Jewish organizations have closed ranks behind the embattled Anti-Defamation League, which is under investigation by the San Francisco Police Department on suspicion of carrying out illegal information-gathering activities.
In separate statements, four major umbrella groups have expressed their confidence that the accusations leveled against ADL would prove groundless.
The groups are the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, the World Jewish Congress and the American Zionist Movement.
“ADL deserves our respect and confidence. We are certain that after all the legal processes are concluded, our trust in and respect for the ADL will be justified,” read a statement issued Tuesday by Lester Pollack, chairman of the Conference of Presidents, and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman.
The controversy surrounding ADL stems from accusations made by the San Francisco police that the organization illegally obtained information using a variety of means, including wiretapping and the purchase of confidential police files.
No formal charges have been filed yet, although the police executed search warrants at ADL’s Los Angeles and San Francisco offices earlier this month.
Police officials suspect ADL violated the law in the process of keeping tabs on thousands of individuals and organizations as part of a nationwide “spy network.”
ADL, an organization founded to fight anti-Semitism and racism, maintains it has not broken any laws and that its compilation of information on racist and extremist groups is totally legitimate.
ADL reiterated this stand to the 20 or so representatives of Jewish organizations who gathered Tuesday morning to draft the Conference of Presidents statement.
‘FULL CONFIDENCE’ IN ADL’S INTEGRITY
A representative from Americans for Peace Now, the newest member of the 50-member conference, asked about reports that her organization was among those concerning which ADL maintained files.
“I was told that the folder marked APN contains informational materials, our own publications and clippings about our activities,” said Letty Cottin Pogrebin, chair of Americans for Peace Now.
“I certainly subscribe to the view that what’s important is how people use files, and if I don’t see any evidence that they have used the files to denigrate us, I don’t have any problem with it,” she said.
NJCRAC, an umbrella group comprising 13 national and 117 community agencies, applauded ADL’s work, saying its “fact-finding activities have been significant in countering extremism and protecting the rights of all Americans.
“For this work, the organized American Jewish community, and indeed all who support civil rights for all Americans, are in the debt of the ADL,” NJCRAC said in a statement Monday.
The American Zionist Movement, composed of 21 Zionist groups, likewise praised ADL and dismissed the recent allegations against it.
“The Anti-Defamation League is the preeminent organization devoted to the struggle against anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry,” Seymour Reich, president of the movement, said in a statement issued Tuesday.
“Having heard the report of the leadership of the ADL, we reject the allegations that ADL has employed illegal methodologies in the course of information gathering,” he added.
The World Jewish Congress also joined the chorus of support for ADL.
“The World Jewish Congress, representing the Jewish communities of 86 countries, expresses its full confidence in the integrity of the operations of the ADL,” a WJC statement said Tuesday.
A leader of one of the groups involved said the relatively late show of support by the major organizations came as a result of ADL’s own lowkey response to the allegations, which first surfaced some months ago, but did not explode into newspaper headlines this month.
ADL has only recently begun to respond to the charges.
“The whole community got a late start on the subject because of the ADL’s reticence to go forward,” said the leader, who requested anonymity. “It would have been chutzpahdik for any of the organizations to jump in ahead of them.”
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