With Etzion Neuer (second from left) are (left to right) Doug Stanger, a member of ADL NJ’s Executive Committee, JCRC Chair Arlene Groch and Federation Executive Vice President Bob Seltzer. Arlene Groch, chairperson of the JCRC, the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Atlantic and Cape May Counties, welcomed Etzion Neuer, regional director of the Anti- Defamation League’s New Jersey office, to speak to JCRC members last Thursday, March 11.

The JCRC members listened intently, asked pertinent questions, and offered personal viewpoints, during a stimulating evening in which Neuer led a discussion ranging from global anti-Semitism, which he compared to a “2000 year-old virus” to the delegitimization of Israel, cyberhate and anti-Israel activity on college campuses, said Groch.

Using PowerPoint slides to illustrate his points, Neuer showed photographs featuring swastikas and images of the Holocaust which anti-Semites have used to compare Israelis and Jews to Nazis, particularly in criticisms of Israel’s defensive military action in Gaza.

Neuer discussed a disturbing trend ADL has noted, in which anti-Israel activists have shouted down, heckled and intimidated Israeli officials and others expressing pro-Israel views. Most notable was the recent incident at the University of California, Irvine in which a speech by Michael Oren, Israeli Ambassador to the United States, was disrupted by protesters shouting out accusations such as, “How many Palestinians have you killed?”

These tactics – especially in an academic environment where speakers need to be free to express their ideas – are the antithesis of free speech, said Neuer. Audiences have a right to hear these facts and viewpoints without worrying about intimidation, and students need to know Middle East history and politics. That is why ADL works with local organizations to organize seminars on Israel advocacy for high school students.

Neuer also addressed what he and others have called the most serious existential threat to the existence of Israel, and urged JCRC members “to press for tough sanctions against Iran.” The fraudulent election and the Iranian government’s subsequent repression of all opposition exposed the brutality of the regime for what it is.

Groch agreed with Neuer that, in spite of some alarming trends, the Jewish community in 2010 is not defenseless. “Our Jewish community through Federation Executive Vice President Bob Seltzer and our JCRC, can and does speak out,” said Groch.

“Our role is to advocate with a proud and strong voice for the issues that we consider important to Jews here at home, in Israel and around the world. We are grateful to have the Anti-Defamation league as an ally and a resource in those efforts, and especially to have in our own community, Doug Stanger, a member of ADL NJ’s Executive Committee, and a former JCRC Chairperson. Doug has always been ready and willing to lead and to help Federation in general and the JCRC in particular.”