...if critics are telling me that to avoid charges of anti-Semitism, all Jewish characters I write have to be model citizens, and not one can be a villain, cheat or a crook, and that no Jewish people have ever exploited black artists in the history of the entertainment industry, that's unrealistic and unfair".

In 2004, ADL became the lead partner in the Peace and Diversity Academy, a new New York City public high school with predominantly black and Hispanic students. The school was part of a Bloomberg-led effort to open many smaller schools. In 2014, the school was designated among New York's schools with the lowest graduation rates.

In 2018 the ADL criticized US Representative Danny Davis for not condemning Louis Farrakhan. Davis subsequently condemned Farrakhan's views, saying, "So let me be clear: I reject, condemn and oppose Minister Farrakhan's views and remarks regarding the Jewish people and the Jewish religion."

Interfaith camp

In 1996 ADL's New England Regional Office established a faith-based initiative called "The Interfaith Youth Leadership Program", better known as "Camp If", or Camp Interfaith. Involving teenagers of the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths, the camp brings the teens together for a week at camp where the teens bond and learn about each other's cultures. The camp has emerged as a new attempt to foster good relations between younger members of the Abrahamic faiths.

Reception and controversies

ADL has been criticized both from the right and left of the US political spectrum, including from within the American Jewish community. ADL positions and actions that have generated criticism include domestic spying, its former Armenian genocide denial (since repudiated and apologized for), and what parts of the American left argue is the ADL's view that criticism of the Israeli government can be antisemitic.

ADL's support for the Trump administration's decision to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018 drew criticism. Conversely, some right-wing groups and pundits, including right-wing Jewish groups, have criticized ADL as having moved too far to the left under Jonathan Greenblatt, labeling it a "Democratic Party auxiliary". The ADL repeatedly criticized Trump for what they viewed as antisemitic tropes and engagement in apologetics for white supremacists. Alongside at least eight other Jewish advocacy organizations, dozens of civil rights organizations, and more than one hundred members of congress, ADL called on the Trump administration to fire administration executive Stephen Miller, the architect of the Trump administration policies on immigration, condemning Miller as a white supremacist.

Graduate student and activist Emmaia Gelman wrote in the Boston Review in 2019 that the ADL has conducted a "vigorous, and successful campaign, alongside AIPAC, specifically to characterize Arab American political organizing as dual loyalty." She wrote that the ADL's role in anti-hate efforts had insulated it from deserved scrutiny, and that it had undermined the American left including some black-led groups in such efforts.

Armenian genocide

Prior to 2007, the ADL described the Armenian genocide as a massacre and an atrocity, but not a genocide. Then-CEO Foxman had earlier opposed calls for the US Government to recognise it as a genocide. Turkey maintains a position of Armenian genocide denial; ADL was reported to have deferred to Turkey as a strategic ally of America and Israel and received direct pressure from the Turkish foreign ministry.

In Watertown, Massachusetts, which has a significant Armenian population, the town council in early August 2007 decided unanimously to withdraw from ADL's "No Place for Hate" anti-discrimination campaign over the issue. Human rights commissions in some other Massachusetts communities also withdrew in subsequent months. An editorial in The Boston Globe criticized the ADL, saying, "as an organization concerned about human rights, it ought to acknowledge the genocide against the Armenian people during World War I, and criticize Turkish attempts to repress the memory of this historical reality." On August 17, 2007, ADL fired its regional New England director, Andrew H. Tarsy, for breaking ranks and saying that ADL should recognize the genocide. In its August 21, 2007, "Statement on the Armenian Genocide", ADL acknowledged the genocide, but maintained its opposition to congressional resolutions aimed at recognizing it. Foxman wrote that "the consequences of those actions" by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians "were indeed tantamount to genocide" and "If the word genocide had existed then, they would have called it genocide". The Turkish government condemned the league's statement. It was criticized by activists and groups pushing for recognition of the genocide, who argued that the ADL hedged by using the qualifier "tantamount" and still opposed legislation. Tarsy won his job back, but he subsequently submitted his resignation, on December 4, 2007. By 2016, the ADL had joined other groups urging Congress to pass a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide; it endorsed such a resolution in 2019.

Park51 Community Center opposition

In 2010, ADL issued a statement opposing the Park51 Community Center, a proposed Islamic community center and mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site in New York. It said, "The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of a Community Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found." ADL denounced what it saw as bigoted attacks on the project. Foxman opined that some of those who oppose the mosque are "bigots", and that the plan's proponents may have every right to build the mosque at that location. Nevertheless, he said that building the mosque at that site would unnecessarily cause more pain for the families of some victims of 9/11.

