National and Local Reactions to Atlanta Jewish Times Column
On Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, the Atlanta Jewish Times (formerly the Southern Israelite) ran an editorial column by owner and publisher Andrew Adler that put on the table an option of a U.S.- based Mossad assassination of President Barack Obama in order to protect Israel.
By Friday, Jan. 20, the news site Gawker.com picked reported the story and it went viral on the Web and all over the world in a matter of hours. That evening, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Secret Service were aware of and looking into the matter, according to reports.
In addition to local reaction from Atlanta’s office of the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League’s Abraham H. Foxman, the National Jewish Democratic Council, and the Israeli Consul General to the Southeast U.S. have all denounced and condemned Adler’s column and his publication, the Atlanta Jewish Times.
Friday afternoon, Dov Wilker, the executive director of the American Jewish Committee’s Atlanta Chapter, said, “The suggestion by anyone, in this case a Jewish newspaper publisher, that Israel should consider assassinating President Obama is shocking beyond belief,” said Wilker.“While we acknowledge Mr. Adler’s apology, we are flabbergasted that he could ever say such a thing in the first place. How could he even conceive of such a twisted idea?” said Wilker. "Mr. Adler surely owes immediate apologies to President Obama, as well as to the State of Israel and his readership, the Atlanta Jewish community.”
Foxman, the ADL National Director, issued the following statement on Friday afternoon: “There is absolutely no excuse, no justification, no rationalization for this kind of rhetoric. It doesn't even belong in fiction. These are irresponsible and extremist words. It is outrageous and beyond the pale. An apology cannot possibly repair the damage.
“Irresponsible rhetoric metastasizes into more dangerous rhetoric,” Foxman continued. “The ideas expressed in Mr. Adler's column reflect some of the extremist rhetoric that unfortunately exists -- even in some segments of our community -- that maliciously labels President Obama as an 'enemy of the Jewish people.'
“Mr. Adler's lack of judgment as a publisher, editor and columnist raises serious questions as to whether he's fit to run a newspaper.”
On the homefront, Opher Aviran, Israeli Consul General to the Southeast, issued a brief but to the point statement on Adler’s newspaper column that was brief:
Aviran said he was “appalled at this deranged and morally repugnant assertion.
We condemn such calls in the strongest possible terms."
Not only has AtlantaJewishNews.com felt the repercussions of Adler’s column by way of mistaken identity in the Jerusalem Post and Jewish Daily Forward, but Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is facing similar problems. According to Tali Benjamin, spokeswoman for JFGA, the fundraising organization does not have any financial ties with the Atlanta Jewish Times.Many Jewish publications across the U.S., including Seattle-based JTNews, are owned by local Federations, but the Atlanta Jewish Times is independently owned by Adler Publishing. Nonetheless, Benjamin said JFGA has received a bit of backlash of people assuming they fund the publication.
“They do not receive any allocation from Federation,” she said. “We do not agree, we do not support them - we do not have any control over what he publishes. We think what he said was in poor taste and we are not financially tied to them in any way.”
While the Jewish Times is not a financial beneficiary of Federation, Bemjamin said, “We do advertise on occasion for specific events, but we are not tied to them.”
AtlantaJewishNews.com publisher, Marcy Levinson-Brooks, said her news office has been very busy fielding comments from readers who have mistakenly linked AtlantaJewishNews.com with the Atlanta Jewish Times. “We have received hate emails and calls since this was published. The names of the two publications have been mixed up in the Jewish Daily Forward as well as the Jerusalem Post by naming us while referring to Adler. This misinformation about AtlantaJewishNews.com has gone viral through social media, which makes it difficult to correct and combat.”
The Atlanta Jewish Times is owned by Adler Publishing, Inc. AtlantaJewishNews.com is owned by Levinson-Brooks’ Atlanta Jewish News LLC.
“AtlantaJewishNews.com, is a Web “paper” launched to fill the gap in Atlanta’s news reporting on the vibrant and active Jewish community of more than 120,000 Jews,” said Levinson-Brooks. “We decided to be an exclusive online publication to reach younger community members and to succeed within the changing parameters of the media business. As a result we are providing more timely and engaging news reporting and will continue to do so first, fair and free of vitriol.”
In addition to local organizations speaking out against the column, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) president and CEO, David A. Harris, issued a statement Friday afternoon:
"It is the height of irresponsibility to make the horrific suggestion that the State of Israel should assassinate the President of the United States of America," Harris said. "To dare to give such despicable ideas space in a newspaper -- no less in the words of the paper's owner and publisher, and a Jewish newspaper at that -- is beyond the pale. This episode demonstrates just how low our political discourse has sunk, and I can only hope that it serves as a wake-up call to moderate our public dialogue and tone it down dramatically. Such suggestions have no place in the public square, and they should be roundly condemned by everyone, regardless of party."
Today another local Atlanta organization spoke out about this editorial column as well. "The Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta (JCRC) condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent irresponsible, morally wrong, and wholly indefensible statements of Andrew Adler in his January 13, 2012 column in The Jewish Times. The JCRC is committed to providing a forum for Jewish organizations and individuals to come together to discuss and take action on issues that affect the Jewish community in Atlanta, Israel, the Jewish people, and the general community. The JCRC supports peaceful and civil resolution of conflict. However, Adler’s statements are repugnant to Jewish values and to the values and mission of the JCRC. They undermine the Jewish community in Atlanta and beyond and gravely disserve the interests of the State of Israel and of the United States of America."
Adler has not returned calls or emails to AtlantaJewishNews.com for an interview, however he was interviewed by Audrex Galex with Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters in a 20 minute interview over the weekend. The interview can be found here.
Staff Report with contributions by Fran Memberg
