ADL Redefines Its Mission Statement

by Sheila Musaji

A Jewish publication, Tablet Magazine reports that “The Anti-Defamation League has issued a statement opposing the construction of the Islamic community center, Cordoba House, a couple blocks from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan.”

The statement on the ADL site reads as follows:

We regard freedom of religion as a cornerstone of the American democracy, and that freedom must include the right of all Americans – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths – to build community centers and houses of worship.

We categorically reject appeals to bigotry on the basis of religion, and condemn those whose opposition to this proposed Islamic Center is a manifestation of such bigotry.

However, there are understandably strong passions and keen sensitivities surrounding the World Trade Center site.  We are ever mindful of the tragedy which befell our nation there, the pain we all still feel – and especially the anguish of the families and friends of those who were killed on September 11, 2001. 

The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process.  Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.

In recommending that a different location be found for the Islamic Center, we are mindful that some legitimate questions have been raised about who is providing the funding to build it, and what connections, if any, its leaders might have with groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values.  These questions deserve a response, and we hope those backing the project will be transparent and forthcoming.  But regardless of how they respond, the issue at stake is a broader one. 

Proponents of the Islamic Center may have every right to build at this site, and may even have chosen the site to send a positive message about Islam.  The bigotry some have expressed in attacking them is unfair, and wrong.  But ultimately this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right.  In our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain – unnecessarily – and that is not right.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

The last paragraph is the ADL’s statement of purpose.  I read it over a few times in puzzlement wondering how an organization with such a noble purpose could have possibly issued such a statement, and then I realized that this makes their position clear - they are only concerned with countering anti-Semitism. 

Basically, their position is “never again” should we tolerate anti-Semitism (against Jews), but obviously this does not apply to Islamophobia against Islam or Muslims. 

Elsewhere on their site I found this quote “fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all.”  And this statement seems to represent an ideal which the ADL is not willing to live up to.

It would seem that the ADL has redefined it’s mission statement — The ADL fights anti-Semitism and some forms of bigotry, is not particularly concerned about democratic ideals and will protect the civil rights of Jews, but not of Muslims.

This statement by the ADL is offensive to me as an American and as a Muslim.  It is also heartbreaking, since it comes from an organization representing a faith community who has suffered so much in the past from bigotry, prejudice, and violence.  Perhaps, the ADL is now taking advice on this issue from that strident voice of the bigoted segment of the Jewish community,  Pamela Geller. 

I would like to ask the ADL if they are concerned about the pain of the Muslim families who also lost loved ones on 9/11?  Are they concerned about the pain of the millions of American Muslims who are seeing their religion and community villified?  If not, perhaps they need to examine their principles.  Ali Gharib has an important point on this question of “pain”:

The proposed Islamic center is slated to be built two Manhattan blocks from Ground Zero. Now, the Pentagon, which, you’ll remember, was also attacked by radical Muslims on 9/11, is a mere stone’s throw away from Arlington National Cemetery. Say, hypothetically, of course, that family members of the 125 people who perished in the Pentagon that day raised objections to Muslim soldiers from U.S. armed forces being buried at the historic cemetery on Robert E. Lee’s old Arlington plantation. Or it could be the families of the 59 people who were aboard American flight 77 when it hit the Defense Department headquarters. What if it brought those family members pain to see the Islamic symbol — a star and crescent moon — atop the gravestones of these soldiers?

Would Sarah Palin, Rick Lazio, Newt Gingrich and their new friend, Abe Foxman, be asking that these Muslim soldiers not be buried there, or perhaps that their headstones not bear the insignia of their faith because it causes pain that the attackers shared their faith (albeit a twisted and delusional version of it)?

Furthermore, what if the families of Christian, Jewish and atheist soldiers objected that their kids were killed by Muslims in Muslim lands (invaded by the U.S., of course) and were pained by the fact that the next grave over bears Islamic symbols? Would right-wing anti-Islam politicians and figures like Foxman be asking that Muslims be barred from burial in Arlington? Now, after all, we’re talking a matter of feet, not even a stone’s throw, let alone two city blocks.

