Jonathan Bronitsky, a participant in a year-long program run by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), found the agency hostile to conservative opinions and individuals. Worse, he discovered that its commitment to a left-wing political agenda distracts from its commitment to fighting anti-Semitism:
Shutting out right-leaning individuals through intimidation and derision weakens coalitions, which are vital in advocacy work. This behavior also diminishes the organization’s values, which will turn stale and trite when left unchallenged. . . .
“The nation’s premier civil rights/human relations agency,” asserts [the ADL mission statement], “fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry”; not just “all forms of bigotry,” but “anti-Semitism” and then “all forms of bigotry.” Yet as murderous anti-Semitism around the globe has surged in recent years, the ADL has dedicated itself more and more to matters of social justice in America (e.g., immigration, women’s reproductive health, economic “privilege”) that are already being pursued by a plethora of lobbying outlets and foundations. This wouldn’t be problematic—or rather, duplicitous—per se. But the ADL loudly and incessantly bemoans the fact that Jews are living in an increasingly dangerous world. . . .
So the ADL, a Jewish advocacy body, is left attempting to convince us that it can confront global anti-Semitism as successfully as it ever has while concurrently expending its resources to tackle “all forms of bigotry.” Given that we as individuals do have priorities, why donate a dime to the ADL? Why should someone who cares first and foremost about gay rights not give their money instead to the Human Rights Campaign?
Read more on Tablet: http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/191920/my-adl-problem