A critique of the ADL study

Howard Laitin (credentials below) writes

David Suissa, JEWISH JOURNAL,

1. Regarding  JJ [June 22-28, 2018] coverage of Altalena.

Some years ago several of my associates went into this area in detail. I read the materials at their request to serve them as a thorough reviewer  to sharpen up their presentations.    Working from imperfect memory, I  believe that Dr. Noam Weissman’s  presentation is most correct . I would also suggest that you might want to contact  Ted Belman  of ISRAPUNDIT for  significant articles since his archives are very comprehensive. The basic subject of the study was an analytical speculation as to the effect of the destruction of the war materials and the disruption of the IDF defense of Jerusalem. The conclusion was, if I remember correctly, that the IDF would have stood a good chance of preventing the Jordanian Legion from occupying East Jerusalem had the incident  not happened  and if the materials and forces that were neutralized by Ben-Gurion’s actions had been appropriately deployed. Further, most of the materials that I read focused on Ben-Gurion’s immediate political motivations.

2.   I have just  examined a review of a recent ADL  “study” released  by the ADL with much fanfare.  The ADL claims that this study showed there was a precipitous 77% increase in the dissemination of white supremacist propaganda on US college campuses this year.

“The ADL’s Center on Extremism found 292 cases of white supremacist propaganda on campuses during the 2017-2018 academic year, compared to 165 the previous year. Since 2016, a total of 478 incidents have been recorded on 287 campuses across the US.”

“The ADL noted that the propaganda included everything from ‘veiled white supremacist language to explicitly racist images and words that attack minority groups, including Jews, Blacks, Muslims, non-white immigrants, and the LGBT community.’ “

The review questioned much about the study. First the definition is in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes to the ADL defining anything negative about students for Justice in Palestine as being anti—Islam. Then the total # of incidents is compared to the total number of US campuses and the number of days of potential exposure.  Their  conclusion is,  like their conclusion on the early ADL accusations of a significant increase in  anti-Semitic activities in the US after the election of Donald Trump…. manufactured by ADL  for a political purpose and not substantiated by any realistic evidence.

3. Since  Israeli Supreme Court does not determine “standing” as a basis for hearing cases and they do not review the evidence there are many procedural criticisms that are very valid.   Most in point is that court does not require any proof of individual Arab ownership of the so-called “disputed” parcels. Further, nearly every court on property would allow the possessor of a disputed property to pay for the damages and/or use  rather than to require that the entire property be destroyed.  Transferring jurisdiction from the High Court to just about any  court in Israel  [or anywhere else in the world] would entirely change the outcome of these cases   [legally,  morally, politically, emotionally, etc.].

Howard Laitin Torrance : California : United States

Chairman Environmental Quality Programs: Governor Ronald Reagan, Governor Jerry Brown.