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ADL’s Stats Twist Israel’s Critics Into Antisemites

February 19, 2025 by Nora Lester Murad

This article was originally published by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting

Media outlets continue to print headlines about antisemitism based on Anti-Defamation League statistics known to be faulty and politicized. In doing so, they grant undeserved credibility to the ADL as a source.

Producing statistics helps the ADL to claim objectivity when they assert that antisemitism is increasing dramatically, prevalent in all fields of society, and emanating from the left as well as the right. Those “facts” are then used to justify policy recommendations that fail to respond to actual antisemitism, but succeed in undermining the free speech rights of Palestinians and their supporters, including those of us who are Jews.

Smearing Israel critics as antisemites

Nation: The Anti-Defamation League: Israel’s Attack Dog in the US

James Bamford (The Nation, 1/31/24) : “The New York Times, PBS and other mainstream outlets that reach millions are constantly and uncritically promoting the ADL and amplifying the group’s questionable charges.”

While it frames itself as a civil rights organization, the ADL has a long history of actively spying on critics of Israel and collaborating with the Israeli government (Nation, 1/31/24). (FAIR itself was targeted as a “Pinko” group in ADL’s sprawling spying operation in the ’90s.)

Though it professes to document and challenge antisemitism, it openly admits to counting pro-Palestinian activism as antisemitic: In 2023, the ADL changed its methodology for reporting antisemitic incidents to include rallies that feature “anti-Zionist chants and slogans,” even counting anti-war protests led by Jews—including Jewish organizations the ADL designated as “hate groups.”

The ADL’s political motivations are clear in its advocacy for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which alleges that criticizing Israel based on its policies (e.g., “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” or “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis“) is antisemitic. The ADL and their allies also deem speech supporting Palestinian human rights to be coded antisemitism.

Criticism of the ADL is increasing. In 2020, activists launched #DropTheADL to raise awareness among progressives that the ADL is not a civil rights or anti-bias group, but rather an Israel advocacy organization that attacks Palestinians and supporters of Palestinian rights in order to protect Israel from criticism. Last year, a campaign to Drop the ADL From Schools launched with an exposé in Rethinking Schools magazine, and an open letter to educators, titled “Educators Beware: The Anti-Defamation League Is Not the Social Justice Partner It Claims to Be,” that garnered more than 90 organizational signatories. These efforts build off research that exposes the ADL’s work to normalize Zionism and censor inclusion of Palestinian topics in the media, policy circles, schools and in society at large.

In 2023, some of its own high-profile staff resigned, citing the group’s “dishonest” campaign against Israel’s critics. In June 2024, Wikipedia editors found the ADL regularly labels legitimate political criticism of Israel as antisemitic, leading the popular online encyclopedia to designate the group an unreliable source on Israel/Palestine.

Critiquing the ADL’s statistics does not serve to argue that antisemitism is acceptable or less deserving of attention than other forms of discrimination. Rather, it demonstrates that we can’t rely on the ADL for information about the extent or nature of antisemitism—and neither should media.

A dubious source

NYT: Antisemitic Incidents Reach New High in the U.S., Report Finds

This New York Times report (10/6/24) obscured the fact that many of the “antisemitic incidents” counted by the ADL were chants critical of Israel.

And yet corporate media use the ADL uncritically as a source for reports on antisemitism. For instance, the New York Times (10/6/24) not only headlined the ADL’s assertion that “Antisemitic Incidents Reach New High in the US,” it chose to contextualize the ADL’s findings “in the wake of the Hamas attack,” and called the ADL a “civil rights organization.”

Important media outlets like The Hill (4/16/24), with outsized influence on national policy discussions, ran similar headlines, failing to note the ADL’s highly controversial methodology.

At least the Wall Street Journal (1/14/25) acknowledged that the ADL has been challenged for counting criticism of Israel as antisemitism. But it immediately dismissed the applicability of those challenges to the ADL’s Global 100 survey, which found that 46% of adults worldwide hold antisemitic views. (The ADL’s Global 100 survey was criticized for its flawed methodology as far back as 2014, when researchers found it “odd and potentially misleading.”)

The media’s willingness to accept ADL claims without scrutiny is evident in CNN’s choice (12/16/24) not to investigate the ADL’s accusations of antisemitism against speakers at a recent conference of the National Association of Independent Schools, but rather to simply repeat and amplify the ADL’s dishonest and slanderous narrative.