Laurence Lewis makes much the same point

“But when considering the pain and suffering of those who survived 9/11, or who were traumatized by it, it’s worth considering that there are more than half a million Muslims living in New York City. They saw what other New Yorkers saw. They smelled what other New Yorkers smelled. They experienced the same devastating horror and sorrow. They were New Yorkers like any other New Yorkers. They were no more responsible for the attacks than were any other New Yorkers.  ...  If all Muslims are to be held responsible for the horrors of 9/11, then all Americans are responsible for every outrage and atrocity perpetrated by the Bush-Cheney administration—some of which continue to this day. If all Muslims are to be held responsible for the horrors of 9/11, then all Americans are responsible for every act of bigotry and hatred perpetrated by those whose reactions to 9/11 were most irrational and extreme. Where does it end? Perhaps this is where it should end. Perhaps it’s time to start getting this right. Perhaps it’s time for people to rediscover their basic sense of humanity. Perhaps it’s time to heal collective wounds rather than exploiting, deepening, and adding to them.”

The ADL is certainly joining some of our elected representatives, and sadly some other bigots within the Jewish community itself in demonization of Islam and Muslims disguised as concern about the Cordoba House. 

And, in the past the ADL has been involved in some rather strange anti-Muslim incidents. 

For example, the ADL suggested that the Shahada (Muslim declaration of faith) was an expression of faith closely identified with terrorism.  They later apologized, but the damage had been done. 

Abraham Foxman, the Anti-Defamation Director called Muslim Dialogue a ‘Pipe Dream’.  He said that  dialogue with moderate Muslims is a “pipe dream” because “there’s nobody to talk to.”    He said in a Haaretz interview:  “You are right. ADL’s interfaith section deals at this point with Christian-Jewish relations. We have tried and continue to try to find partners in the Muslim community. So far there are only a few voices willing to dialogue. But I think we need not to embrace them too quickly because we can destroy their role and influence in the Muslim community. We need to let those who value dialogue and respect the various faith communities to strengthen their voice and their role in the Muslim community and then it would be appropriate to engage them in dialogue. Most of the dialogue going on today is in private, without publicity and fanfare, trying to better understand each other and to build for a future of respect and appreciation of each other.” 

CAIR, which is the Muslim counterpart of the ADL, has documented a number of cases in which the ADL appeared to be involved in smear campaigns against the Muslim community.

When the first issue of a new periodical, The Judeo-Christian View, was sent by U.S. mail to over 325,000 rabbis, priests and pastors in “every” Jewish and Christian congregation in America, each included a copy of the rabidly anti-Muslim documentary “Obsession.”  One of the signers of this first issue was a Board member of the San Francisco ADL.  Some local ADL chapters have sponsored  showings of this film.  An ad for an Obsession showing in Dallas sponsored by the ADL, Bnai Brith and DATA said that each showing would provide an opportunity to support the Jewish Federation’s Israel Crisis Fund.

Abraham Foxman defended  Avigdor Lieberman’s “loyalty oath” proposal for Israeli Arab citizens.  This proposal was strongly condemned even by many Israeli and American Jews.

Abraham Foxman called Human Rights Watch “irrelevant and immoral” after it criticized an Israeli action against the Palestinians.

Kamran Pasha has noted about this ADL trend:

“But what is particularly shocking about the recent statements against the Cordoba House is that the ADL appears to have moved from a knee-jerk defense of Israel to an aggressive stance attacking American Muslims even when there is no criticism of Israel involved.  ... But what is particularly painful for me as a Muslim is to watch how a group like the ADL, born out of the horrible experience of anti-Semitism and bigotry in America, can so easily turn its back on its heritage in order to join forces with the voices of hate and division. If any community knows what it is like to be branded with false stereotypes, to have the innocent condemned as guilty, it is the long-suffering Jewish people. To have its leaders now embrace the mindless, drunken crowd in its march of hate against a fellow religious minority’s right of worship, it is beyond obscene. And it is a fundamental rejection of everything that Judaism stands for.”

