438 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
438 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
History of Information Sharing With Israel
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Bullock's attorney turned over to investigators an FBI
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intelligence report on the Nation of Islam whose disappearance
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had caused alarm at the bureau. The search of ADL offices in San
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Francisco and Los Angeles turned up more FBI materials, including
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a three-volume report on a Middle East terrorist group. Moreover,
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Bullock's written reports to the ADL, which he said were
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channeled across the country, contained legally confidential
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material that he attributed to "official friends," the ADL's
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euphemism for law enforcement officers.
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While denying that the ADL spies on individuals, Foxman testily
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argued in an interview that the organization has a right to do
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whatever it must within the law to combat antisemitism. "What are
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they [the FBI volumes] doing in our files?" Foxman said. "Because
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they belong in our files. ... because somebody shared it with
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us."
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Since news of the investigation broke, a group of Arab
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Americans listed in the ADL's files has charged in a civil
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lawsuit that the ADL invaded the Arab Americans' privacy with its
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"massive spying operation" and forwarded confidential information
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to the governments of Israel and South Africa.
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Evidence of the ADL's information sharing with the Israeli
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government is largely historical. In 1961, former ADL national
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director Benjamin R. Epstein wrote to a B'nai B'rith official
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that the ADL was following Arab diplomats and activists in
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America and sharing its information with the governments of
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Israel and the United States.
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In his 1988 autobiography, ADL general counsel Arnold Forster,
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who oversaw the fact-finding operation, described how "fact-
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finding and counteraction became the heart of the organization."
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He also wrote that he was often a "source" for the Mossad,
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Israel's CIA, in tracking down suspected war criminals.
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"ADL does not act as an agent of Israel," said Foxman,
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bristling at the charge. He called such questions about ADL's
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conduct "antisemitism. ... I'm sorry if it offends some people.
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This is far reaching. We see a conspiracy. I see a conspiracy.
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It's out there ... it's proved itself every day."
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Underlying the San Francisco case is a gradual evolution in the
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ADL's mission. Soon after the organization was founded, the 1915
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lynching of Leo Frank, a leader of the Atlanta chapter of the
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Jewish fraternal organization B'nai B'rith, caused the group to
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focus much of its energy on protecting the physical safety of
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Jews by publicly exposing bigotry and forcing officials to act.
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Organized intelligence gathering was a natural outgrowth. In
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the 1930s, the ADL "undertook a massive research operation which
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uncovered the interlocking directorates of hate groups, their
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links to Hitler's Germany and other centers of Nazi propaganda,"
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according to an ADL account. In the civil rights era, it worked
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in concert with the FBI to combat the Ku Klux Klan.
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In 1975, the ADL issued a report entitled "Target U.S.A.: The
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Arab Propaganda Offensive" that described how mainstream Arab-
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American groups were allied with non-Arab "apologists" such as
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"some church people, clergy and lay, a number of university-based
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intellectuals and scholars, plus elements in the liberal
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community ... some groups formerly active in the antiwar movement
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during the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, plus the extreme Left,
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Old and New, segments of the political Far Right, and the
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traditional anti-Jewish hate fringe . . . and a small number of
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anti-Israel, anti-Zionist Jews."
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Once this broad rationale took hold, the civil rights watchdog
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increasingly devoted its investigative apparatus to
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"counteracting" what it calls "anti-Israel" sentiment or "the new
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antisemitism" in the United States.
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In practice, this means the ADL keeps track of politically
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active Americans or groups that repeatedly criticize Israel or
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lobby for Palestinian rights. The ADL argues that any threat to
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Israel's "image" in America endangers the $3 billion annual
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package of U.S. military and economic aid to Israel and thereby
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jeopardizes the long-term fate of all Jews.
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"I understand that it's difficult for other people to
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understand," said Foxman, but a "viable, safe, secure haven" in
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Israel is "part and parcel of the safety and security and
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survival of the Jewish people."
