The full NEA debate on the ADL

K12 Extremism Tracker has obtained a verified transcript of the floor debate from the NEA Representative Assembly on NBI #39 on the ADL. Read below:

New business relating to a boycott or sanction is automatically referred passed by the RA to the executive committee. We look at the action called for in the new business item, not the language used to determine whether or not it calls for a boycott or a sanction. NBI 39 calls for us not to endorse, use, publicize any materials from the Anti-Defamation league and therefore calls for a boycott of the organization. Thank you.

Judy Greenspan:
Hi, my name is Judy Greenspan, I use They/Them Pronouns. I'm from Oakland, California and by the way, I'm a proud substitute teacher representing substitute teachers in Oakland Education Association. We are OEA and I mean Oakland education and I am the maker of new business item 39 and I'm moving it. Okay, thank you. I am bringing this NBI as an individual who is a Jewish educator and a member of Jewish voice for peace. I am not bringing this out a lot of thought and I know that this discussion will make many of you feel uncomfortable, but it has to be that I am asking you to support this NBI by A DL is not what it seems. And in the words of James Baldwin, one of my heroes, I can't believe what you say because I see what you do. The A DL has helped to promote a most dangerous definition of antisemitism. It just fitted well-meaning Jews against most of the progressive communities in this country. The ADL has poured millions of dollars pushing a false IHRA definition of antisemitism. This definition will equate support for the Palestinians with opposition to the current genocide in Gaza and it's promoted it as antisemitic. This definition has made it harder for Jewish groups to track and fight real instances of antisemitism. And at the same time the A DL has targeted educators, students and community leaders who dare to speak out against who Israeli genocidal war. I as a Jewish educator and activist feel very strongly about this issue. I feel strongly.

Eilat Lipschitz:
Hi, Eilat Lipschitz, Massachusetts first time speaker speaking as an individual. The ADL was formed in the 19 teens after a trial and lynching of the Jewish factory manager Leo Frank, when antisemitism was a driving factor in the conviction of Frank with bigotry and hate rampant throughout the country. The Anti-Defamation League was founded to stop the defamation of Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. And over the past century, the organization has expanded their reach and has worked to fight all forms of bigotry. At the start of my second year of teaching in 2023, my district utilized the ADL to conduct our [unclear] training about all different types of hate and they barely even mentioned their connection as a Jewish organization. While the A DL is a social justice organization fighting all types of bigotry, it is at the forefront of fighting Antisemitism in the United States. This body supporting this motion is a message to Jewish educators and Jewish students that we are not safe in education spaces. Yesterday madam President said that we will not walk away from our commitment to civil rights. We will not stop fighting for racial equity and social justice dues make up 2% of this country's population, but experience some of the highest levels of hate crimes. So we are not going to stop fighting for all that includes our Jewish students and educators. Vote no on this and show support for all.

Steven Siegel:

Steven Siegel from Oregon. So here's the problem. The A DL has cheapened the word antisemitism. Wikipedia has dropped the A DL as a reliable source. Jewish currents did an audit of ADL statements and found them to be consistently inaccurate and non-credible. The ACLU has stated that the ADL's calls for investigations into student groups, particularly those critical to Israel has already had a chilling effect on free speech. The A DL has a history of suppressing anti-racist organizing, supporting anti-Arab and Islamophobic measures and attacking black organizing, including the movement for black lives. The A DL has a program that sends US law enforcement officials to Israel to train with Israeli police and military for these reasons the NEA should not use, endorse or promote the ADL's resources in our efforts to support our Jewish members and students or as we work to educate ourselves about real antisemitism, allowing the A DL to determine what constitutes antisemitism would be like allowing the fossil fuel industry to determine what constitutes climate change. [unclear] let's keep fighting for justice and support this NBI.

Speaker

Michael [unclear] from New Jersey speaking as an individual. First of all, Wikipedia. Okay. While the ADL primarily focuses on combating antisemitism, its stated mission and initiatives demonstrate a broader commitment to securing justice and fair treatment for all people and fighting vicious various forms of bigotry as the ADL's mission statement states justice and fair treatment for all. Just the other day, Trump used the term “Shylock” in one of his speeches. This is a historic historically been used to represent the Jewish people as greedy. We need the ADL to be there to fight for us when things like this happen. Finally, the ADL is on the forefront in our fight for our Jewish students fighting against the blatant discrimination that we have currently seen in just the last few weeks as Jewish students in schools like the Nysmith school in Virginia and Nathan Hale High School in Seattle have been facing. So let's not be the organization that marginalizes our Jewish members and Jewish students because of some people's beliefs in false propaganda that is being spread. In the name of your NEA Jewish brothers and sisters and our Jewish students, I'm asking you to please oppose this NBI.

