The Anti-Defamation League misrepresents itself as an expert on antisemitism and bias when, in fact, it is a divisive political interest group that unconditionally supports Israel. Educators should cut all ties with the ADL.
As longtime educators and advocates for educational excellence, we embrace the importance of supporting schools to tackle urgent questions of racism, injustice, and all forms of bigotry. We believe all our students have the right to be safe, to belong, and to develop as critical thinkers and constructive advocates in our diverse world.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has long marketed itself as an expert advisor to school communities on antisemitism and other forms of bias. However, despite its reputation as a civil rights organization, the ADL is not the social justice educational partner it claims to be.
The ADL is a divisive political interest group that:
- sidelines historical, contextual, and systemic analyses of bias and racism in their curricula, focusing instead on individual feelings and actions;
- restricts genuine inquiry in classrooms with pedagogy and content that leave little room for truly questioning assumptions and debating diverse perspectives on a wide range of topics;
- distorts the definition of “antisemitism” in ways that stoke fear among many Jews and pit Jewish comfort against Palestinian rights;
- pushes local, state, and federal educational policy that defends Israel at the expense of the rights of Palestinians, other people of color, and Jews who reject ethnonationalism;
- attacks schools, educators, and students with bad-faith accusations of antisemitism in order to silence and punish constitutionally-protected criticism of Israel and the political ideology of Zionism. (more...)
Open Letter to Educators: The ADL is not a social justice partner
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