And Kamran Pasha closes his article with the following heartfelt plea

To Mr. Foxman and the rest of the ADL leadeship, I ask if in your hearts you would want people to accuse innocent Jews of being enemies of the state? Would you want Jews to accept vilification of their entire religion if a handful of Jews ever did something wrong? Would you want Jews to tacitly accept the lies that bigots had projected on to them? And finally, would you want Jews to be forced to shut down their synagogues because of the misguided passions of a mob?

Would you want this done to Jews?

If the answer is no, then I ask as your Muslim brother that you follow the wisdom of Rabbi Hillel and the sages of Judaism.

Do not do the same hateful thing to my people.

As I wrote in a previous article Jewish “Ahavah shel achvah” Brotherly Love is Difficult for Some to Attain:

  It is also worthwhile to remember that Islamophobia and anti-Semitism often go hand-in-hand.  In fact, a recent Gallup Poll showed that bias against Jews and Muslims is linked.  Hussein Ibish has written an important paper Religion and violence: another look at Islamophobia and anti-Semitism which discusses at length the similarities between the tactics used to defame Jews and those used to defame Muslims.  Here is an important passage from the lengthy article

In the past, I’ve argued strongly that the best way to understand the structure, strategies and mechanisms of Islamophobia is to study the essential elements of anti-Semitic rhetoric, because the parallels between the two are uncanny and exact and because Americans are familiar with the ugliness and unfairness of anti-Semitism. Since it can easily be shown that Islamophobia is without doubt in most instances a virtually exact replication of anti-Semitism, this ought to prove a decisive platform for exposing and counteracting its pernicious effects. As it happens, last week, completely coincidentally, I was reading with amazement anti-Semitic tracts that attempted to demonstrate all kinds of evils about Judaism and the Jews based on tendentious and malicious quotation and interpretation from Jewish holy books. I refuse to link to any of them, because they are poisonous, but anyone who seeks them out online should unfortunately have no difficulty finding them. In fact, the Quran, the Bible, and certainly also the Talmud, contain passages that, if read literally, out of context and especially outside of the mainstream of both traditional and contemporary interpretation, could be seen as quite alarming. Indeed, in all three cases, especially in the past, their effects upon the “righteous true believers” have been alarming, and in some cases, at the moment especially among Muslim extremists, they continue to be. However, what these anti-Semitic polemical tracts attempt to do is to suggest that contemporary and mainstream Jews around the world have a mentality and mindset defined by the literal or maliciously interpreted meanings of these passages, mainstream Jewish understandings of them notwithstanding. This is precisely what many of the worst of the Islamophobes do to the Muslims.

We need to find a way to work together as children of Abraham rather than to allow such divisive rhetoric to become the norm. 

Here are some comments made by Jews who “get it”, and are important voices for Muslims to hear. 

These are those about whom the Qur’an says:  (Quran 3:113 )“Not all of them are alike; of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (for the right); they rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in good works. They are in the ranks of the righteous. Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for Allah knows well those that do right.”

“I learned a very important lesson in Hebrew School that I have retained my entire life. If they can deny freedom to a single individual because of who they are, they can do it to anyone. Someone at the ADL needs to go back to Hebrew School. “  Adam Serwer

” This is a strange war we’re fighting against Islamist terrorism. We must fight the terrorists with alacrity, but at the same time we must understand that what the terrorists seek is a clash of civilizations. We must do everything possible to avoid giving them propaganda victories in their attempt to create a cosmic war between Judeo-Christian civilization and Muslim civilization. The fight is not between the West and Islam; it is between modernists of all monotheist faiths, on the one hand, and the advocates of a specific strain of medievalist Islam, on the other. If we as a society punish Muslims of good faith, Muslims of good faith will join the other side. It’s not that hard to understand. I’m disappointed that the ADL doesn’t understand this.”  Jeffrey Goldberg

“A recent controversy over plans of the Cordoba Initiative to build a community center complex, including a mosque, near Ground Zero in Manhattan has demonstrated that ignorance and hatred are vices to which a large number of Americans continue to adhere. Opposition to this project is fundamentally un-American, and nobody who values the ideals of freedom, upon which this country was founded, should be in the opposition camp.”  Trevor Swoverland.