Methodological faults

Jewish Currents: Examining the ADL’s Antisemitism Audit

A Jewish Currents report (6/17/24) concluded that “the ADL’s data is much more poised to capture random swastika graffiti and stray anti-Zionist comments than dangerous Christian nationalist movements.”

Even setting aside the ADL’s prioritization of Israel’s interests over Jewish well-being, the ADL’s statistics should be thrown out due to methodological faults and lack of transparency.

Even FBI statistics, frequently cited by the ADL, don’t tell a clear story. Their claim that 60% of religious hate crimes (not mere bias incidents) target Jews is misleading, given the systemic undercounting of bias against other religious groups. Because of the history of anti-Muslim policing, Muslims are less likely to report than people of other religions.

In fact, a national survey of Muslims found that over two-thirds of respondents had personally encountered Islamophobia, while only 12.5% had reported an incident. Almost two-thirds of respondents who encountered an Islamophobic incident did not know where or how to report it. When Muslims experience hate, it is less likely to be pursued as a hate crime.

On the other hand, the ADL has an unparalleled infrastructure for collecting incident reports. It actively solicits these reports from its own network, and through close relations with police and a growing network of partners like Hillel International and Jewish Federations.

Perpetrators’ motivations are also relevant and should not be inferred. In 2017, Jews were frightened by over 2,000 threats aimed at Jewish institutions in the United States. It turned out that nearly all came from one Jewish Israeli with mental health problems. Without this level of investigation, policymakers could enact misguided policy based on the ADL’s sensationalism, like CEO Jonathan Greenblatt’s claim that “antisemitism is nothing short of a national emergency, a five-alarm fire that is still raging across the country and in our local communities and campuses.”

Bad-faith accusations

Zeteo: What Antisemitism? The ADL Prostrated to Musk and Trump

David Klion (Zeteo, 2/4/25): “How did the ADL, which for generations has presented itself as America’s leading antisemitism watchdog, find itself prostrated before the most powerful enabler of white supremacy in recent American history?”

Although critics have long argued that the ADL’s politicized definition of antisemitism and flawed statistics cannot be the basis of effective policy, policymakers continue to rely on media’s deceptive journalism.

Massachusetts State Sen. John Velis cited ADL statistics to claim the state has “earned the ignominious reputation as a hub of antisemitic activity,” and therefore needs a special antisemitism commission. In Michigan, ADL reports of escalating antisemitism led to a resolution that will affect policy in schools across the state. In Connecticut, the ADL referenced its statistics in a government announcement about changes to the state’s hate crimes laws. The ADL’s statistics undergirded the logic of President Joe Biden’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.

But how can politically distorted research be the foundation for effective policy?

Antisemitism is surely increasing. Hate crimes have increased in general—most targeting Black people—especially since the first Trump presidency, and hate incidents generally rise during violent outbreaks like the war on Gaza, and during election periods. But since most antisemitism originates in the white nationalist right wing, why focus primarily on people—including Jews—who are legitimately protesting their own government’s support for Israeli actions against Palestinians? Or on Palestinians themselves, who have every right to promote the humanity and rights of their people?

The ADL’s bad-faith accusations weaponize antisemitism to protect Israel at the expense of democratic and anti-racist principles. Anyone who doubted the ADL’s politics should be convinced by its abhorrent defense of Elon Musk’s Nazi salute (FAIR.org, 1/23/25) and its support for Donald Trump.

To pursue effective public policy, policymakers and the public should refuse to cite the ADL’s flawed statistics, and instead develop thoughtful and nuanced ways to understand and address antisemitism and other forms of bigotry and discrimination. Media can play a key role by exposing the politicization of antisemitism by the ADL, including its prioritization of protection for Israel from criticism over the free speech that is fundamental to democratic discourse.

How to be a friend to a family at risk of demolition?

April 24, 2023 by Nora Lester Murad

Nurredin Amro has been my friend for more than a decade. For the last eight of those years, he has been fighting to protect his home in Jerusalem from demolition by the Israeli authorities.

The Markaz Review has published my photo essay about Nurredin’s experience. Read it here. Please share it widely.

