Letters to the Editor: Attacking the Anti-Defamation League misses the reality of antisemitism

To the editor: The recent opinion piece attacking the Anti-Defamation League is both outrageous and inaccurate. As the former ADL Board Chair for the Los Angeles Region, I can attest that ADL takes its joint mission very seriously. ADL has spent countless hours advocating for marginalized groups while fighting antisemitism. This is right and just. Even if ADL did not stand up against hate of all kinds, which it does, it would be perfectly acceptable to call out antisemitism against Jewish students.

In the piece by Mark Dery, he simultaneously validates hateful rhetoric coming out of the “pro-Palestinian” community and then criticizes the ADL and compares it to McCarthyism for attempting to shine a light on hateful speech and conduct.

This is a rewrite of history, but the facts remain and the court will determine whether laws were violated and if the plaintiffs are entitled to compensation.

Eric Kingsley, Encino

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To the editor: Dery dismisses the intimidation of Jewish students as an unfortunate but merely “messy” sideline to the indignation of progressive anger at Israel’s bombing of civilians.

Antisemitism is not irrelevant to the tragedy of Gaza. It is antisemitism that is at the heart of Hamas’ reason for being. It is Hamas that began this conflict with a truly genocidal attack on Jews on Oct. 7. The Occidental College student who was afraid to wear her Star of David on campus is a sister to the many young women who were raped and mutilated by Hamas on Oct. 7. For Dery not to understand this is at the heart of the insensitivity of so many progressive students, Gentile and Jewish, to the sacredness of the Zionist ideal dedicated to the self-protection of Jews in a world where antisemitism is very much alive — from American synagogues where the membership has to pay an extra fee to maintain security protection during religious services to the killing fields of the music festival in Israel where Netanyahu’s government failed to protect its own citizens.

Contrary to Dery’s beliefs, the Anti-Defamation League’s work is more important than ever.

Peter Brier, Altadena

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To the editor: I was dismayed by Dery’s opinion piece attacking the Anti-Defamation League. Underlying Dery’s attacks is ADL’s position that much of what has passed recently on campuses as anti-Zionism is fundamentally antisemitic requiring strong condemnation and remedial actions under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In leveling his accusations, Dery blurs the line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism and neglects to differentiate between vociferous criticism of Israel (not antisemitic in the ADL’s view) and speech designed to delegitimize and wipe out the very existence of Israel as a Jewish homeland (definitely antisemitic in the ADL’s view). In doing so, he demeans the real-world experience of a student harassed for expressing her Jewishness. He excuses unlawful protests as being OK because they were “peaceful.” And he normalizes speech that he admits to cross the line into antisemitism.

Richard Moss, Santa Monica

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To the editor: I read with great interest Dery’s article. I have at other times enjoyed his writings. But not this one.

First, he conflates the nation of Israel with the Netanyahu government. It is one thing to protest that government, as tens of thousands of Israeli and American Jews have done and still do. It is another to deny Israel’s right to exist, which is what these campus protests seek — the end of Israel “from the river to the sea.” Dery says that the ADL “blasts as antisemitic any who dare criticize Israel.” That too is false. ADL and its leaders have criticized the Netanyahu government and its wingnut right-wing cabinet.

Second, calling the ADL the “hitman for McCarthyite Zionism” is clever wordplay, but hardly apt. Zionism is fundamentally Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and ADL’s defense of it is in no way “McCarthyite.” Perhaps Dery is unaware that in the Senate, McCarthy went after Jews with a passion.

Third, Dery minimizes that Jewish students on university campuses — including his alma mater — are suffering physical threats and harassment from students and faculty arising from nothing more than that they are Jewish. To that, I can only say shame on Dery. ADL’s century-old commitment to its mission statement “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment to all” is real, and ADL and its leaders live by it.

Alan Weil, Los Angeles