APTS RESPONSE TO THE 12/30/2013 ADL REPORT ON THE NEWTON SCHOOLS CURRICULUM 01/10/2014

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background: Under intense pressure, on December 30, ADL New England released a four page document that attempts to exonerate Newton school officials from claims that anti-Israel curricula were taught in the Newton schools. The ADL had been faced with serious challenges to its credibility and integrity by Bostons Jewish newspapers, as well as others, for not being transparent about its reasons for defending the Newton school officials. The report carries no title, no author, no date, and no footnotes or citations. It is not a report on the Newton school curriculum; it is a "report" on the APT ad. The contents of the report and the timing of its release are significant. Bostons Jewish Federation the Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), and the AJC claimed over two months ago that they relied on an ADL report to conclude that there is no anti-Israel bias in the Newton schools. These organizations assured Jewish parents and the community that they should not be worried. It is doubtful that the ADL report published on December 30 is the original report presented to Bostons Jewish leadership. The new report includes matters made public by APT weeks after the original report was claimed to have been written. What the ADL released appears to be a hastily and sloppily constructed attempt to justify ADLs unfortunate decision to diverge from its mission of supporting the Jewish community and instead to support Newton Public School officials. It is puzzling why ADL would side with school officials against Jewish parents and the grassroots Jewish groups that are assisting them. A sign that the ADL has prejudged its conclusions in favor of the Newton school is that the report seems entirely based on verbal assurances from school officials. According to the Newton schools legally binding response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the ADL did not carry out any official written communication with school officials prior to producing this report. The Newton schools also represented in the FOIA response that no curriculum documents of any kind were requested by the ADL from the school district. The ADL report also did not cite any interviews of students or parents, most significantly the parents who brought the initial complaints of bias in 2011.

The publication of this ADL report provides Newton parents and the public an opportunity to judge for themselves the significance of ADLs newly issued report. Here is a summary of our major findings, which are detailed in the full report attached: The ADL reports conclusions contradict its own findings. The report attacks APTs claims as lack[ing] evidence and irresponsible, yet it agrees with us on the facts in several instances. The report notes that certain Newton curricular items should not be used in the classrooms. The report actually validates many of our original findings about biased education in the Newton schools while questioning their extent and significance. The ADLs area of inquiry is restricted to only a small portion of the curricular materials specifically those noted in our ad. Yet it reaches overarching conclusions about the entire curriculum and teaching materials in the Newton school system for the past several years. For a major Jewish organization with significant financial resources, the report should be an embarrassment. ADLs report falsely claims that anti-Israel BDS activist and Harvard professor, Paul Beran did not recently train Newton teachers in how to present the Arab-Israel conflict. A simple Google search for Paul Beran Newton Schools shows that he conducted a training session on teaching the Arab-Israel conflict for dozens of Newton teachers on April 10, 2010. The ADL falsely claims that Newton schools have not been influenced by Saudi-funded propaganda. The Harvard Outreach Center which trained Newton teachers on Islam and the Arab-Israeli conflict receives funds from the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO), which is owned by the Saudi government. ADL falsely claims that an anti-Israel map was one part of a packet of a range of other maps utilized to provide diverse perspectives. APT published the entire packet of maps more than a month ago, none of which includes the mainstream Israeli perspective. The ADL falsely claims that a book used to teach Newton students about the status of women in Islam does not recommend in its Suggested Bibliography the writings of jihadist ideologue Sayyid Qutb. The ADL also failed to report that the book recommends the writing of Yusuf Qaradawi the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood whom the ADL calls The Theologian of Terror. ADL uncritically accepted school officials verbal assurances that the anti-Israel materials were used to teach about bias, and ignored the fact that these claims are contradicted by parents, who say the anti-Israel materials were presented as factual.
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APT DETAILED RESPONSE TO ADL REPORT INTRODUCTION On December 30, ADL New England released a four page document that attempts to exonerate Newton school officials against claims made by Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) in articles and newspaper ads that anti-Israel curricula are taught in the Newton schools. The ADL was under intense pressure to release a document, which it used to convince three mainstream Jewish groups in Boston (CJP, JCRC and AJC) that there were no problems with the Newton curriculum. ADL had for over a month refused to make this document public, saying that its research was proprietary. But, faced with serious challenges to its credibility and integrity by both of Bostons Jewish newspapers and others for not being transparent about its reasons for defending the Newton school officials, the ADL posted a document on its website with the clear implication that this was the document that both the Jewish Advocate and the North Shore Jewish Journal had demanded they make public. THIS REPORT, JUST RELEASED, IS NOT THE REPORT THAT THE JEWISH NEWSPAPERS DEMANDED ADL MAKE PUBLIC. The publicly released report is not dated and cannot be the same report that was said to have persuaded the CJP, JCRC and AJC to join ADL in assuring Newton parents and tax payers that there is no problem with the Newton curricula. The undated report references materials, specifically the PLO-produced maps used in Newton schools that APT released weeks after ADL claimed to have produced the original report. The report makes the circular argument that, the ADL assessment that APTs allegations are without merit does not stand alone, because CJP, JCRC, and AJC also back up this assessment. But these organizations have claimed that they made their assessment based on the ADL report, which had to have been shown to them before they decided to agree with the ADL, and which therefore could not have the report released on 12/30/13. THE REPORT CONTAINS GLARING FACTUAL ERRORS, TELLING OMMISSIONS AND CONTRADICTS SOME OF ITS OWN FINDINGS. According to the ADL report, APTs claim that the Newton public schools curriculum uses Saudi-funded hate and anti-Israel materials and texts in classrooms in order to demonize Israel and Jews, lacks evidence and is irresponsible. Yet ADLs report itself reluctantly acknowledges the problematic nature of the texts we critique. About A Muslim Primer, the ADL writes: This book does not address the differences between Islam and Christianity or Judaism in a thoughtful way. [] ADL would not support its use in a classroom to teach about world religions.