I’ve started a GoFundMe campaign to help raise funds for Nurredin’s legal and other expenses associated with being at risk of demolition. Support it here. Please share it widely.

Also…

It’s extremely helpful if you would contact your own elected officials (in the US, your congresspeople and senators) expressing your outrage and asking them to investigate and report back to you about Nurredin’s case. If you or they need more information, let me know. You may blind copy me if you’re willing so I can keep track of numbers, and if you get any reply, I hope you’ll let me know at nora@noralestermurad.com.

Sample text for you to pull from is below.

To Whom It May Concern,

I’ve become aware that the home of Nurredin Amro and his family in East Jerusalem has been completely surrounded by a wall, severely impeding entry and exit by Nurredin and his brother, both of whom are blind, and inconveniencing the other eight members of their family. Moreover, this escalation comes after eight years of harassment that started when the Amro home was partially demolished in 2015. During that time, many homes on the land between the vegetable market and the valley below the Mount of Olives have been demolished, the residents forced out of the neighborhood, ostensibly so that the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority can build a park.

As a justice-loving global citizen, I am appalled by Israel’s blatant disregard for human rights and morality in this case, and many others in which Palestinians are being forced out of Jerusalem, despite their demonstrated relationship to the land going back generations. East Jerusalem is occupied and forcible transfer within the framework of occupation is a war crime! I therefore call upon you to cease all harassment against the Amro and other families in the Sawanna area and allow them to live in peace and security with dignity.

Please respond to me with confirmation of what you intend to do in Nurredin’s case. I plan to keep members of my community and my elected representatives informed.

Thank you so much. Your support makes a difference. I promise you.

Fiction, reality, the US police, the Red Cross & Palestinians

December 29, 2020 by Nora Lester Murad

TV commercials showing beautiful people with windblown hair driving along the California coastline in a convertible have a disclaimer in small print at the bottom of the screen that says something like, “Professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt.” Why do they say this?

Clearly, some people do not understand the difference between fiction and reality. In his brilliant commentary-comedy (8:06), Trevor Noah demonstrates how some people develop opinions about the police through cop shows. He acknowledges that police are often portrayed as breaking the law, but rather than come away with the impression that police misconduct should be addressed, viewers see police as good people who only break rules when necessary to promote the common good. In other words, police misconduct is justified and even glorified.

Apparently, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Israel and the Occupied Territories had similar concerns. In a series of recent tweets, they creatively showed how the Israeli TV drama series, Fauda, portrays violations of international humanitarian law in ways that the common viewer might not recognize as illegal.

Ep. 7:
👍Escorting a loved one to a hospital is fine.
❌Building a military base in the premises of a hospital is not allowed by #IHL as it puts civilians and wounded fighters at risk. pic.twitter.com/pXdN4WYFhV

— ICRC in Israel & OT (@ICRC_ilot) December 27, 2020

Ep. 10:
👍Cruising with friends in a van is a great way to enjoy the weekend.
❌Using an ambulance for covert activities and impersonating health care workers and misusing the emblem are serious violations of IHL. pic.twitter.com/c0MrXbREoc

— ICRC in Israel & OT (@ICRC_ilot) December 27, 2020

Ep. 10:
❌❌Torture is illegal in any circumstances!❌❌ pic.twitter.com/X2Um6oxvoy

— ICRC in Israel & OT (@ICRC_ilot) December 27, 2020

But the twitterverse did not approve. There were literally hundreds of replies calling out the ICRC for reflecting on representations of Israeli behavior on a fictional show. The replies were defensive, as if the ICRC were accusing Israel of committing these crimes when they are, in fact, only fictional.

Unfortunately, Israeli violations of international humanitarian and human rights law is not fictional and police misconduct is real. The only question worth asking, then, is whether or not creators of fiction have an obligation to at least consider the social impact of their portrayals. We know, for example, that representations of women in children’s literature and television have a dramatic impact on how girls see themselves (not to mention how boys see girls).

The problem can go the other way too. Reality can be presented in ways that are problematic. Just last week, in fact, I tweeted about a fundraising commercial (ironically for the American Red Cross). In it, a woman plays “What the world needs now is love” on a piano in a demolished house. Her husband and daughter find a teddy bear in the rubble. The October 26 commercial is touching, and no doubt, many viewers pull out their check books to support the disaster relief work of the Red Cross.