“So look: unless someone’s prepared to make an argument that a straight line runs between Cordoba House and Usama bin Laden, no objection to Cordoba House’s location makes any sense. That’s the only sense in which the Cordoba House could actually offend the reasonable sensibilities of those victimized by 9/11. No one can make that argument without sounding like bin Laden himself. Everything else about this debate is just ugly noise. Those who sincerely believe that Cordoba House is offensive need to tell a Muslim serving in the U.S. military precisely how far from Ground Zero he may acceptably practice his religion.    To the ADL: you’re breaking my heart here. Are you prepared to tell Jews not to build synagogues in Hebron because of the crimes of Baruch Goldstein? Do we Jews bear the guilt for the murders he committed?”  Spencer Ackerman

“So let’s try some comparable cases, OK? It causes some people pain to see Jews operating small businesses in non-Jewish neighborhoods; it causes some people pain to see Jews writing for national publications (as I learn from my mailbox most weeks); it causes some people pain to see Jews on the Supreme Court. So would ADL agree that we should ban Jews from these activities, so as to spare these people pain? No? What’s the difference?    One thing I thought Jews were supposed to understand is that they need to be advocates of universal rights, not just rights for their particular group — because it’s the right thing to do, but also because, ahem, there aren’t enough of us. We can’t afford to live in a tribal world.    But ADL has apparently forgotten all that. Shameful — and stupid.”  Paul Krugman

“In this single-minded zealotry, the struggle against Islam appears to be seen as a zero sum game - whatever is bad for Muslims, must be good for Jews. But what is the cost of this attack on multiculturalism? Is it possible that some Jewish leaders are hacking away at the very same foundations which have provided a peaceful existence for Jews in the U.S. and elsewhere over the last several decades? Is attacking multiculturalism really beneficial to Jews? “  Rachel Tabachnick

“For those who will say “what else is new,” the answer is “a lot.” Although the ADL has switched from being a civil rights organization to a subsidiary of LIKUD USA, this is a new low.    ADL has been around since 1913 (it was created following the lynching of Leo Frank). I guess it has decided that a century of opposing bigotry is enough.”  M.J. Rosenberg

J Street has also issued the following statement:  “The principle at stake in the Cordoba House controversy goes to the heart of American democracy and the value we place on freedom of religion. Should one religious group in this country be treated differently than another? We believe the answer is no.    As Mayor Bloomberg has said, proposing a church or a synagogue for that site would raise no questions. The Muslim community has an equal right to build a community center wherever it is legal to do so. We would hope the American Jewish community would be at the forefront of standing up for the freedom and equality of a religious minority looking to exercise its legal rights in the United States, rather than casting aspersions on its funders and giving in to the fear-mongerers and pandering politicians urging it to relocate.    What better ammunition to feed the Osama bin Ladens of the world and their claim of anti-Muslim bias in the United States as they seek to whip up global jihad than to hold this proposal for a Muslim religious center to a different and tougher standard than other religious institutions would be.”

I know Feisal Abdul Rauf; I’ve spoken with him at a public discussion at the 96th street mosque in New York about interfaith cooperation. He represents what Bin Laden fears most: a Muslim who believes that it is possible to remain true to the values of Islam and, at the same time, to be a loyal citizen of a Western, non-Muslim country. Bin Laden wants a clash of civilizations; the opponents of the mosque project are giving him what he wants.   Jeffrey Goldberg

UPDATE 8/3/2010

The following press release was just received from The Shalom Center:

This call has been initiated by 31 Jewish leaders, including Rabbis from a very broad spectrum of Jewish life— Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, and Renewal: 

