Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL) put their dirty foot in their mouth.

Abraham Foxman

I never liked the ADL.  Somehow they send a vibe of sneaky, dishonest and unprincipled opportunism.  No matter what subject they meddle in, their stance reeks of pure cheeky pro-Israel propaganda (i.e., Hasbara) coated with an ultra-thin layer of civil rights defense.

The only demonstration I organized was against their ugly head, Abraham Foxman who was invited - by some people who like pushing the envelope - to speak as a keynote speaker before St Louis Interfaith Partnership.
It was a joke to invite the head of a so-called civil right advocacy group who - was a week earlier in Israel to support their bloody deliberate assault on Lebanon civilians and infrastructure - to be the key note speaker in an annual meeting of INTERFAITH organization.  It was a slap in the faith to St. Louis Muslim community.

The logic of pro-Israel apologists is usually that anything a loud-mouth pro-Israel lobbyist does is an example of sublime morality, innocence and thoughtfulness.  And if you do not like... Well, that is because you are an anti-Semite - or a self-hating Jew, depending of the circumstances.

I am very happy that the shameful Anti Defamation League has recently opened its out only to put its dirty foot in it.

• Anti-Defamation League Comes Out Against Ground Zero Mosque

Their stance is deliberate, and 'well argued' -so it will be very difficult for them to spin it into something like: 'it was taken of of context'  or 'it was an impulsive low-level and unauthorised person who did it, and we fire him'.   This one is sticking - and it shows the real ADL: bigoted and hypocritical, just as I always suspected.
The statement contains a sentence that will go done their history as a landmark of their hypocrisy:

"But ultimately this is not a question of [civil] rights, but a question of what is right."

Coming for this 'pretend' civil rights group, it is a statement that makes you want to vomit.  Of course, from their perspective 'what is right' is usually what they deem it to be so.

What they did is not sitting  well with many progressive Jewish voices and they are outspoken against it.  Jeffrey Blankfort has an excellent post on the wonderful MondoWeiss blog about the ADL and thier dirty history.

•  The back-of-the-envelope history of the Anti-Defamation League

Other postings on the same great blog cover other aspects of the issue.

‘ADL’ statement rationalizing bigotry draws wide scorn - Philip Weiss - MondoWeiss

Foxman plays Holocaust card - Philip Weiss -MondoWeiss

And by Paul Crugman in the New York Times Blog

Bad for the Jews - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com

It is nice to see an ugly face finally lose the half-pound of make-up it is hiding behind.

Khaled

Post-script

• ZAKARIA TAKES A STAND: CNN Host Returns Award From Jewish Group [ADL] Over Ground Zero Mosque

Zakaria poses thr question:"Does Foxman believe that bigotry is OK if people think they're victims? Does the anguish of Palestinians, then, entitle them to be anti-Semitic?"

And I, Khaled, may add: Does the Jewish suffering during the holocaust justify the racism and bigotry that Palestinian face on daily basis in there own occupied historic Homeland?