Abe Foxman

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Abraham H. Foxman has served as national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) since 1987. An acclaimed author, he will discuss his new book, “Jews & Money: The Story of a Stereotype” (Palgrave Macmillan, Nov. 2010) at the Mandell Jewish Community Center on Wednesday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. He is also the author of “The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control,” “Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism,” and “Bernie Madoff Moment.”
Over the course of his long career at ADL, which began in 1965, Foxman has met with national and world leaders. An ardent supporter of the State of Israel, he regularly travels to Israel and works closely with officials there and in the U.S..
Born in Poland in 1940, Foxman was saved from the Holocaust as an infant by his Polish Catholic nanny who baptized and raised him as a Catholic during the war years. After he arrived in America in 1950 with his parents, he attended the Yeshiva of Flatbush in Brooklyn, N.Y. A graduate of the City College of the City University of New York, he holds a law degree from New York University and did graduate work in Jewish studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary and in international economics at New York’s New School for Social Research.
Recently, the Ledger spoke with Foxman about his new book and anti-Semitism around the world.

Your new book, “Jews & Money,” talks about the longtime stereotype of the greedy Jew.  What made you decide to tackle this issue?
A: It was mainly during the financial crisis, when we saw an up-tick in anti-Semitic expressions about Jews and money, particularly on the Internet.  Yet it wasn’t any particular comment or incident during the financial crisis that led me to write “Jews and Money: The Story of a Stereotype.” Rather, it was the cumulative effect of a host of anti-Semitic statements focusing on money matters together with the uncertain environment in which Jews were living that provided the imperative for me to return to the world of authorship.
Still, a number of the comments made a deep impression on me. One was the claim that Lehman Brothers, immediately before its collapse, transferred $400 billion to Israeli banks.  It reminded me of the Hezbollah charge soon after 9/11 that they had “learned” that 4,000 Israelis did not show up for work at the World Trade Center that day. These conspiracy theories are so outlandish that one is tempted to ignore them. But, as absurd as they are, they do take hold. There’s no room for complacency.

To what do you attribute the rise in the stereotype of money-hungry Jews?  Is Bernie Madoff responsible for a large part of that?
A: In my book I write of the “Bernie Madoff Moment,” the period between Madoff’s arrest and sentencing when we saw an incredible flood of anti-Semitic comments on mainstream and extremist websites.  Hundreds of news sites, blogs and financial message boards were inundated with responses that focused not just on Madoff but the supposed propensity of all Jews to commit fraud in pursuit of profit.  Madoff’s arrest provided a moment to bring again to the surface the age-old canard about greedy, money-hungry Jews.  In times of social stress or economic hardship, the search for scapegoats tends to intensify, and when the financial crisis erupted in the fall of 2008, our antennae were up, for one of the most prominent, persistent and entrenched elements of anti-Semitism is the network of beliefs surrounding Jews and money.  Madoff brought this again to the fore.

It seems as if anti-Semitism might be on the rise.  Is that so? What are the hotspots in terms of anti-Semitism?
A: Actually, our surveys over the years show that anti-Semitism in America has been largely on the decline in America.  Our last nationwide survey in October 2009, for example, found that 12 percent of Americans hold anti-Semitic views, a decline from 15 percent in 2007 and matching the lowest figure ever recorded by ADL.  By comparison, in a 1964 benchmark survey, 29 percent of Americans held deeply anti-Semitic views.  So there has been a marked decline as U.S. Jews have gained acceptance and become a part of mainstream American life.  At the same time there continues to be occasional violence targeting Jews and an increasing use of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.  We can’t dismiss that 12 percent of the American people means that there are still more than 30 million Americans that hold anti-Semitic views.  But the good news is that anti-Semitism has been marginalized and is no longer acceptable in polite society.  There are not “hot spots” of anti-Semitism, per se, but flare-ups, as we saw recently with the anti-Semitic remarks of a slew of public figures and celebrities, including former White House reporter Helen Thomas, and fashion designer John Galliano.

Is being anti-Israel the new anti-Semitism?
A: No. We have always been clear that one can be critical of the Jewish state without being labeled an anti-Semite.  There is more criticism of the Israeli government per square inch within Israel than there is of Israel in the rest of the world.  This is part of a healthy and vibrant democracy.  Our concern has always been when criticism of Israel crosses the line into anti-Semitism; that is, when Israeli leaders are vilified in the Arab press as Nazis, or Israel is compared to an apartheid state, or when Israel is singled out among all of the nations as a violator of human rights at the United Nations Human Rights Council when other prime violators are ignored.  Then a line has been crossed.

You were saved during the Holocaust by your Polish Catholic nanny who baptized you and raised you Catholic.  How did your experience influence your work today?
A: My family’s experiences during the Shoah have deeply influenced my work. One of the most powerful lessons of the Holocaust is “Never Again” – never again should we remain silent in the face of prejudice and bigotry, for it can lead to acts of violence and even genocide.  This informs ADL’s mission of not remaining silent in the face of anti-Semitism, bigotry or prejudice.  We should not be afraid to speak out, and to look to those good people in society who will stand with us.  The woman who saved my life took it upon herself to protect me despite the great risks in hiding a Jewish child from the Nazis.  She did so, I believe, out of a deep sense that it was the right thing to do, informed by her faith as a deeply religious person and her personal morality.  She was among the righteous gentiles who rejected the goals of the Final Solution. Had more people stood up against the anti-Semitic policies of the Nazis, had more people spoken out, the Holocaust might have been prevented.

For more information on Abe Foxman’s appearance at the Mandell JCC, call (860) 231-6316, email tickets@mandelljcc.org, or visit www.mandelljcc.org.