Rabbis Rebecca Alpert (Temple University); Dennis Beck-Berman; Leila Gal Berner; Amy Eilberg (Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, St. Paul, MN); Michael Feinberg;  Laura Geller (Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills); Everett Gendler (Emeritus, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA ; Emeritus, Temple Emanuel, Lowell, MA);  Roberto D. Graetz (Temple Isaiah, Lafayette,CA);  Margaret Holub; Nancy Fuchs Kreimer;  Joyce Galaski; Marc Gopin; Peter Knobel; Mordechai Liebling; Ellen Lippmann (Kolot Chayeinu);  Or Rose; Brant Rosen; Jeff Roth; Zalman Schachter-Shalomi; Gerald Serotta; David Shneyer; Burton L. Visotzky (Jewish Theological Seminary); Brian Walt (Taanit Tzedek-Jewish Fast for Gaza); Arthur Waskow (The Shalom Center); Sheila Peltz Weinberg (Institute for Jewish Spirituality); Cherie Brown (National Coalition-Building Inst);  Jeffrey Dekro; Arlene Goldbard (Shalom Center president);  Cindy Greenberg (Shalom Center board and Kolot Chayeinu president); Judith Plaskow; and Prof. Russell G. Pearce (Fordham University).  (All affiliations are noted for identification only.)

The statement follows:

As Jews committed to religious freedom, to honest dialogue, to peacemaking, and to the celebration of the One God, we strongly support the plans of the Cordoba Initiative to build a mosque and Islamic cultural center at the tip of Manhattan, near the site of the World Trade Centers destroyed on 9/11/01.


The Cordoba Initiative took that name precisely to celebrate the history of that city and neighboring areas of Andalusia in what is now Spain, where for centuries Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived together not only in mutual tolerance but in mutual harmony.

The leaders of the Córdoba Initiative, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan, have written and spoken innumerable times about the importance of interfaith dialogue and shared work for peace among the Abrahamic communities. 
 
They have planned the mosque not simply because they have a “right” to build there, but because they want it to be a beacon of Muslim peacemaking in direct critique of the terrorist violence that destroyed the Twin Towers on 9/11/01.

To affirm that we support the building of the Cordoba Initiative cultural center and mosque, we invite all Jews of good will who can physically gather at noon on Thursday, August 5, at its intended site at 45 Park Place, to join voices in a serious and devoted vigil.  (Take #1 subway to Park Place.)

At the same time, we think it necessary to make clear our deep distress at the decision of the Anti-Defamation League to oppose these plans.  
 
Though the ADL has often done good work, in this specific case—whatever its intention—it has undermined those very adherents of Islam who uphold the Quran’s teachings of peace, who condemn terrorism, and who share with some Jews, some Christians, and some others a commitment to peaceful dialogue.

The ADL’s action disparages Islam’s commitment to the Unity of God. And it risks encouraging hatred for all of Islam by Jews and others in American society.
 


This behavior by the ADL cannot be justified on the basis of the hostile reactions of some New Yorkers - a minority of the nearby neighborhood —while the neighborhood community council and hundreds of family members of the dead of 9/11 have endorsed the mosque.  The ADL’s action may indeed help to fire up exactly those unthinking emotions filled with rage and ignorance.

So we also invite Jews to call the Anti-Defamation League to join in briefly, politely, and firmly asking the ADL to change its position.  Its phone number is 212/885-7700. To reach the office of Abraham Foxman, its director, press “1” and then enter “Fox.”

And to join in signing this statement, please click here.

Another group of Jews has just posted a statement Memo to the Anti-Defamation League: These Jews Don’t Share Your Position.

And, today Abraham Foxman of the ADL said “If you want to heal us, don’t do it in our cemetery,” he said. “We are joining in with families who are not saying don’t do it at all, but saying don’t do it here.”  That is really a disgusting statement, and Mr. Foxman must have forgotten that Muslims were also killed on 9/11, that Muslims were also first responders, that American Muslims also feel the pain of 9/11.  His use of the word “our” seems to exclude us.