This opposition to the Community Center led to criticism of the statement from various parties, including one ADL board member, the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Rabbi Irwin Kula, columnists Jeffrey Goldberg and Peter Beinart, the Interfaith Alliance, and the Shalom Center. In an interview with The New York Times Abraham Foxman published a statement in reaction to criticism. In protest of ADL's stance, CNN host Fareed Zakaria returned the Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize ADL awarded him in 2005. ADL chair Robert G. Sugarman responded to a critical New York Times editorial writing, "we have publicly taken on those who criticized the mosque in ways that reflected anti-Muslim bigotry or used the controversy for that purpose" and stating that ADL has combated Islamophobia.

On September 5, 2021, the national director and CEO of ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, apologized for ADL's opposition to the center, stating, "We were wrong, plain and simple".

Accusations of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinianism

The ADL considers anti-Zionism to be antisemitic. According to The Nation's Joshua Leifer, this stance, in part, positions the ADL as "an anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian outfit", while Eli Pariser has said ADL's support for the prohibition of the anti-Zionist slogan "from the river to the sea" on social media is "both morally wrong and disastrously counterproductive". ADL staff have also criticized the ADL's leadership for equating Palestinian opposition to Zionism with anti-Semitism, while a former regional development director for the group has claimed that it is "willing to throw ... Palestinians under the bus" in order to maximize fundraising.

In 2022, the ADL's CEO denounced Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine as the "photo inverse of the extreme right that the ADL has long tracked", a statement that was in turn denounced by more than 50 American Muslim and civil rights groups. Two years later, in 2024, the ADL asserted that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) had violated federal law concerning material support for Hamas, a statement that both The Nation and The Intercept observed was made without any evidence. The SJP responded by stating that "rather than combating and organizing for genuine social justice, the ADL has leveraged Islamophobia, anti-Arab sentiment, and conservatism to delegitimize the movement for Palestine liberation". The ADL's claims against the SJP were criticized by the ACLU which contended they "chill speech, foster an atmosphere of mutual suspicion, and betray the spirit of free inquiry". CAIR issued a public condemnation of the ADL for "slandering ... Palestinian students" and, the same year, a coalition of Harvard University student groups denounced ADL leadership as racist against Palestinians and the organization itself as "widely discredited". Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of CAIR's Los Angeles office, has said that the ADL "contributes to the growth and rise of Islamophobia in America".

In 2024, according to Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative, the ADL's CEO "vilified the Palestinian people by making an offensive analogy between the Palestinian keffiyeh and the Nazi swastika".

Internal dissent over ADL leadership

Yael Eisenstat, head of the ADL's Center for Technology and Society (CTS), said she was resigning in 2024 to refocus her work on election protection, though an anonymous ADL staffer said the real reason for her departure was objection to Greenblatt's praise of billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk. Eisenstat's announcement followed the resignation of three other CTS employees who disagreed with ADL post-October 7th policies targeting pro-Palestine activism rather than antisemitism.

"Drop the ADL" campaign

In August 2020, a coalition of progressive organizations launched the "Drop the ADL" campaign, arguing that "the ADL is not an ally" in social justice work. The campaign consisted of an open letter and a website, which were shared on social media with the hashtag "#DropTheADL". Notable signatories included the Democratic Socialists of America, Movement for Black Lives, Jewish Voice for Peace, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Council on American–Islamic Relations. The open letter stated that the ADL "has a history and ongoing pattern of attacking social justice movements led by communities of color, queer people, immigrants, Muslims, Arabs, and other marginalized groups, while aligning itself with police, right-wing leaders, and perpetrators of state violence." Some liberal groups responded by defending the ADL, with HIAS CEO Mark Hetfield characterizing Drop the ADL as a "smear campaign". The ADL published a statement that the campaign involved "many of the same groups who have been pushing an anti-Israel agenda for years." Around sixty organizations supported the campaign on its initial launch, and an additional hundred groups had joined by February 2021.

Misplaced Pages determination of unreliability on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

See also: Misplaced Pages and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

In June 2024, the community of the English Misplaced Pages reached a consensus that the ADL was "generally unreliable" on the topic of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including "the intersection of antisemitism and the conflict, such as labeling pro-Palestinian activists as antisemitic". The ADL condemned the initial decision, alleging it was part of a "campaign to delegitimize" the organization. The decision was also criticized by over 40 Jewish organizations, including Jewish Federations of North America, B'nai B'rith International and HIAS.

James Loeffler of Johns Hopkins University, a professor of modern Jewish history, commented that the English Misplaced Pages's decision was a "significant hit" to the credibility of the ADL. Dov Waxman, professor of Israel Studies, said that if "Misplaced Pages and other sources and the journalists start ignoring the ADL's data, it becomes a real issue for Jewish Americans who are understandably concerned about the rise of antisemitism".

See also

Notes

  1. The ADL became independent of B'nai B'rith and shortened its name in 2009.

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