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Bullock's work as described in the lengthy transcripts of his
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interviews with police and in FBI summaries of his
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statements tracks the shift in the ADL's emphasis. In the 1960s
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and 1970s, he focused primarily on tradtional organized
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antisemitic extremist organizations. But during the 1980s,
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Bullock said he increasingly focused on groups critical of
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Israeli policies, such as anti-apartheid groups, but not overtly
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antisemitic.
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Bullock's computer database grew to include more than 10,000
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names of individuals and hundreds of political, social and
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business groups, including some that had worked closely with the
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ADL. But his primary concentration was on groups he labeled
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"Right," "Arabs," "Pinkos," and "Skins." He acknowledged sharing
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his information with law enforcement, a fact investigators
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confirmed when they searched Gerard's police department files and
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found duplicates of Bullock's files. Bullock told police that ADL
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officials knew about his database.
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Bullock said he got "checks regular once-a-week" from the ADL
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that were paid through Los Angeles attorney Bruce Hochman.
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Hochman said in an interview that he paid Bullock at the ADL's
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request to protect the undercover role.
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Bullock told police that he met Gerard at a meeting at the San
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Francisco ADL office and that executive director Richard
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Hirschhaut was aware that Gerard was a key source.
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The ADL dispatched Bullock on special assignments to Chicago
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and Germany. For a particularly sensitive operation he said he
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got the approval of Irwin Suall, national director of fact
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finding. Both officials have come under scrutiny in the
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investigation. Suall and Hirschhaut declined comment.
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Bullock told police he was the ADL's "resident expert" on
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antisemitism in San Francisco and maintained the ADL office
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files. He said he was the only "fact finder, spy, whatever you
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want to call me, on the West Coast."
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Bullock monitored several of the groups profiled in the ADL's
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published reports, occasional exposes that are a blend of
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advocacy journalism and intelligence briefings. In 1987, Bullock
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volunteered to work on a march of the Mobilization for Jobs,
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Peace and Justice, a coalition of liberal groups that included
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the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), according
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to director Carl Finamore.
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"He [Bullock] just showed up at our office one day to help. He
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comes in, he's friendly, insinuates himself, asserts himself,
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tells a little bit about his personal background to get you
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interested in him as a human being, makes suggestions," Finamore
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said.
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Some `Material Is Clearly Contraband'
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The ADL wanted information on the ADC, a group that challenges
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defamatory Arab stereotypes, because it considered the
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organization a "highly active pro-PLO propaganda group." An ADL
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report said the ADC's members favor "political support for
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suspected PLO terrorists residing in the U.S."
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Bullock also volunteered at the ADC's San Francisco Bay Area
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chapter, where he carried banners, helped with crowd control
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during demonstrations and took photographs, according to Osama
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Doumani, who at the time served as the ADC's regional director.
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"He would come to my office and he would hug me in a comradely
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fashion and volunteer for work. He wanted to have a presence
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whenever we had something important," he said.
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The ADL has labored to draw a distinction between Bullock's
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more controversial activities and work he was authorized to do
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for ADL, leaving investigators largely unconvinced.
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In a court affidavit, San Francisco Police Inspector Ronald
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Roth said that based on a comparison of Bullock's database with
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the seized ADL records, "It is believed that Bullock's databases
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are in fact the ADL databases."
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Assistant District Attorney Thomas Dwyer argued in court that
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"some of that [ADL] material is clearly contraband." The ADL, he
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said, does not "have the right to rap sheet photographs; they do
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not have the right to people's fingerprint cards."
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But Foxman and other ADL officials say its fact finders
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basically employ the methods of investigative journalists, taking
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notes at public meetings, culling published material for facts,
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and cultivating law enforcement sources, in order to publish
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important exposes about bigotry and prejudice.
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"It's a First Amendment right," Foxman said. "We have a right
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to gather information and to disseminate it. ... We look at
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pieces. We look at individuals. We look at ideologies."