Jennifer Hall:

Jennifer Hall from the [unclear] state of Washington and where the general strike of 1919 was held in Seattle. Speaking, speaking for the motion, I wasn't going to talk about myself. I am a new member of Jewish Voice for Peace and also a new member of the Jewish American Affairs Office, as of yesterday. I'm half Jewish by heritage. I'm a teacher and I became a teacher when I was getting a little bit, not quite long in the tooth, but not a traditional teacher. And I felt then and I do now, that part of just being who I am is to care when any child is denied the right to live a child of child living in Israel, a child living in Palestine when they are denied the right to live. That is something that I need to care about. I've had some experience with trying to put together curricular resources after the terrible October 7th attack on Israel and I've been kind of overruled when I suggested Democracy Now, Ta-Nehisi Coates and told that the A DL would be running some…

Laurie Goldstein:

I'm the president of the CEA retired for Colorado, for another day. I'm the president of my board of education and I'm running for Colorado House District 29 and I want to speak in opposition of new business item 39. On May 20. They're talking on their at a peaceful demonstration in Boulder, Colorado. [at this point speaker was interrupted for Jennifer Hall’s comments]… I'll just pick up where I left off. May 25th, peaceful demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado were set on fire by somebody who was sympathetic to the Palestinian situation. They were just protesting peacefully. One of them passed away the next week. The Boulder community decided to continue to hold the Jewish festival that they hold every year. And it was attended better than it had ever been attended before, but there were sharp shooters on the roof. Is this the kind of country we want to live in? Just a few hours ago, a Jewish person and a person who was sympathetic to the Arabs stood together and said, enough is enough. When is this going to end? What’s going on in Palestine is horrific. The prime minister of Israel is a fascist just like our president, but that is not us. So please.. oppose.. this NBI.

Merrie Najimy [K12 tracker note - Najimy is the former president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the founder of MTA Rank and File for Palestine]:

Merrie Najimy, Massachusetts. The narrative that we grew up with, that Israel, that Palestine, was the land without a people for people without a land is racist towards the Palestinians because it erases them as human beings, their history, their culture, their connection to the land and the Nakba. In 2024, the Massachusetts Teachers Association board of directors voted to create resources to help educators teach about Israel and Palestine. And those resources provide a counter narrative to the dominant narrative. And sadly, some MTA members wrote solidarity and shared those resources with the ADL and other Zionist organizations. And the ADL has started a smear campaign against the MTA calling them antisemitic and its relentless and it goes on week after week, day after day. So why would we partner with an organization who is actively trying to discredit the teachers union? [cheers and applause from crowd] And this is not a boycott. This is not a boycott. We said we weren't going to partner with the Zinn Education Project. This is no different. To say we're not going to partner with the ADL.

Speaker:

[unclear] From the great state of New Jersey, I rise in opposition and thank these amazing allies for standing with me. The ADL defends members of the Jewish community against hate, discrimination and antisemitism. That support extends to our students and fellow educators who use those resources regularly. The ADL is to the Jewish community as Glisten is to the LGBTQ+ community and the NAACP is to our members of color. And just like these essential organizations, the ADL's focus is to ensure just and inclusive society for all including co-sponsoring the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. To target and remove one group that supports our Jewish members is a form of inequity that does not belong in the space of social justice. My siblings in solidarity, I stand here and ask you to oppose NBI 39 to show that all are truly welcome.

Speaker:

[unclear] New Jersey. Yesterday we celebrated the passage of NBIV anniversary. We also acknowledged the LGBTQIA new business item for action. So why are we saying that our Jewish members do not need to have our support in an organization whose mission is to address Jewish hate? We honor Maude, I'm sorry, Maude Downy at the human rights dinner the other night. Kim Anderson said today and you applauded this union will have your back. Does that include stopping Jewish hate, antisemitism? Some of our members don't feel they are safe.

Speaker:

Allison [unclear] from the great state of Georgia where peanuts actually grow out of the beaches. It's true. I moved close debate.

Speaker:

Do you have a second?

Joshua Pineta:

Yes. Joshua Staff Pineta, also from Georgia.

Debate closed:

Voting by voice alone was too close. Delegates were instructed to stand waive to note their opposition or favor for NBI 39.