But this commercial is no mere fictional scene pulled from the head of a creative advertiser. It is nearly identical to an August 5 home video taken just after the Beirut explosion and circulated by the Guardian. And this is not okay. The American Red Cross should not fictionalize reality for the sake of profit. This is exploitation and definitely (IMHO) crosses the line of acceptable humanitarian communications.

What, then, can we conclude? Viewers should consume all kinds of media with healthy skepticism. We should not assume that what we see in the media is “true.” We should definitely ask what interests benefit from a certain portrayal. In the case of police, viewers should believe what Black and other people of color share about their real experiences with police. Centering and amplifying BIPOC voices will put fictional portrayals into context and provide depth to our analysis of media coverage of the police. As for Fauda, we should respond to those like the ICRC who call on us to go beyond TV drama for information about international humanitarian law. But that’s not enough. We must center and amplify the voices of the people who experience the violations of international humanitarian law — in this case, Palestinians. Until Palestinians are heard, seen and believed, the rest of the world will be susceptible to Israel’s portrayals of them, whether in drama or the news.

Launching a book in the midst of a pandemic

May 27, 2020 by Nora Lester Murad

Copies of my second book, I Found Myself in Palestine, arrived from the publisher in the middle of March. The very considerate delivery guy put down the books and moved away. “I’ll sign your delivery receipt,” he said, “so you don’t need to touch my pen and clipboard.”

There is nothing normal about launching a book in the midst of a pandemic.

The cover was beautiful and I liked holding the compact little book in my hands, but it didn’t feel like an accomplishment. It didn’t feel like the culmination of literally years of work by me and the 23 writers featured in the anthology. Honestly, it seemed trivial.

Hundreds of thousands more people have died since then, and the stress of uncertainty in the United States and around the world has grown. But I’m ready to share the book with the world anyway. Some people are reading more these days, and friends tell me that the personal approach of the book may bring calm and inspiration to some people. I hope so.

There is nothing normal about launching a book in the midst of a pandemic, but I hope that I Found Myself in Palestine will remind people that Palestinians, like many others, have experienced uncertainty and death for decades and they have kept their humanity. I hope we can all do the same.

Philanthropy to Israel and Palestine – it’s time to change the framing

July 24, 2018 by Nora Lester Murad

*UPDATE* This article is now free to the public!  https://www.alliancemagazine.org/analysis/philanthropy-to-israel-and-palestine-its-time-to-change-the-framing/

What an honor it was to be asked by Alliance Magazine, a preeminent publication in the field of global philanthropy, to become a “Philanthropy Thinker.” I will contribute an analytical piece annually.

My first piece (just published) was on a topic near and dear to my heart: how philanthropy to Israel and Palestine are framed. In it, I try to argue that the framing of Israeli diaspora philanthropy and Palestinian diaspora philanthropy as two parallel, unrelated, and benign trends is false and harmful.

If you’re a subscriber, you can find the full article here (and if you live in Palestine or a country in the Global South, you can subscribe for free). For the rest, please consider subscribing to Alliance. If you can’t, my article will no longer have a paywall around mid-October and you’ll be able to access it freely.

The comments are already lively, and I hope you’ll join in.

The Militarization of Palestinian Aid

July 9, 2017 by Nora Lester Murad

When I was still with Aid Watch Palestine, I co-authored an article with Alaa Tartir about the militarization of Palestinian aid. It was published by Reality of Aid and IBON International here and in Arabic here. It was a great honor to have the issue picked up by The Real News Network, whose wonderful Shir Hever interviewed me about the issues. It is 14:46 in English with a transcript of the interview here. Please share if you find it useful, and please comment below or on TRNN so we can get discussion about this critical issue going.

 

Now in Spanish! See: http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=237144&titular=militarizaci%F3n-de-la-ayuda-internacional-a-palestina-

Recent Posts

  • The convos jumbled in my heart and head
  • ADL’s Stats Twist Israel’s Critics Into Antisemites
  • Is Fire Enough to Get Americans to Empathize with Palestinians?
  • CNN essentially publishes ADL PR, fails to investigate recent educational conference accusations
  • Educators Beware: The Anti-Defamation League Is Not the Social Justice Partner It Claims to Be

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