ADL Faces Wikipedia Ban Over Reliability

Editors at Wikipedia have voted to declare the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) “generally unreliable” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. adding it to a list of banned and partially banned sources.

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (June 19, 2024), “An overwhelming majority of editors involved in the debate about the ADL also voted to declare the organization unreliable on the topic of antisemitism, its core focus…The ADL is now grouped together with the National Inquirer, Newsmax and Occupy Democrats as a source of propaganda or misinformation in the eyes of the online encyclopedia. Dozens of Wikipedia editors said ADL acts primarily as a pro- Israel organization and tends to label legitimate criticism of Israel as antisemitism.”

An editor known as Islander 323 said, “ADL no longer appears to adhere to serious mainstream and intellectually cogent definitions of antisemitism, but instead has given into the shameless politicization of the very subject that it was originally esteemed for being a reliable voice".

James Loeffler, professor of Jewish history at Johns Hopkins University, says the ADL’s ability to fulfill its mission is directly tied to its credibility which has taken a significant hit with the decision by Wikipedia. He said that, “Losing this mark of trust will impair the ADL’s ability to reach digital audiences".

Wikipedia cited statements by the ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” that student protestors against Israel’s role in Gaza were “Iranian proxies,” and that the Keffiyeh headscarf was akin to the swastika, as being without merit. Editorially, The New Republic (Jan.10, 2024) declared that “The ADL has made a startling confession. It is now including pro-Palestinian marches in its count of antisemitic incidents…The ADL has abandoned all pretense of tracking antisemitism properly.”

According to The New Republic, the ADL reported 3,283 “antisemitic incidents” in 2023, a 361% increase from the previous year. The ADL says the American Jewish community faces “a threat level that’s now unprecedented in modern history.” The ADL declares The New Republic, “could even count anti-Israel protests by Jewish activists. ADL isn’t helping anyone when it defines a bomb threat at a synagogue and a Students for Justice in Palestine rally as equally antisemitic.” *