by: Jonathan Greenblatt | April 17, 2018 The Times of Israel On May 14, 1948, David Ben Gurion stood on a podium at the Tel Aviv Museum and announced the establishment of the State of Israel with a booming recitation of a Declaration of Independence.
When Ben Gurion made this dramatic declaration, few would have guaranteed that this fledgling state, surrounded by hostile armies, would survive seven decades, much less develop and thrive into a modern, diverse, dynamic and…
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The following letter was submitted to The New York Times in response to "Israel Courts Catastrophe in Gaza Protests" (April 2, 2018) Letters to the Editor
The New York Times
To the Editor:
Re "Israel Courts Catastrophe in Gaza Protests" (Editorial, April 2, 2018):
There are legitimate issues to be raised concerning Israel's policy vis-a-vis Hamas and Gaza, including the issue of access of the population to the outside world and the extent of the use of force…
February 28, 2018 The Iranian Javan (young) website published an article on February 13, 2018 which demonstrates the Islamic Republic’s consistent use of anti-Semitic tropes to promote the regime’s entrenched hostility towards Israel. The piece appears at a time of growing tensions between Iran and Israel and within Iranian society, and feeds into long utilized conspiracy theories propagated by the Islamic Republic about Israel and Jews, as well as their demonization of Western…
by: Jonathan Greenblatt | January 09, 2018 JTA Several recent political measures in Israel — including announcements by Israel’s parliament, attorney general and ruling party — have significantly begun to undermine the possibility of achieving a two-state solution.
Let me be clear: When discussing why the peace process has been stalled for so many years, one has to begin with the Palestinians. There is little evidence to suggest that the Palestinians have yet made the…
December 11, 2017 President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was widely condemned by Arab governments. Arabic-language media followed suit, and some outlets even used the historic declaration to propagate anti-Semitic cartoons relating to Jews, Jerusalem, and/or U.S.-Israel relations. In some instances, these cartoons suggest that Israel controls or dominates U.S. foreign policy, for example depicting U.S. President Donald Trump as a puppet operated by Israeli…
December 01, 2017 By David Barkey, Religious Freedom Counsel & Southeastern Area Counsel
The U.S. Supreme Court soon will hear oral arguments in a case called Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Cakeshop’s owner is asking the Court do something unprecedented – allow him based on religious objections to refuse service to customers for who they are.
ADL recently joined an amicus brief to the Court filed by a coalition of civil rights and religious…
November 30, 2017 November 24 witnessed the deadliest terror attack in Egypt’s history when gunmen detonated explosives at a Sufi mosque in the Sinai Peninsula and then sprayed the worshippers with bullets, killing more than 300 people and wounding more than 100. While no organization claimed responsibility for the attack, it is thought to have been carried out by local militants affiliated with the Islamic State.
Sufism, a branch of Islam, is a minority regarded by the Islamic…
New York, NY, November 16, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is deeply troubled and disappointed by the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of H.R. 1, “the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” which effectively repeals the Johnson Amendment. For decades, this amendment has protected the integrity of houses of worship and other non-profit organizations by prohibiting them from endorsing or opposing political candidates.
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, issued the…
November 07, 2017 November 2, 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, a letter signed in 1917 by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour expressing his country's support for the establishment of a national Jewish home in Palestine. While the UK and Israel celebrated the anniversary of this Declaration, which has become a symbol of international recognition of the Jewish right to self-determination, Palestinians and others have used the occasion to protest, and demand an…
New York, NY, November 2, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today applauded House Judiciary Committee approval of bipartisan legislation which would expand existing federal law to include threats against religious institutions – including houses of worship, Jewish community centers and Jewish day schools. The Senate is also considering a version of this legislation, titled “The Protecting Religiously-Affiliated Institutions Act of 2017.”
Marvin D. Nathan, ADL…
New York, NY, October 30, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today joined a friend-of-the court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court urging rejection of a bakery’s claim that the Free Exercise Clause to the First Amendment empowered it to refuse the sale of a wedding cake to a same-sex couple based on the owner’s religious beliefs.
The brief filed by a coalition of civil rights and religious organizations asserts the Court should uphold a lower court ruling that the…
by: Kenneth Jacobson | October 20, 2017 JTA Here we go again: The issue of how and why the United States should engage with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is back in the news.
The announcement by the Trump administration that the U.S. will be pulling out of UNESCO over its biased treatment of Israel is only the latest manifestation of a fraught relationship between America and this U.N. body.
Established soon after World War II as an effort to…
Survey Shows Majority of Israeli Public Believes Society Will Continue to be Divided Over Next 30 Years
Jerusalem, Israel, October 20, 2017 … Nearly two in three Israelis believe their society today is divided or very divided with a large majority – 75 percent – identifying political leadership as the largest contributor to the nation’s divisiveness, according to a new…
Calls it a “Roadmap for Discrimination” New York, NY, October 10, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed deep concern about guidance issued by the Department of Justice on how the Trump Administration should interpret religious liberty protections in federal law.
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, issued the following statement:
This is a destructive and discriminatory policy that is using religious beliefs as an excuse to weaken anti-discrimination…
New York, NY, October 9, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on the Executive Board of UNESCO to choose a new Director General “who best exemplifies and champions the values and ideals of the institution,” and who will be a strong and constructive voice against discrimination, including ongoing efforts to isolate and denigrate Israel, and who continues UNESCO’s important work on Holocaust education.
ADL expressed concern that the front runner after…
September 18, 2017 By: Marvin D. Nathan, National Chair
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO & National Director
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is both a celebratory holiday and a time for serious introspection.
It is a celebration of the creation of the Universe and of G-d's sovereignty over that Universe. And, it is a time to look into oneself to examine where one has been and where one is going.
In this spirit, we offer on behalf of ADL, the…
In the 1930s, the dean of Yale University’s medical school — who was Jewish himself — reportedly advised his admissions team, “Never admit more than five Jews, take only two Italian Catholics, and take no blacks at all.”
The American college campus has come a long way in the past century. Colleges are more diverse, and there are greater efforts to create inclusive environments whereby all students feel comfortable on campus. But that does not mean you…
What is the source of our free speech rights? Free speech rights emanate from the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution[1] and from state constitutions. The U.S. Constitution limits the government’s ability to regulate speech based on content and it applies to all public colleges and universities. It serves as a floor, not a ceiling. State constitutions may grant more robust free speech rights than the U.S. Constitution, but never fewer. Is there a distinction between private and…
July 26, 2017 The Arab-language media routinely features anti-Semitic cartoons suggesting that Israel is attempting to take over control of Muslim holy sites. In these depictions Israel is frequently portrayed as an octopus or snake which is taking over holy sites in Jerusalem such as the Temple Mount in bodily form. These cartoons stoke anti-Semitic sentiment in the Arab world.
This was no different after the recent attack by three Israeli Arab terrorists on the Temple Mount, which…
New York, NY, July 23, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League released a statement on Friday's terror attack in Halamish, where three Israelis were stabbed to death at their Shabbat table by a Palestinian terrorist. ADL pointed to the recent rash of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement as inspiring the attack, and called on Palestinian leaders to engage in efforts to restore calm.
On Friday, a Palestinian terrorist broke into the Halamish home of the Salomon family as they…