WILPF Signs On To Historic Letter: The ADL is Not an Ally
Dear WILPF members,
Our Middle East Committee is at it again, continuing our sometimes controversial challenge of the status quo.
What? Not work with the ADL, which took so many good stands?
Yes, it did and many good people and organizations cooperated with it. But we cannot ignore the little-known other face of the organization. How can we work with an organization that spies on activist organizations and reports to the FBI? Who cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee? Who dismisses critics of Israeli policy as anti-Semites? Who specifically focuses on attacking Arab, Jewish and Palestinian groups?
ADL is the largest non-governmental trainer of US police, including exchange programs between American police, ICE, and the FBI with Israeli police and military forces (from JVP via Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Aug. Sept. 2020).
We in WILPF who are focused on building Bridges Not Walls cannot cooperate with an organization building walls between people. We in WILPF who support Black Lives Matter cannot cooperate with an organization sending people undercover to meetings or actions of Black activists and reporting to the FBI.
WILPF has often had to take difficult stands on Middle East issues while recognizing that we might be antagonizing loyal members. At times, we were alone, and we lost members, but found others who agreed with our stand and joined. As an active M.E. Committee member, I remember some of those difficult decisions over the decades. Radical at the time, somewhat mainstream now. Even our support of Two States was controversial (now controversial again.)
We recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization as the legitimate voice of the Palestinian people when that was a radical stand (WILPF Triennial Congress Resolution, 1992). We organized a delegation of 16 women to visit, not just Israel, but several Arab countries, including Palestine, well before it became the popular thing to do (1975). We opened up discussion in WILPF about the meaning of Zionism and how opinions differed within WILPF. We published a booklet, "Hamas at the Peace Table -- Why?" Perhaps, most important, we chose to prioritize addressing the destructive role of the US - when many of us had welcomed US support of the Israeli government.
As I read through the fact-filled "Drop the ADL" Primer, I had to share my hurt and my anger by writing to you.
Some early M.E. Committee decisions were particularly difficult for us Jewish members, because we looked at Israel as protection from anti-Semitism and the ADL as a protector of our rights. Life has taught us otherwise.
It would be good for the M.E. Committee to hear your thoughts.
WILPF has come a long way, and we still have a long way to go.
Libby Frank
Member and founder of the Middle East Committee