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post Foxman blames the uproar over the ADL statement to the fact that either people didn’t read the statement, or that they missed the nuance.  Unbelievable!

Mayor Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City has just reminded us all of what is special about our country, the United States.  His speech

“We’ve come here to Governors Island to stand where the earliest settlers first set foot in New Amsterdam, and where the seeds of religious tolerance were first planted. We come here to see the inspiring symbol of liberty that more than 250 years later would greet millions of immigrants in this harbor. And we come here to state as strongly as ever, this is the freest city in the world. That’s what makes New York special and different and strong.

“Our doors are open to everyone. Everyone with a dream and a willingness to work hard and play by the rules. New York City was built by immigrants, and it’s sustained by immigrants—by people from more than 100 different countries speaking more than 200 different languages and professing every faith. And whether your parents were born here or you came here yesterday, you are a New Yorker.

“We may not always agree with every one of our neighbors. That’s life. And it’s part of living in such a diverse and dense city. But we also recognize that part of being a New Yorker is living with your neighbors in mutual respect and tolerance. It was exactly that spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11, 2001.

“On that day, 3,000 people were killed because some murderous fanatics didn’t want us to enjoy the freedoms to profess our own faiths, to speak our own minds, to follow our own dreams, and to live our own lives. Of all our precious freedoms, the most important may be the freedom to worship as we wish. And it is a freedom that even here—in a city that is rooted in Dutch tolerance—was hard-won over many years.

“In the mid-1650s, the small Jewish community living in lower Manhattan petitioned Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant for the right to build a synagogue, and they were turned down. In 1657, when Stuyvesant also prohibited Quakers from holding meetings, a group of non-Quakers in Queens signed the Flushing Remonstrance, a petition in defense of the right of Quakers and others to freely practice their religion. It was perhaps the first formal political petition for religious freedom in the American colonies, and the organizer was thrown in jail and then banished from New Amsterdam.

“In the 1700s, even as religious freedom took hold in America, Catholics in New York were effectively prohibited from practicing their religion, and priests could be arrested. Largely as a result, the first Catholic parish in New York City was not established until the 1780s, St. Peter’s on Barclay Street, which still stands just one block north of the World Trade Center site, and one block south of the proposed mosque and community center.

“This morning, the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission unanimously voted to extend—not to extend—landmark status to the building on Park Place where the mosque and community center are planned. The decision was based solely on the fact that there was little architectural significance to the building. But with or without landmark designation, there is nothing in the law that would prevent the owners from opening a mosque within the existing building.

“The simple fact is, this building is private property, and the owners have a right to use the building as a house of worship, and the government has no right whatsoever to deny that right. And if it were tried, the courts would almost certainly strike it down as a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

“Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here.

“This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions or favor one over another. The World Trade Center site will forever hold a special place in our city, in our hearts. But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans if we said no to a mosque in lower Manhattan.

“Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11, and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values and play into our enemies’ hands if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists, and we should not stand for that.

“For that reason, I believe that this is an important test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetimes, as important a test. And it is critically important that we get it right.

“On Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of first responders heroically rushed to the scene and saved tens of thousands of lives. More than 400 of those first responders did not make it out alive. In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked, ‘What God do you pray to?’ (Bloomberg’s voice cracks here a little as he gets choked up.) ‘What beliefs do you hold?’

“The attack was an act of war, and our first responders defended not only our city, but our country and our constitution. We do not honor their lives by denying the very constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights and the freedoms that the terrorists attacked.

“Of course, it is fair to ask the organizers of the mosque to show some special sensitivity to the situation, and in fact their plan envisions reaching beyond their walls and building an interfaith community. But doing so, it is my hope that the mosque will help to bring our city even closer together, and help repudiate the false and repugnant idea that the attacks of 9/11 were in any ways consistent with Islam.

