The slogan “Free Palestine” has long been used at rallies, in chants, on placards, online and graffitied by those advocating on behalf of Palestinian rights. Since October 7th, the slogan has been regularly used by anti-Israel activists and organizations on college campuses and elsewhere, and in numerous instances, it has been directed maliciously at Jews and others. In many ways, the term is similar to slogans advocating for other political causes, including &ldquo…
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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…
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…
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…
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…
Urges Congress Not to Restrict Campus Leader Discretion New York, NY, October 26, 2017 … As the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held hearings on “Exploring Free Speech on College Campuses,” the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) urged Senators to recognize that, while the First Amendment protects hateful, offensive, and ugly speech, campus leaders have a responsibility to use their bully pulpit to address the impact and harm of this speech.
ADL…
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…
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…
October 03, 2017 In August 2016, then-NFL San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to take a stand about racial injustice by refusing to stand for the National Anthem at football games. He spent much of the season either sitting or kneeling during the anthem. Fast forward to the 2017 football season where the controversy emerged again when on a Sunday in September, more than 200 NFL players took a knee during the Anthem.
This recent controversy over NFL players and…
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…
New York, NY, September 12, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is troubled by the participation in a House Committee hearing of Stephen Halbrook, author of “Gun Control in the Third Reich,” who has frequently drawn parallels between gun laws in Nazi Germany and firearms legislation in the U.S. to build a case against gun violence prevention.
In a book and in a 2013 op-ed on Kristallnacht, Halbrook wrote: “Historians have documented…
New York, NY, September 7, 2017 … As college students are returning to a new academic school year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has released a new, multi-platform resource to equip them with essential information and tools to deal with anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias on campus.
‘THINK. PLAN. ACT.’ is a comprehensive resource that prepares students for encounters with anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias by defining what constitutes anti-Jewish animus,…
What is anti-Semitism?
Anti-Semitism is a form of prejudice or discrimination directed toward Jews as individuals or as a group. Anti-Semitism is based on age-old stereotypes and myths that target Jews as a people, their religious practices and beliefs, or the Jewish State of Israel.
Words or actions related to Israel are anti-Semitic when they blame all Jews for the actions of the state, single out Israel in denying the country’s right to exist as a Jewish state and an…
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…
Don't Tie the Hands of Administrators
New York, NY, July 27, 2017 … In testimony for House Oversight Subcommittee hearings on “Challenges to Freedom of Speech on College Campuses,” the Anti-Defamation League highlighted the breadth of protection afforded to harmful hate speech – and underlined the “moral obligation” by campus administrators and the community “to respond clearly and forcefully.”
The League’s statement also highlighted…