I was pleased to see Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, write a recent op-ed in The Jewish Week which offered a message of “support and encouragement to all the moderates of the Islamic world.” (click here) But Foxman’s original statement — that dialogue with Muslims was a “pipe dream” because “there is no one to talk to” — was irresponsible and should have been retracted rather than clarified.

When Foxman made his comment, I heard from many of my Muslim peers who are moderates that his words were hurtful. Indeed, just as these Muslim peers were outreaching to Jews like myself to advance a positive and constructive dialogue, the head of a major organization devoted to tolerance was saying that Muslims were incapable of such dialogue. Whether or not Foxman meant something more nuanced by his comment as he explained in his op-ed, his word choice was crude at best and on such a delicate issue there is no place for that type of imprecision. The entire point of Foxman’s opinion piece is that dialogue and words can be a powerful tool. If words matter, Foxman should have chosen his more carefully.

As a Jewish American, I believe strongly in the mission of the Anti-Defamation League. And our organization has worked before with ADL’s leadership to facilitate dialogue on U.S.-Muslim world relations. I know that the ADL’s heart is in the right place. But when the organization’s leader puts his foot in his mouth, he should acknowledge it and be big enough to say he misspoke and he’s sorry for the harm his comments have caused.

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