Foxman: Israeli-Turkish friendship to overcome tension

Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, National Director Abraham Foxman has said the established Turkish-Jewish friendship will be able to overcome the recent tensions between the two country.

The ADL is one of the leading Jewish organizations in the United States and works to stop “anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry,” and to defend democratic ideals and protect “civil rights for all.”

Attending the group’s annual meeting in New York City, Foxman said the Jewish community had always had a “profound feeling of friendship” toward Turks and Turkey. He added, however, that there have been various events in recent months that have put this friendship to the test.

“It hurts more when something goes wrong between friends,” Foxman said. “I feel myself very close to Turkey. This is why I feel disappointment.”

“If Turkey wants to become more friendly with the Muslim-Arab world in the Middle East, then fine… But why should this be at the expense of Turkey’s friendship with Israel and the Jews?” he said. “I hope this is a temporary [situation] and for the return to old strong relations. I am optimistic; I believe our deep friendly ties will overcome these events.”

Foxman also said the ADL’s approach to the Armenian claims over the events of 1915 has not changed. “We continue to oppose a bill being passed on this subject and welcome the steps taken to establish relations between Turkey and Armenia,” he said. “We believe that problems should be resolved between Turkish and Armenian people in this way and not in the United States Congress or the French parliament.”

Iran’s nuclear program was one of the most discussed topics during the annual ADL meeting. Asked whether Turkey was getting closer to Iran, Kenneth Pollack, the director of research at the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center for Middle East Policy in Washington, said Turkey had criticized Israel over the latest clashes in Gaza but that the country was also very concerned over Iran’s nuclear program.

ADL releases survey results

The ADL released Thursday a U.S.-wide survey that found that anti-Semitic attitudes in the United States were equal to their lowest levels in all the years of taking the pulse of American attitudes toward Jews.

The survey 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, in 1998. In its benchmark 1964 survey, 29 percent of Americans were categorized as having anti-Semitic views.

The 2009 Survey of American Attitudes Toward Jews, a national telephone survey of 1,200 American adults, was conducted between Sept. 26 and Oct. 4. “The fact that anti-Semitic attitudes have reached their lowest point to date is good news, the product of many years of constant and intense efforts by ADL and others to make America a more accepting society,” said Foxman.

"At the same time, there continues to be violence targeting Jews and an increasing use of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” he said. “We cannot dismiss that 12 percent of the American people means that there are still over 30 million Americans that hold anti-Semitic views.”

Commenting on the incongruity of good numbers with the headlines of anti-Semitic violent incidents and public expressions, Foxman said that “just as the good news about the election of an African-American as president has been tempered by the surfacing of racism and conspiratorial thinking in reaction, so too the significant diminution of widespread prejudice against Jews is tempered by the manifestation of violence, conspiracy theories and insensitivities toward them.”