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[end]
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The Washington Post
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October 19, 1993
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page A13
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EVOLUTION OF THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
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FULL NAME: Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
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MISSION: "The immediate object of the league is to stop, by
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appeals to reason and conscience, and if necessary, by
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appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people and
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to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens
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alike." (ADL founding charter, 1913)
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ORGANIZATION: National director Abraham H. Foxman oversees 200
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staff members who work in New York, Washington, and 30
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regional offices in major cities. About 15,000 ADL
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supporters donate time, money and advice.
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BUDGET: $31 million in 1992, chiefly raised through donations to
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the ADL, which is a tax exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit
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foundation established for educational purposes.
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BRIEF HISTORY:
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1913 <20><> A group of Jewish attorneys in Chicago forms the ADL,
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using a grant from B'nai B'rith, an international
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fraternal organization.
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1915 <20><> Lynching of Atlanta B'nai B'rith leader Leo Frank
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galvanizes the ADL to work toward protecting the physical
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safety of Jews.
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1930s <20><> The ADL leads the U.S. fight against pro-Fascist groups
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and "America First" isolationists, establishing a pattern
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in which ADL research was shared with federal agencies.
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1940s <20><> The ADL emphasizes involvement in civil rights
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litigation, contesting harsh immigration policies and
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opposing restrictive covenants that prevented Jews from
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moving into desirable neighborhoods.
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1950s <20><> The ADL supplies federal agencies with information on
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alleged subversives, but also challenges Sen. Joseph R.
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McCarthy (R-Wis.) and works quietly to clear those
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wrongly accused of being communists or their
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sympathizers.
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1960s <20><> The ADL works closely with law enforcement authorities
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on various types of civil rights litigation. It forms
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department of Middle Eastern affairs after the Six Day
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War in 1967 underscores Israel's vulnerability.
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1970s <20><> The ADL increasingly focuses on the threat to Israel of
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pro-Arab or anti-Israel advocates in the United States,
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especially their efforts to persuade the United States to
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end its military assistance to Israel.
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1980s <20><> The ADL emerges as a vigorous member of the pro-Israel
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lobby, even as it continues to investigate left- and
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right-wing extremist groups. It develops a model for hate
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crimes legislation, which recently was upheld by the U.S.
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Supreme Court.
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Recent ADL reports: In addition to its annual audits of antisemitic
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incidents, the ADL has published reports that discussed the views of
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such diverse figures as Patrick J. Buchanan, David Duke, Lyndon H.
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LaRouche, Jr., and Louis Farrakhan. It has issued studies on
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antisemitic sentiment among black nationalist and left-wing radicals;
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the continuing activities of Ku Klux Klan leaders, the pursuit of
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Nazi war criminals, the phenomenon of Skinheads and several reports
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on what it calls the "anti-Israel Lobby" or pro-Arab propaganda
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groups in the United States.
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Compiled by Barbara J. Saffir from news services and ADL.
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[end]
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The Washington Post
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October 19, 1993
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page A12
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Case of the Critical Librarians
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Research on Bibliographer Used to Counter Vote on Israeli Censorship
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by Jim McGee
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Reference librarian David L. Williams says he learned firsthand how
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the ADL's fact-finding operation uses information to counteract
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critics of Israel.
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Williams, who works at the Chicago Public Library, was listed in
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ADL fact finder Roy H. Bullock's files as an "Arab" activist.
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Involved in liberal causes since the Vietnam War, Williams in 1977
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joined the Palestine Human Rights Campaign (PHRC), a Chicago-based
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group that published a newsletter about what it considered human
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rights abuses by Israel. The ADL has described the PHRC as an "anti-
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Israeli propaganda group."
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The Chicago ADL office built up a file on Williams, according to
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Barry Morrison, who headed the city's ADL office at the time. Bullock
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told the FBI that he was sent to Chicago on special assignment
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specifically to investigate the PHRC. Williams's name was listed in
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the database that Bullock shared with a San Francisco police
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intelligence officer, Thomas Gerard.
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Williams's interest in the rights of Palestinians dovetailed with
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his duties at the Chicago Public Library, where he was assigned to
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order books on the Middle East. In 1989, Williams prepared an in-
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house bibliography for the Chicago library system on the Palestinian-
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Israeli conflict.
