Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith,[a] is a New York–based international Jewish non-governmental organization and advocacy group.[4][5][6]
For other uses, see Anti-Defamation League (disambiguation).Formation
September 1913
Civil rights advocacy group
New York City, New York, U.S.
Ben Sax
$101.1 million[2]
$81.5 million[2]
501[2]
3,500[2]
Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith
It was founded in late September 1913 by the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, a Jewish service organization, in the wake of the contentious murder conviction of Leo Frank. ADL subsequently split from B'nai B'rith and continued as an independent US section 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Its current CEO is Jonathan Greenblatt. ADL headquarters are located in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The ADL has 25 regional offices in the United States[7] including a Government Relations Office in Washington, DC, as well as an office in Israel and staff in Europe.[8] In its 2019 annual information Form 990, ADL reported total revenues of $92 million, the vast majority from contributions and grants.[9] Its total operating revenue is reported at $80.9 million.[10]
In an early campaign, ADL and allied groups pressured the automaker Henry Ford, who had published virulently antisemitic propaganda.[11][5] In the 1930s, ADL worked with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to oppose pro-Nazi activity in the United States.[12][6] It opposed McCarthyism during the Cold War,[5] and campaigned for major civil rights legislation in the 1960s.[5][6] In the 1980s, it was involved in propaganda against Nelson Mandela of South Africa before embracing him the following decade.[13][14] The ADL did not recognize the Armenian genocide until 2007, instead calling it a "massacre" and an "atrocity" in years prior.[15][16]
As a pro-Israel group, the ADL has received criticism, including from members of its own staff, that its advocacy for Israel and promotion of the concept of new antisemitism, which includes anti-Zionism, replaced the organization's historical fight against antisemitism.[17][18][19][20][21]
Political positions
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The ADL is described as a pro-Israel group.[100] It says it supports Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.[101] It says it supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, arguing that in a one-state solution, "demographic realities would lead to the effective end of a Jewish State of Israel."[102]
The organization opposed the 1975 United Nations resolution (revoked in 1991) which stated in the resolution that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination",[103] and attempts to revive that formulation at the 2001 U.N. World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.[104]
Relations with religious and ethnic groups
Relations with African-Americans
During the 1970s, the ADL was a staunch opponent of affirmative action, with its then-leader Perlmutter one of the national figures in opposition.[189] It filed an amicus brief in support of Allan Bakke, the white student in the landmark 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke Supreme Court Case that struck down racial quotas for university students.[190] Differences on the issue and others were described as leading to a rift between Jewish and African-American groups in the 1970s.[189] In the 2003 landmark Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger, the ADL filed a brief opposing the University of Michigan's affirmative action program, but its argument did not propose to end affirmative action entirely; rather, the ADL contended that race "may appropriately be considered in the admissions process," but with no more weight than other characteristics of applicants.[189][191]
In 1984, The Boston Globe reported that then-ADL national director Nathan Perlmutter said that Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. was antisemitic after Jackson referred to New York City as "Hymietown".[192][193]
The ADL criticized film director Spike Lee regarding his portrayal of Jewish nightclub owners Moe and Josh Flatbush in his film Mo' Better Blues (1990). The ADL said the characterizations of the nightclub owners "dredge up an age-old and highly dangerous form of anti-Semitic stereotyping", and that it was "disappointed that Spike Lee – whose success is largely due to his efforts to break down racial stereotypes and prejudice – has employed the same kind of tactics that he supposedly deplores".[194] Lee's portrayal also angered the B'nai B'rith and other such Jewish organizations, causing Lee to address the criticism in an opinion piece for The New York Times, where he stated "...if critics are telling me that to avoid charges of anti-Semitism, all Jewish characters I write have to be model citizens, and not one can be a villain, cheat or a crook, and that no Jewish people have ever exploited black artists in the history of the entertainment industry, that's unrealistic and unfair".[195]
In 2004, ADL became the lead partner in the Peace and Diversity Academy, a new New York City public high school with predominantly black and Hispanic students. The school was part of a Bloomberg-led effort to open many smaller schools. In 2014, the school was designated among New York's schools with the lowest graduation rates.[196][197]
In 2018 the ADL criticized US Representative Danny Davis for not condemning Louis Farrakhan.[198] Davis subsequently condemned Farrakhan's views, saying, "So let me be clear: I reject, condemn and oppose Minister Farrakhan's views and remarks regarding the Jewish people and the Jewish religion."[199]
Interfaith camp
In 1996 ADL's New England Regional Office established a faith-based initiative called "The Interfaith Youth Leadership Program", better known as "Camp If", or Camp Interfaith. Involving teenagers of the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths, the camp brings the teens together for a week at camp where the teens bond and learn about each other's cultures. The camp has emerged as a new attempt to foster good relations between younger members of the Abrahamic faiths.[200]