{"id":33009,"date":"2016-11-15T11:38:51","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T17:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=33009"},"modified":"2016-11-15T11:38:51","modified_gmt":"2016-11-15T17:38:51","slug":"op-ed-adl-should-praise-trumps-pro-israel-positions-not-wrongly-criticize-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/op-ed-adl-should-praise-trumps-pro-israel-positions-not-wrongly-criticize-him\/","title":{"rendered":"OP-ED: ADL should praise Trump\u2019s pro-Israel positions, not wrongly criticize him"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By MORTON A. KLEIN<\/p>\n<p>(JNS.org) &#8212; The Anti-Defamation League\u2019s (ADL) recent statements essentially criticizing the election victory by Donald Trump and Mike Pence are inappropriate and harmful.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_33010\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Anti-Defamation_League.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33010\" class=\"wp-image-33010 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Anti-Defamation_League-300x140.jpg\" alt=\"ADL logo_w-full name outlined_Pantone 072\" width=\"300\" height=\"140\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Anti-Defamation_League-300x140.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Anti-Defamation_League.jpg 462w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/140;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33010\" class=\"wp-image-33010 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Anti-Defamation_League-300x140.jpg\" alt=\"ADL logo_w-full name outlined_Pantone 072\" width=\"300\" height=\"140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Anti-Defamation_League-300x140.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Anti-Defamation_League.jpg 462w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-33010\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">ADL logo (via Wikimedia)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The front page of the ADL\u2019s website features a blurb and link to an ADL blog post entitled \u201cWhite Supremacists Celebrate Trump\u2019s Victory\u201d (Nov. 10) that deceptively seems to tie President-elect Trump to former KKK leader David Duke and Jew-hating neo-Nazis\u2014while never mentioning Trump\u2019s repeated repudiations of David Duke and neo-Nazis. The ADL post also never mentions that the Trump\/Pence platform is the most pro-Israel platform in decades, and is dedicated to combating the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and protecting Jewish students on American college campuses.<\/p>\n<p>The front page of the ADL\u2019s website also features a blurb and link to the ADL\u2019s Nov. 10 press release entitled, \u201cADL Provides Guide for Educators and Families to Help Young People Process Election 2016.\u201d The release, along with the ADL\u2019s accompanying resource guide, engages in fear-mongering tactics including advising parents and teachers to \u201cTell [young people] you will protect and fight for them\u201d\u2014presumably against supposed \u201cevils\u201d of President-elect Trump. Similar to the ADL\u2019s \u201cwhite supremacist\u201d blog, the organization\u2019s \u201chelp young people\u201d press release and the resource guide never mention any of the positive truths about the Trump\/Pence platform.<\/p>\n<p>The ADL resource guide also tells parents and teachers to \u201cencourage activism\u201d against injustice (presumably against supposed \u201cinjustice\u201d of a Trump\/Pence administration). The resource guide then links to the ADL\u2019s \u201cWays Youth Can Engage in Activism,\u201d which encourages young people to demonstrate in the streets, saying, \u201cDemonstrate: Marching in the streets enables students to express themselves while meeting and connecting with other people who feel passionate about the same issues. Demonstrations and protests can be uplifting and empowering and can help students feel like they are part of a larger movement\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead of encouraging young people to demonstrate against the president-elect, it would be far wiser for the ADL to warn young people about the violence, lawlessness, and obscene rantings at many anti-Trump demonstrations, and about the virulent anti-Israel sentiment that appears to be instigating and supporting many anti-Trump demonstrations.<\/p>\n<p>Anti-Trump demonstrations have sometimes turned into violent riots. Demonstrators have set buildings and trucks on fire; piled debris onto streets; smashed car and shop windows while ignoring local business owners\u2019 pleas to leave them alone; thrown glass bottles; ignited fireworks; blocked streets and major highways; defaced a memorial in New Orleans with spray-painted epithets including, \u201cDie Whites Die,\u201d \u201cF&#8212; Trump\u201d and \u201cF&#8212; White People\u201d, and &#8220;Rape Melania;\u201d and attacked innocent white people.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, hordes of demonstrators in cities throughout the country are carrying professionally printed signs stating that they are from \u201cAnswerCoalition.org,\u201d an anti-Israel organization that is apparently fomenting and sponsoring the anti-Trump demonstrations. \u201cAnswerCoalition.org\u201d is the very same group that has sponsored vicious anti-Israel demonstrations, including during the wars in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>This is even confirmed by ADL\u2019s own archives, which explained in 2011, \u201cUnder the guise of an anti-imperialist and anti-war agenda, the Far-Left International Action Center (IAC) and its affiliate, the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, have been at the forefront of injecting anti-Israel fervor and support for terrorism into the anti-war movement\u2026.IAC and ANSWER have sponsored and organized numerous anti-Israel events, rallies and demonstrations in the United States. ANSWER in particular has positioned itself as the leading organizer of the large rallies against Israel that usually take place during periods of heightened tension\u2026These protests, often co-sponsored by other anti-Israel organizations, regularly featured anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, expressions of support for terror and offensive Holocaust imagery likening Jews and Israelis to Nazis. ANSWER and IAC have both repeatedly expressed support for terrorist groups determined to dismantle the state of Israel, including Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as \u2018resistance\u2019 groups fighting U.S. forces abroad\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It has also been reported that the vicious anti-Israel billionaire and supporter of Hilary Clinton has been funding these rallies. When one sees ads to hire organizers for these rallies, one questions if they&#8217;re truly spontaneous.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s clear that the Trump\/Pence administration may very well become the most pro-Israel administration in history and a champion of the fight against anti-Semitism. The Trump\/Pence administration has pledged to take strong legislative and diplomatic actions to combat anti-Semitic BDS and labeling campaigns; has pledged to have the Justice Department investigate the coordinated intimidation of Jewish and pro-Israel students on college campuses; rejects the anti-Semitic notion that Israel is an \u201coccupier\u201d of Arab lands; is committed to cutting funding to United Nations organizations that persistently slander the Jewish state; will end the Obama administration\u2019s unconstitutional limitations on congressional defense aid to Israel; and is committed to pressuring the Palestinian Authority (PA) to stop promoting hatred and violence against Jews in PA schools, media, and speeches. The Trump\/Pence administration has also pledged to finally move the American embassy in Israel to Israel\u2019s capital\u2014Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, Israel and Jews throughout the world have experienced more anti-Semitic attacks and defamation than they have at any time since the 1930s. A pro-Israel U.S. administration dedicated to combating this Jew-hating, Israel-bashing onslaught is what we desperately need. It\u2019s time for the ADL to acknowledge who our friends are and to stop wrongly, even if subtly, condemning them.<\/p>\n<p><em>Morton A. Klein is the national president of the Zionist Organization of America.<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"OP-ED%3A%20ADL%20should%20praise%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20pro-Israel%20positions%2C%20not%20wrongly%20criticize%20him\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[3432,8790,8795,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33011,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33009\/revisions\/33011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}