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The ADL thought the bibliography was weighted in favor of the pro-
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Palestinian authors and went to Williams's superiors with its
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information on his political activities.
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Williams also was a member of the American Library Association
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(ALA), which for years has approved resolutions condemning censorship
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in other countries. In 1992, Williams and other ALA members persuaded
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the association to adopt a resolution criticizing Israeli censorship
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in the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
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Morrison met privately with ALA officials to argue that a
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resolution singling out Israel was unfair and laid out the ADL's
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information on Williams. ALA President Marilyn Miller said she told
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the ADL officials that "we don't censor our own members."
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"Obviously I felt strongly that ALA should take a stand on this or
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I wouldn't have gone to them with this," Williams said. "... They
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[the ADL] equate that with antisemitism."
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In February, the ADL issued a news release condemning the ALA for
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its failure to retract what the ADL called a "false and biased anti-
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Israel resolution." The release noted that the ADL "fights
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antisemitism and all forms of bigotry."
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"When we ultimately found that despite numerous efforts that we had
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failed, then we chose to condemn and attack the ALA," Morrison said.
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"Ultimately their officials are responsible for the image, reputation
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and stature of their organization."
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"I think they [the ALA] were made to feel that they were in danger
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of being condemned for being antisemitic for voicing any kind of
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criticism of Israel," said Mark Rosenweig, a Jewish librarian from
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New York who supported the ALA's censorship resolution.
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The ADL began working at the "grass-roots level," according to
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Morrison, encouraging Jewish librarians in the library association to
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push for retraction of the measure. An ALA group called the Jewish
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Librarians Committee took the lead; a fact sheet prepared by the ADL
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was distributed to ALA members. In June, at its annual convention in
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New Orleans, the ALA revoked the Israeli censorship resolution.
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"ADL did not engage in any form of pressure or intimidation ...,"
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said Kenneth Jacobson, the ADL's director of international affairs.
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"We recognize and respect the First Amendment rights of Israel's
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critics in this country and fully exercise our own free speech
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rights. There is nothing illegal, improper, or clandestine about our
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efforts and nothing merits our apology."
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[end]
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The Washington Times
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October 19, 1993
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page A13
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Loudoun Investigator's Mission: An Expenses-Paid Trip to Israel
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by Robert O'Harrow, Jr.
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For much of his career, Donald Moore was an investigator with
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the Loudoun County sheriff's department. He loved undercover
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surveillance, and sometimes went through trash dumpsters in a
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furtive search for clues.
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For eight days in May 1991, More became a police emissary of
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sorts on an all-expenses paid "mission" to Israel sponsored by
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the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B'nai B'rith. He and 11 other
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American officers, including some from the District and
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Montgomery County, received a military briefing and shared ideas
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with national police leaders.
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Two years later, the trip and other ADL-sponsored missions came
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under scrutiny by the San Francisco District Attorney's office,
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which has been examining whether the ADL granted favors to peace
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officers to encourage them to share confidential police
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information with the organization.
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One officer who went along on Moore's trip, former San
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Francisco inspector Thomas Gerard, has pleaded not guilty to
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felony charges that he passed along police information to
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longtime ADL operative Roy H. Bullock.
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Authorities say Moore and the other officers on the May 1991
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trip are not targets of the investigation; at least three of the
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officers have been interviewed by the FBI or police authorities
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in California.
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Bullock has said the ADL had "numerous peace officers"
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supplying confidential criminal records and other information,
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court records show. Some civil rights groups and privacy rights
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experts say they fear the ADL, and possibly other private groups,
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quietly have supplemented police intelligence-gathering by doing
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investigative work off limits to police.
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"That is a real question that we have, not only in San
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Francisco, but also in other communities," said John Crew, an
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American Civil Liberties Union attorney.
