If, however, one defines pro-Palestinian activism as “antisemitism,” then
the numbers rise, of course. But even deploying these extremely elastic
criteria, the ADL’s own statistics cannot manage to reach a majority of Jewish
college students claiming even to have witnessed any examples of antisemitism.
Fully 85 percent, moreover, say they have never felt any need to hide their
Jewishness for any reason on their college campuses. The widespread
exaggeration of this problem is part and parcel of the far right’s attack on
higher education generally. The ADL’s hyping of this issue, whether purposely
or not, only adds fuel to the phony fire.
One former ADL senior staffer explains Greenblatt’s need to lean into
this position thusly: “Groups like ADL believe
their credibility rests on appearing politically balanced in calling balls and
strikes. Although ADL’s own data and most Jews are clear about who the
bulletproof glass is there to protect us from, ADL labels both neo-Nazis and
boycotters of Israel or anti-Zionists as antisemitic. So, the ADL can claim to
call out ‘both sides’ by demonizing a growing number of Jewish day school or
camp alumni whose experience has compelled them to challenge or reject Zionism.
I disagree with those views, and some who espouse them can be antisemitic. But
without that nanosecond of nuance, every ADL professional, lay leader, and
funder is essentially looking those Jewish families and educators in the eye to
say: ‘You raised Jewish anti-Semites that we, the foremost experts, deem
to be just like Nazis or the Proud Boys. PS, trust us to protect you.’”
Greenblatt’s transformation of the ADL, however, has so far gone largely
unnoticed. To be fair, though, it is part of an extremely old story, one of the
power of money in politics. And
yet, it’s possible to overemphasize the role of money in determining the ADL’s
political direction. It’s not “all about the Benjamins,” as the saying goes.
They matter, but so, too, do the fears of so many American Jews, based on a
reading of Jewish history that cannot be easily ignored or argued away. Many of
these Jews may disagree with the ADL’s politics, or certainly with those of the
current government in Israel, which has changed this whole conversation in so
many ways. But they feel more comfortable erring on the side of what they
consider to be vigilance, even if those feelings are belied by contemporary
reality. Emotions are stronger than reality.