Anti-Defamation League officials declined to participate in a recent event aimed at rallying against hate-violence, citing anti-Israel rhetoric that overshadowed a message of unity.
The concert and fund-raiser to memorialize Edward “Gwen” Araujo, a 17-year-old transgender who was slain in Newark on Oct. 3, was organized by the Community United Against Violence — a 20-year-old multicultural group working to end violence against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders.
But along with a list of performers and general information, the flier advertising the Oct. 25 event at San Francisco’s Mission High School contained a disturbing quote from CUAV’s executive director, Terry Person Harris. Citing the possibility of war on Iraq and a crackdown on civil liberties “here at home,” she also stated, “Israel is pursuing a hollow unobtainable safety through increased repression of Palestinian people.”
It is a statement that “seemed to come out of left field” and deeply offended the ADL, according to Jonathan Bernstein, executive director of the ADL’s Central Pacific Region.
“It was kind of an easy decision about what needed to be done,” he said. “Not only did we not want to sign on as a sponsor, we also wanted to send CUAV a letter not to use Gwen’s death for political purposes.”
In a letter to Person Harris dated Oct. 24, Bernstein wrote that the ADL had “wanted to participate and support an event responding to a tragic hate crime that has occurred in our community.” Referring to her Israel comment, however, he wrote: “It seems inappropriate for an event that purports to recognize a personal tragedy to be used for political commentary.”
While the ADL “believes it is important for all communities to stand together and raise a united voice against hatred and hate violence,” the anti-Israel comment “precluded our participation.”
Bernstein said he hoped to organize a meeting with Person Harris to discuss the issue further as well as the possibility of working together in the future.
Person Harris said last week that she’d received Bernstein’s letter and was reviewing it. Other than that she made no comment.
Araujo, who identified and dressed as a woman, disappeared after attending a late-night party on Oct. 3. The body was found buried in a wilderness area of El Dorado, near Placerville, on Oct. 15, according to a Newark police report. As of Oct. 18 three suspects had been charged with murder and felony hate-crime.
Bernstein called the murder a “horrific display of inhumanity.” He said it is truly unfortunate that the ADL was unable to take part in the CUAV event.
“Really this is one community that has been targeted with some of the most vile hatred imaginable and I think it would really help to counter that if the ADL was also at the table speaking out against it. It’s just a shame we couldn’t be there.”
However, the ADL wasn’t completely silent in the face of Araujo’s death. Bernstein said his staff decided to denounce the slaying as soon as they heard about it, issuing a press release and encouraging clergy to condemn the murder in their sermons.
“It’s crucial for ADL to speak out against all forms of hate crime that occur in the community because in the Jewish community we know what it feels like when we’re victimized by hate crime and there isn’t anyone to speak out against it,” he said.