Disappointed in ADL
News
October 17, 2007

I am surprised and disappointed to see Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) support giving a platform to South Africa’s Desmond Tutu to speak at a Minnesota university; despite the fact that Tutu is one of the most virulent critics of Israel and the Jewish people, constantly defaming both.

 

For example, in a Boston speech several years ago he said, “Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin… and the apartheid government were powerful…a lie, injustice, oppression will never prevail in the world of this G-d…they bit the dust…an unjust Israeli government, however powerful, will fall in the world of this G-d.” Tutu went on to compare Israel to apartheid, saying “I’ve been deeply distressed in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me of so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa.” He also complained that “people are scared in this country [the U.S.] to say wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is very powerful;” and about the Jewish “arrogance of power” and stated that Zionism “has many parallels to racism.” Nor is his enmity limited to Jews and Israel, “I am not even anti-white, despite the madness of that group,” Tutu proudly proclaimed.


Foxman, in his letter to the president of the university, acknowledged that Tutu’s “words have often stung the Jewish community” and “at times has crossed the line.” Does that mean crossed into anti-Semitism or venal hatred. Then why does the Anti-Defamation League betray their mission to fight those who defame Israel and Jews by supporting giving a defamer like Tutu a platform to potentially spew his venom.

 

Morton A. Klein
National President
Zionist Organization of America

 

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The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.

Center for Law & Justice
We work to educate the American public and Congress about legal issues in order to advance the interests of Israel and the Jewish people.
We assist American victims of terrorism in vindicating their rights under the law, and seek to hold terrorists and sponsors of terrorism accountable for their actions.
We fight anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses.
We strive to enforce existing law and also to create new law in order to safeguard the rights of the Jewish people in the United States and Israel.