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Why Is the Media Attacking the ADL for Fighting Antisemitism?
Illustrative: Pro-Hamas protesters in front of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City’s Upper East Side neighborhood. Source: X/Twitter
If you’re someone prone to antisemitic views of the world, and want a source you can reply on to consistently affirm your biases — without resorting to fringe extremists like David Miller or “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”-like conspiracy theories — you’d likely turn to the Guardian, the outlet where respectable Judeophobic and Israel-phobic readers can safely turn without fear of social opprobrium.
The most recent dog whistle parading as “speaking truth to power” is an article by Tom Perkins which, following in the long tradition of Chris McGreal, warns of the dangers posed to the American public by organized Jewry.
The piece (“Anti-Defamation League ramps up lobbying to promote controversial definition of antisemitism”, May 15), is riddled with distortions and smears, beginning in the headline’s assertion that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism is “controversial.”
The claim, as you can see here, is belied by the number of countries, law enforcement agencies, universities, public bodies, and international institutions, which endorse IHRA. This includes 37 (democratic) countries, 320 non-federal governments (including state, regional, provincial, municipal and county bodies), 320 universities, and a total of 865 entities across the world.
The IHRA definition is generally only “controversial” among those who wish to use Israel-Nazi analogies, and call for the destruction of the Jewish State, with moral impunity.
The article’s opening paragraph reads like it was generated by an AI tool designed to mock Guardian bias over the issue:
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has spent record amounts lobbying for bills opponents say are meant to punish criticism of Israel and target Jewish peace and Palestinian rights groups, marking a shift in strategy over the last several years. [emphasis added]
First, we should note the important context that the ADL is the largest mainstream Jewish organization in the US, and in fact, has been criticized by many for its progressive agenda on issues such as DEI, (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion).
Perkins appears to define the ADL’s efforts to fight antisemitism by promoting the adoption of IHRA (a non-legal definition which contains multiple caveats and qualifications, and does not define criticism of Israel as antisemitic) as “punishing criticism of Israel.”
Perkins informs readers that the ADL is “on pace to spend nearly $1.6m this year based on its first quarter expenditures” to advance IHRA and its other domestic policy agendas. However, the very Federal tax document which “reveals” the ADL’s budget for lobbying shows that their agenda centers around fighting domestic extremism, and other issues which aren’t controversial.
In fact, the ADL’s lobbying efforts, per the tax document cited, highlights their lobbying for bills to fight “global white supremacy” several times, while nothing is mentioned about Islamist or Palestinian extremism.
The only mentions of Israel in the document are “Support for the Abraham Accords and the historic normalization process between Israel and countries in the region” and “Support for H.Res.92 – Recognizing Israel as America’s legitimate and democratic ally and condemning antisemitism”.
To observe that the ADL’s lobbying is not laced with a “right-wing” or anti-Palestinian agenda in a profound understatement.
The article then takes direct aim at IHRA.
Though the Guardian is typically supportive of anti-hate legislation, when it comes to Jews, they take a different view.
Perkins repeats Guardian talking points about how IHRA would limit freedom of speech when he writes about a proposed bill, called the Antisemitism Awareness Act. The Act would “require that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights take into consideration … IHRA … when reviewing or investigating complaints of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin…”.
Though Perkins claims the bill is “opposed by groups and politicians across the political spectrum,” the bill had 61 co-sponsors, including 15 Democrats, and recently passed the House of Representative with an overwhelming majority of 320 to 91.
Moreover, those who understand the US political system would know that the country’s Constitution includes what’s arguably the most robust protection of speech in the world. So, any bill passed by Congress which runs afoul of First Amendment protections of free expression would be overturned by the courts.
Perkins also demonstrates bad faith when he misrepresents the IHRA definition as including the “labeling Israel a racist state” as antisemitic.
In fact, the definition only defines “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” as antisemitic. The difference is profound. Accusing Israel of being racist is not considered antisemitic, while claiming that the state has no right to exist, because Zionism is intrinsically racist, is defined by IHRA as antisemitic.
The Guardian’s efforts to scare readers about organized Jewry’s efforts to “punish” mere “criticism of Israel” is based on a deceitful portrayal of IHRA.
The journalist also writes that the ADL often falsely attributes “support for terror” to anti-war and ceasefire rallies by Jewish groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). However, to describe the anti-Israel campus rallies as anti-war is an inversion of reality. As we’ve demonstrated, the rallies have included explicit antisemitism, as well as speeches and chants expressing opposition to Israel’s existence, and supportive for terror attacks.
One leader of the Columbia University protest literally said that the overwhelming majority of Jews (that is, ‘Zionists’) “don’t deserve to live.”
Finally, the most important issue regarding ADL’s lobbying and advocacy is ignored by the Guardian reporter: the tsunami of antisemitism in America following the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023.
