Two years ago, I wrote an article about the Anti-Defamation League and how it had shifted from protecting Jews to actually becoming anti-Semitic under the leadership of Jonathan Greenblatt. The organization has continued down this evil path, now accusing those people who disagree with the group politically of being anti-Semites, bigots, trolls, and white supremacists. The ADL recently called Elon Musk an anti-Semite for allowing people on the X platform that the group disagrees with, potentially affecting the finances of X.
But we can all be grateful to Musk for not backing down, and for contemplating a lawsuit against the hatred that has become part of the fabric of the ADL in the last few years.
There is a pattern of “agenda-driven” organizations and individuals accusing others of crimes that they are actually perpetuating. BLM is supposedly against all forms of hate, yet it is committed in its manifesto to the principles of anti-Semitism, anti-Israel, and prejudice against anyone who is not black. Transgender activists have shown repeatedly that they have no issue with physically attacking those who disagree with their agenda. How many “tolerant” individuals during the pandemic were only tolerant of people who were double vaccinated and masked? And how many wanted to imprison or even kill those individuals who chose not to get the jab? The ADL, originally founded to “stop the defamation of the Jewish people,” has in recent years under Greenblatt embraced anti-Semites like Al Sharpton, partnered with CAIR in fighting against anti-BDS legislation, and now attacked Elon Musk as an anti-Semite for daring to allow anyone who disagrees with Greenblatt’s leftist political agenda to be on X. It is no wonder that the ADL has even been called “bendingly insane” by Tablet magazine.
The ADL was founded in 1913 with the noble cause of stopping hatred against Jews. No longer is that even its mission statement; in 2018 it rebranded itself with the motto of “Fighting Hate for Good.” Originally founded in response to the persecution and ultimate lynching of Leo Frank, the organization has transformed from an organization dedicated to protecting the Jewish people to one that is a mouthpiece for leftist political agendas.
It is profoundly sad but true that the ADL no longer fights for just causes, but has become a bully that uses its influence to push a political agenda. The organization holds great sway over corporations and politicians by threatening to create boycotts of advertisers and donors unless the businesses kowtow to the ADL’s instructions. Musk knows the best and only way to combat a bully like the ADL is not to kneel, but to stand and fight.
With Elon Musk threatening to take on the ADL, we can only hope that the Anti-Defamation League is forced to go through a restructuring that returns it to the values it had a century ago.
There is another caution that must be mentioned. Europeans think of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a spokesman for all European Jews (he’s not), and subsequently are blaming the Ukraine war on Jews. We cannot allow anyone to think that the ADL is the voice of American Judaism. While there was a time that the ADL was an advocate against anti-Semitism, the organization has never been and certainly is not now the representative of American Judaism. It was never the voice of Judaism, and is no longer even an advocate for Jewish or Israeli causes. The Zionist Organization of America is probably the strongest American advocate for Israel, and there are countless voices that represent the many factions and views in American Judaism. Judaism is not monolithic, and while the ADL is a self-appointed and very loud voice for the political left, it is not an actual representation of American Judaism in any way. And it was never meant to be so.
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Despite its noble beginnings, the ADL is now a de facto political lackey for the most leftist faction of the Democratic party. It is for this reason that the ADL repeatedly condemned President Trump, despite the miracle of his achieving the Abraham Accords. An organization that was once an advocate for justice has become a bully that accuses all opponents of the hatred that it perpetuates, and the ADL is no longer even a shadow of what it was in the last century.
May Elon Musk expose the fall of the ADL. May he strengthen freedom, respect, and true tolerance through guiding the ADL away from its current political bullying and toward its original value of combatting real anti-Semitism. And in so doing, may we weaken all bullies who seek to promote themselves by perpetuating hate under the guise of advocacy.
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