.

In committee meetings to write that last paragraph, I'll bet.

...that not all the elements of the ADL are liberal, or even progressive. Kinda like the Jewish community in general: All sorts make it up.

Shame they decided to shoot themselves in the foot like this...

"If Stupidity got us into this mess, why can't it get us out?" -- Will Rogers

eom

and they have refused to do so. That's unfortunate.

The ADL never had any credibility as long as it has worked to equate all criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

Not all Jews are financial parasites or chattering troublemakers or blind hypocrites. Yes, some are, of course -- but not all.
However, given the widespread and growing disdain for the Zionist debacle, maybe it would be a good idea to consider them as a unit and so deal with them.
To do otherwise would be counterproductive to the healing process in the middle east, the American political environment and what remains of our financial system. Such a course of action should be pursued, even while we categorically reject appeals to bigotry on the basis of religion.
With apologies to the Wordsmiths at the ADL.

PirateLaddie

...to actually suggest that folks be limited in their religious expression because some other folks might feel pain? Man, all I gotta say is "suck it up buttercup". Seriously, I can see trading the balances around because circumstances have changed and we need to be more concerned about keeping people from ending up messily dead, but restricting expression so that folks won't be challenged by the possibility of pain, in a way that actually does reasonably forseeably extend the conflict, such that more folks get messily dead? That's just fucked.

Kinda touches on one of the things that's been causing me increasing disquiet. The transitions that we've seen are indicators of a pretty massive re-alignment of how the international system works - rising ubiquity of near state peers due to many factors but frequently due to technological leveraging, Islam finally beginning to play on the global stage as a major cultural element, etc., etc. During that transition it's reasonable that one re-adjust one's balance of freedoms, but that emphatically doesn't mean that it's supposed to fricking stay there and get institutionalized. The point of all of this is to buy time while things sort themselves out and we go through the multi-decade period of adjustment - a big part of which is us actually changing. At the end of the day, the things that will make the relations between western powers and our rising peers rewarding are dropping bad policy and being smarter about actually understanding who the other folks are out there. We're nine years in since it became impossible to ignore and probably close to 20 since we entered the zone and I see little sign that either of these things are occuring. Instead, folks are focussing exclusively on much, much more marginal issues and using them for transitional tactical advantage in political culture wars.

“Tattoo this on a visible body part for reference: 'My tolerance for the sanctity of anyone's victimhood does not extend to having to send someone downrange to fucking protect it.'" ~ not-Richard Haass

when he says.

It is not because they are instinctive bigots. It is that they believe that the more acceptance there is of Muslims here at home, the less reflexive hatred there will be for Muslims abroad. And that, in their view, reduces natural American sympathy for Israel.

The Wall Street Journal, By Michael Howard Saul, August 3

The New York City Landmarks Commission unanimously voted Tuesday to deny landmark designation to the site of the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, paving the way for the controversial community center and worship space to rise two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The commission's chairman, Robert B. Tierney, said the building at 45-47 Park Place "does not rise to the level of an individual landmark." The 11-member panel is appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has vehemently defended the mosque as an example of religious freedom.

The proposed community center has become the center of an intense national controversy, prompting opponents to call on the commission to grant landmark status in hopes of blocking the plan.

The commission's vote – taking place under heavy police presence at a theater at Pace University in Lower Manhattan – is viewed as the principal municipal hurdle for the mosque, which is now free to move forward. Commissioner after commissioner said the building, constructed in 1857-58, is not unique and lacks the characteristics necessary for a landmark. Manhattan has more than 11,000 landmarked properties.