“Muslims are as much a part of our city and our country as the people of any faith. And they are as welcome to worship in lower Manhattan as any other group. In fact, they have been worshipping at the site for better, the better part of a year, as is their right. The local community board in lower Manhattan voted overwhelmingly to support the proposal. And if it moves forward, I expect the community center and mosque will add to the life and vitality of the neighborhood and the entire city.

“Political controversies come and go, but our values and our traditions endure, and there is no neighborhood in this city that is off-limits to God’s love and mercy, as the religious leaders here with us can attest.”

UPDATE 8/7/2010

Fareed Zakaria has returned a First Amendment award and $10,000 stipend to the Anti-Defamation League in protest of the organization’s opposition to a proposed mosque near ground zero.

SEE ALSO:

A correction request to the ADL http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/07/religion

A Terrible Decision by the Anti-Defamation League, Jeffrey Goldberg http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/07/a-terrible-decision-by-the-anti-defamation-league/60687/

ADL-Approved Religious Discrimination, David Schraub http://themoderatevoice.com/81388/adl-approved-religious-discrimination/

ADL Comes Out Against Ground Zero Center: Anti-bigotry group sides with people it calls bigots, Marc Tracy http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/41142/adl-comes-out-against-ground-zero-center/

ADL Condemns, Enables, Anti-Muslim Bigotry, Adam Serwer http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/adam_serwer_archive?month=07&year=2010&base_name=adl_condemns_enables_antimusli

ADL: “let the bigots win”, Aziz Poonawalla http://blog.beliefnet.com/cityofbrass/2010/07/adl-let-the-bigots-win.html

ADL Says ‘No’ To Park51 Ground Zero Muslim Cultural Center, Claims ‘Survivors’ Entitled To Be Racist, Richard Silverstein http://www.eurasiareview.com/201008016260/adl-says-no-to-park51-ground-zero-muslim-cultural-center-claims-survivors-entitled-to-be-racist.html

ADL: Some opponents of Ground Zero mosque are bigots, but we should let them win anyway, Greg Sargent http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/07/anti-defamation_league_opponen.html

Americans continue to be ignorant of our nation’s ideals of freedom, Trevor Swoverland http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/174978/group/Opinion/

Anti-Defamation League: “Ground Zero Mosque” shouldn’t be built because bigots would get mad, Alex Pareene http://www.salon.com/news/islam/?story=/politics/war_room/2010/07/30/adl_mosque_statement

Anti-Defamation League Joins The Bigots..Opposing Ground Zero Mosque, M.J. Rosenberg http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/30/anti-defamation_league_joins_the_bigotsopposing_gr/

Anti-Mosque Sentiment in America: Lessons from Europe?, Todd Green http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-green-phd/anti-mosque-sentiment-in_b_659617.html

Bad for the Jews, Paul Krugman http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/bad-for-the-jews/

Foxman’s irrational exuberance, Michael Tomasky http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/aug/02/usa-religion-foxmans-awful-remarks

I’m disappointed that the ADL has joined the demagogues, Cyntia Tucker http://blogs.ajc.com/cynthia-tucker/2010/07/30/im-disappointed-that-the-adl-has-joined-the-demagogues/?cxntfid=blogs_cynthia_tucker

Is this the end of the ADL?, Robert Dreyfuss http://www.thenation.com/blog/153865/adl-and-mosque-ground-zero-end-anti-defamation-league 

It’s time to get this right, Laurence Lewis http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/8/2/889346/-Its-time-to-get-this-right
Seriously, Anti-Defamation League?, Spencer Ackerman http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2010/07/30/seriously-anti-defamation-league/

Jewish vigil in support of Islamic Center 8/5/10, Rabbi Arthur Waskow http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/jewish_vigil_supporting_muslim_cultural_center_in_lower_manhattan/0018161

Shame on ADL for opposing Mosque 2 blocks from Ground Zero, Rabbi Michael Lerner http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/shame_on_adl_for_opposing_mosque_2_blocks_from_ground_zero/0018159 

When the ADL is the pro-defamation league, David A.M. Wilensky http://jewschool.com/2010/07/30/23755/when-the-adl-is-the-pro-defamation-league/