There were 8,873 recorded antisemitic incidents across the United States in 2023, representing a 140% increase from 2022. This is the highest number on record since the ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979. (This mirrors the dramatic increase of antisemitic incidents in the UK since Oct. 7.)
Graphic from ADL’s annual audit of antisemitism.
Given that the dramatic increase in anti-Jewish racism was largely inspired by hatred of Israel and pro-Hamas/pro-Palestinian activism, it’s not surprising that the Guardian would publish a piece attempting to discredit the Jewish organization trying to fight this scourge. Though the Guardian is a large institution, almost all of their reporters, editors, and columnists are united in their refusal to come to terms with the fact that pro-Palestinianism is a vector for antisemitism.
Adam Levick serves as co-editor of CAMERA UK – an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Why Is the Media Attacking the ADL for Fighting Antisemitism? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Clamps Sanctions on Israel-bashing UN Rights Monitor Albanese
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
The Trump administration has imposed sweeping sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, citing the UN official’s lengthy record of singling out Israel for condemnation.
In a post on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions under a February executive order targeting those who “prompt International Criminal Court (ICC) action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.” He accused Albanese of waging “political and economic warfare” against both nations and asserted that “such efforts will no longer be tolerated.”
“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Rubio announced on X/Twitter.
“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,” declared the Trump administration’s top foreign affairs official. “We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.”
Rubio concluded: “The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies.”
The decision to impose sanctions on Albanese marks an escalation in the ongoing feud between the White House and the United Nations over Israel. The Trump administration has repeatedly accused the UN and Albanese of unfairly targeting Israel and mischaracterizing the Jewish state’s conduct in Gaza.
Albanese, an Italian lawyer and academic, has held the position of UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories since 2022. The position authorizes her to monitor and report on alleged “human rights violations” by Israel against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Last week, Albanese issued a scathing report accusing companies of helping Israel maintain a so-called “genocide economy.” She called on the companies to cut off economic ties with Israel and warned that they might be guilty of “complicity” in the so-called “genocide” in Gaza.
Critics of Albanese have long accused her of exhibiting an excessive anti-Israel bias, calling into question her fairness and neutrality.
Albanese has an extensive history of using her role at the UN to denigrate Israel and seemingly rationalize Hamas’ attacks on the Jewish state.
In the months following the Palestinian terrorist group’s atrocities across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Albanese accused the Jewish state of perpetrating a “genocide” against the Palestinian people in revenge for the attacks and circulated a widely derided and heavily disputed report alleging that 186,000 people had been killed in the Gaza war as a result of Israeli actions.
The action comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington, where he has received a warm reception from the Trump administration. Netanyahu has been meeting with US officials to discuss next steps in the ongoing Gaza military operation.
Gideon Sa’ar, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Israel, commended the Rubio announcement with his own post on X/Twitter, exclaiming: “A clear message. Time for the UN to pay attention!”
The post US Clamps Sanctions on Israel-bashing UN Rights Monitor Albanese first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hardball: Trump Administration Reports Harvard to Accreditor Over Antisemitism Allegations
US President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
The Trump administration escalated its showdown against Harvard University on Wednesday, reporting the institution to its accreditor for alleged civil rights violations resulting from its weak response to reports of antisemitic bullying, discrimination, and harassment following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 massacre across southern Israel.
The US Department of Education (DOE) announced the action on Wednesday. Citing Harvard’s admitted failure to treat antisemitism as seriously as it treated others forms of hatred in the past, the DOE called on the New England Commission of Higher Education to review and, potentially, revoke its accreditation — a designation which qualifies Harvard for federal funding and attests to the quality of the educational services its provides.
“Accrediting bodies play a significant role in preserving academic integrity and a campus culture conducive to truth seeking and learning,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Part of that is ensuring students are safe on campus and abiding by federal laws that guarantee educational opportunities to all students. By allowing anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination to persist unchecked on its campus, Harvard University has failed in its obligation to students, educators, and American taxpayers.”
The DOE, McMahon added, “expects the New England Commission of Higher Education to enforce its policies and practices, and to keep the Department fully informed of its efforts to ensure that Harvard is in compliance with federal law and accreditor standards.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Harvard’s Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism has acknowledged that the university administration’s handling of campus antisemitism fell well below its obligations under both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its own nondiscrimination policies.
In a 300-plus-page report, the task force compiled a comprehensive record of antisemitic incidents on Harvard’s campus in recent years — from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee’s endorsement of the Oct. 7 terrorist atrocities to an anti-Zionist faculty group’s sharing an antisemitic cartoon depicting Jews as murderers of people of color. The report identified Harvard’s past refusal to afford Jews the same protections against discrimination enjoyed by other minority groups as a key source of its problem.
