New York - The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today issued a
list of the Top 10 most influential and active anti-Israel groups in the United
States. Each of the selected groups, according to ADL’s research, is “fixated
with delegitimizing Israel” and has demonstrated the ability to reach new
segments of the American public with a hostile and misleading narrative about
Israel.
The Top 10 Anti-Israel Groups, as identified by ADL, are:
ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism).
American Muslims for Palestine.
CODEPINK.
Friends of Sabeel-North America.
If Americans Knew/Council for the National Interest.
Jewish Voice for Peace.
Muslim Public Affairs Council.
Neturei Karta.
Students for Justice in Palestine.
U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
In compiling the list, ADL considered various criteria,
including the groups’ ability to organize, sponsor and endorse Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel; their sponsorship of
and participation in anti-Israel rallies, panel discussions or conferences; and
their ability to pursue anti-Israel policy initiatives and lobbying efforts
against Israel. Information on each of the groups, as well as a description of
their tactics, is available in the full report on the League’s web site.
In addition to their national impact and influence, many of
the groups included in the list are known to employ rhetoric that is extremely
hostile to Israel, Zionists and/or Jews.
Examples of this include:
Allegations that Israel or Jews control the U.S. government
or the media; Offensive parallels to the Holocaust by comparing Israeli leaders
to Nazis or describing Gaza as the “new Auschwitz;” Calls for the dismantlement
of the state of Israel; Expressions of support for terrorist groups that seek
Israel’s destruction.
“The list represents the worst of the worst anti-Israel
groups,” said Mr. Foxman. “They lob any and every accusation against Israel,
including charges of Nazi-like crimes, ‘apartheid’ policies, ethnic cleansing,
war crimes and genocide. Their accusations are rarely, if ever, balanced with
an acknowledgement of Israel’s repeated efforts to make peace with the
Palestinians, or the legitimate terrorism concerns faced by Israeli citizens.”
ADL issued its first list of Top 10 Anti-Israel Groups in
2010 in the wake of the 2008-2009 war in Gaza. Since then, major shifts in the
Middle East, as well as more aggressive efforts to delegitimize Israel through
the BDS campaign, have resulted in a significantly altered domestic anti-Israel
movement.
New to ADL’s list of the Top 10 Anti-Israel Groups are
American Muslims for Palestine, CODEPINK, Neturei Karta and the Muslim Public
Affairs Council (MPAC). Despite MPAC’s positive role in the civil rights,
counterterrorism and interfaith communities, the group’s involvement in
anti-Israel campaigns and its leadership’s consistent use of anti-Israel
rhetoric is extremely troubling.
Once again, the Jewish anti-Israel group “Jewish Voice for
Peace” (JVP) made the ADL list. The
group’s leaders and members of its Rabbinical Council are regularly invited to
major anti-Israel events and conferences, and the group claims that its Jewish
nature gives it a “particular legitimacy in voicing an alternative view.” ADL further noted in its report that JVP
“intentionally exploits Jewish culture and rituals” in an effort to convince
other Jews that opposition to Israel does not contradict, but is consistent
with, Jewish values.
Anti-Israel groups no longer ranking in the Top 10 have, for
various reasons, scaled down the type of activity that merited their inclusion
in the original report. They include The International Solidarity Movement,
Al-Awda, the Muslim American Society, and the Council on American-Islamic
Relations.
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