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ADL officials acknowledge they have worked closely with law
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enforcement on investigating bias crimes, police training, and
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drafting hate crimes legislation. But they say such cooperation
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is part of the organization's civic duty and deny knowingly
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accepting illegal information. "There's nothing that we do that
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is sinister and there's nothing that we do that is against the
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law," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL's national director.
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Moore and other officers say they often have turned to the ADL
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for help, but not to the point of sharing restricted information.
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Moore was fired last year in an unrelated incident after
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sheriff's officials said he was found going through private phone
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messages. He was acquitted last year of charges that he helped
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plan an abduction of Lewis du Pont Smith, an heir to the du Pont
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fortune and a longtime follower of political extremist Lyndon H.
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LaRouche Jr.
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It was his investigation of LaRouche that brought Moore into
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close contact with the ADL. In 1986, he was assigned to
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investigate LaRouche followers after the group moved its
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headquarters to Leesburg in Loudoun County.
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Working as a local point man in an investigation that
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eventually involved federal agents in several cities, Moore set
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up a computer database in Leesburg listing LaRouche associates
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and cultivated local residents to help track their movements.
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Moore began working with ADL fact finder Mira Boland, who
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joined the ADL in 1982 and was assigned to cultivate law
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enforcement sources. Boland is now widely known among police as a
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source of reliable tips, sometimes from "snitches" who infiltrate
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hate groups. Boland declined repeated requests to be interviewed,
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saying ADL leaders denied her permission.
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Beginning in 1986, court records show, Boland said she began
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sharing information on LaRouche with Moore and other Loudoun
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sheriff's deputies. The two regularly exchanged details about
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LaRouche, including clips from his groups' publications and
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county gun permit records.
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When LaRouche was convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud in
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1988 in Alexandria, the ADL celebrated with prosecutors, Moore
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and others involved in the case. Boland has a photo of the
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celebration in her office.
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Transcripts of a recent federal wiretap of Moore's telephone on
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an unrelated case describe his relationship with the ADL. "I need
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to find a guy the ADL had a little old woman knocking on his
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apartment in New York two hours after I had asked," Moore said on
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the recording, court papers show. "I told the feds exactly where,
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when and how to get him. And he was got."
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Moore said in an interview that he has never passed along
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restricted records to the ADL. "Did I share any information with
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them? Nothing that wasn't public information," he said.
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Despite questions raised by investigators about ADL's tactics,
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Washington area police agencies praise the group. They say
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Boland's fact-finding office in the District and the publications
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it produces are helpful in researching extremist groups.
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In Maryland, the District and Virginia, for instance, police
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are not allowed to create files on individuals or groups solely
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because of their political or racial views. The ADL has no such
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restraints, police say. ADL officials say fact finders such as
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Boland work in the same ways as journalists.
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"In one way, it's like another law enforcement agency," said
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Lt. Tim Boyle, of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police in
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Montgomery, who went on the 1991 ADL trip to Israel. "They can
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tell you who the leaders are, when they started, that type of
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thing. They have no restrictions on them."
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Boyle turned to the ADL in 1989 when a teenager of Asian
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descent was taunted as a "gook" and attacked with steel-toed
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boots by a gang of Skinheads.
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When one of the gang leaders disappeared, the ADL offered to
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use its sources to help find him, Boyle said. Eventually, using a
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young undercover operative, the ADL infiltrated the Skinheads and
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found the suspect, who was arrested in Pittsburgh.
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Much of the ADL's work with law enforcement goes beyond
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investigations. In New Jersey, the ADL helped the state attorney
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general's office produce a hate-crime training video, now
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circulated to some 700 police agencies across the country. The
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ADL also helps police draft legislation to curb hate crimes.
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The ADL views its special police missions to Israel as another
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intensive training activity, giving officers a chance to meet
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with top Israeli police, intelligence officers and political
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leaders.
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"They have been our unofficial consultant," said James
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Mulvihill, a New Jersey assistant attorney general who speaks
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with ADL officials on an almost weekly basis. "I regard them as
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the premier prejudice fighting organization.
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[end]
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