Coming several weeks after President Donald Trump ordered the freeze of $2.26 billion in federal research grants and contracts for Harvard, the task force report found it was “clear” that antisemitism and anti-Israel bias have been fomented, practiced, and tolerated not only at Harvard but also within academia more widely.”
The university is now suing the federal government over the funding halt.
President Trump has spoken scathingly of Harvard, calling it, for example, an “Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institute … with students being accepted from all over the world that want to rip our Country apart” in an April post to his Truth Social platform.
In recent weeks, however, both Trump and McMahon had commended Harvard’s constructive response in negotiations over reforms the administration has asked it to implement as a precondition for restoring federal funds. The requested reforms include hiring more conservative faculty, shuttering diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] programs, and slashing the size of administrative offices tangential to the university’s central educational mission.
The administration has since changed its tone in the wake of a report by The Harvard Crimson that interim Harvard President Alan Garber has said “behind closed doors” that he has no intention of doing anything that would make Harvard more palatable to conservatives.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism issued Harvard a formal “notice of violation” of civil rights law. Charging that Harvard willfully exposed Jewish students to a flood of racist and antisemitic abuse both in and outside of the classroom, it threatened to strip whatever remains of Harvard’s federal funding.
“Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard’s relationship with the federal government,” wrote the federal officials comprising the multiagency Task Force. “Harvard may of course continue to operate free of federal privileges, and perhaps such an opportunity will spur a commitment to excellence that will help Harvard thrive once again.”
In Wednesday’s announcement, US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Harvard’s conduct “forfeits the legitimacy that accreditation is designed to uphold.”
“HHS and Department of Education will actively hold Harvard accountable through sustained oversight until it restores public trust and ensures a campus free of discrimination,” he said.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Hardball: Trump Administration Reports Harvard to Accreditor Over Antisemitism Allegations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IDF Strikes Hezbollah Sites in South Lebanon as Terror Group Pushes to Rebuild Amid US Disarmament Talks
IDF operating in southern Lebanon. Photo: IDF Spokesperson
Israeli forces uncovered and destroyed Hezbollah weapons caches in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, as a new report indicated that despite ongoing U.S.-led efforts to secure a disarmament deal, the Iran-backed group is making repeated, largely concealed attempts to rebuild its military presence in the area.
Troops carried out several operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon on Wednesday morning, destroying weapons depots, explosives and multibarrel launchers concealed in forested terrain, the IDF said, in violation of the November ceasefire, which requires Hezbollah to withdraw its forces 20 miles from the Israeli border.
A new report released this week by the Alma Research and Education Center found that Hezbollah is focused on rebuilding in three areas: operational deployment, weapons acquisition, and financial recovery.
“Hezbollah didn’t give up its resistance narrative and motivation,” Alma’s director, Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, told The Algemeiner.
“It wants to rebuild its capabilities and infrastructures, whether it’s the villages that will be used as human shields or the military infrastructure in South Lebanon and in Lebanon in general.”
According to Zehavi, Hezbollah is attempting to return Radwan fighters to positions south of the Litani River as part of a wider plan to restore its elite forces to operational readiness. The IDF on Monday killed Radwan commander Ali Abd al-Hassan Haidar in a targeted strike. The action came hours after US Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut to discuss a long-term deal that would include an Israeli withdrawal and complete disarmament of Hezbollah.
Barrack described the Lebanese response to the proposal as positive. Later, he issued a blunt warning to Hezbollah in response to a vow by the terror group’s leader, Naim Qassem, not to lay down its arms. “If they mess with us anywhere in the world, they will have a serious problem with us,” Barrack said in an interview with Lebanese news network LBCI. “They don’t want that.”
Zehavi said it was premature to predict the outcome of the diplomatic efforts. She warned that the challenge of disarming Hezbollah remains enormous and emphasized that the Lebanese Armed Forces have not demonstrated the capability or willingness to confront the group.
“It’s too soon to be optimistic or pessimistic,” she said, noting that no firm commitments have emerged from the Beirut talks.
Hezbollah’s efforts to smuggle and manufacture weapons have been complicated by both Israeli strikes and the regional realignment over recent months. While Israeli strikes have disrupted many supply routes, according to Zehavi, Syrian authorities have intercepted far more Hezbollah-bound weapons than the Lebanese Army, which claims to have uncovered 500 arms caches but has provided no evidence.
The financial front marks the third aspect of Hezbollah’s rebuilding effort. Last week, the group halted cash payments to Shiite civilians whose homes were damaged in the war, citing liquidity problems. Zehavi attributed the shortfall to disruptions in Iran’s funding networks — an outcome of the 12-day war against the regime in Tehran — and said the constraints would likely hamper Hezbollah’s ability to compensate its base and sustain operations.
“I hope they will continue to have problems with the cash flow, that way it will be very difficult for them to recover,” she said.
The post IDF Strikes Hezbollah Sites in South Lebanon as Terror Group Pushes to Rebuild Amid US Disarmament Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.