About the website Flashpoints: Guide to World Conflicts that appeared as a link on the official Newton North library website, the ADL report concedes that: The site is not particularly credible [] It lists Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and describes Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians as providing the motive and justification for draconian counterterrorist policies and collective punishment. []It is not an article that ADL would support being presented to students without additional context Apart from these two examples where the ADL couldnt help but agree with APT, most other ADL assertions are the result of shoddy research, tendentious arguments, or are simply inaccurate. ADL is clearly more concerned here with defending the Newton schools than with its mission of challenging arguments made against the Jewish people or Israel. THE REPORT RESEARCH IS WEAK ADL did not actually get hold of the curriculum it is defending. Rather, ADL spoke to school officials and took their word. The report carries no title, no author, no date, and no footnotes or citations. It is not a report on the Newton school curriculum, it is a "report" on the APT ad. According to the Newton schools legally binding response to a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA), the ADL did not carry out any official written communication with school officials prior to producing this report. The Newton School Department also represented in the FOIA response that no curriculum documents of any kind were requested by the ADL from the superintendent or the school committee. It appears from the report, and now it is confirmed by ADL national head, Abe Foxman, that the ADLs claims are based on interviews with school officials. It is strange that the ADL took the word of officials who have already been shown to be dishonest on the matter and that it did not do any independent research into the curricular materials. OUTRIGHT FALSEHOOD, DISTORTIONS OF FACT, GLARING OMISSIONS In attempting to dismiss APTs claims and to minimize its own admission that there is merit to the claims the ADL report relies on outright falsehoods, distortions of fact, and tendentious pro-Arab arguments in defense of the pro-Arab materials taught to students that should by right be written on the stationery of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, not that of the ADL.

I.

FALSE CLAIMS: PAUL BERAN ADL CLAIM: Anti-Israel BDS activist Paul Beran did not recently train Newton teachers in how to present the Arab-Israel conflict (discussed in more detail below). From ADLs report: On several occasions, APT has also claimed that Newton schools use of Paul
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Beran, Director of the Outreach Center at Harvard Universitys Center for Middle Eastern Studies, to present to Newton school teachers on potential teaching approaches and resources reflected its use of Saudi-funded hate speech. ADLs interviews, however, revealed that Mr. Beran was utilized on a single occasion, sometime prior to 2009, and that his talk on that one occasion on the Oslo Accords was arranged by an individual who no longer works in the Newton School system. TRUTH: This is demonstrably false. According to the website of the Harvard Universitys Center for Middle East Studies (CMES), on April 10, 2010, Paul Beran CMESOC Director presented to 80 history teachers from the Newton Public Schools on approaches and resources for teaching about the conflict. APT research indicates that many of the anti-Israel materials first appeared in the Newton school curriculum in the subsequent year. According to CAMERA, it was Berans outreach center that pushed the Arab World Studies Notebook to Massachusetts schools. Moreover, a publication of the Harvard CMES (Reflections on the Past, Visions for the Future, 2004), points to a third session of the CMES Outreach Center with Newton teachers in which the CMES organized a series of workshops for one hundred teachers in the Newton School District on the nexus of Islam, Afghanistan, and the United States. GLARING OMISSION: Strangely, the ADL report fails to mention that Harvards Paul Beran was an active leader in the Somerville Divestment Project and is a doctrinaire BDS supporter. Discussing the impact the Somerville Divestment Project had, Beran wrote in the Lebanon Daily Star that, "until now, those who acted as if Israel is always right enjoyed a near monopoly over U.S. attitudes. [] The first step for divestment campaigns is to have a broad base of crosscommunity support on which to fall back when the Zionist backlash against the campaigns commences." Why did the ADL not include this fact in its report? SAUDI INFLUENCE ADL CLAIM: The ADL dismisses APTs assertion that Newton schools have been influenced by Saudi-funded propaganda as a charge that lacks evidence and is irresponsible. TRUTH: The Harvard CMES publication Reflections of the Past, Visions for the Future, says about the CMES funding: Although the University provided a modest amount of support, the bulk of the money needed to launch the Center came from private companies and individual donors. By far the largest contributors were the oil companies, foremost among which was the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO). About the Outreach Centers training of Newton teachers on Islam and the Arab-Israeli conflict, the publication says: the work is further supported by occasional funding from outside sources, such as the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO). ARAMCO is owned by the Saudi government.
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ANTI-ISRAEL PROPAGANDA MAPS ADL CLAIM: An anti-Israel map used in the classroom was one part of a packet of a range of other maps utilized to provide diverse perspectives. From the ADL report: While an additional ad by APT alleges that Newton schools distributed to high school students the same graphic map used in recent anti-Israel ads at MBTA stations, it was revealed that the map was actually one part of a packet of a range of other maps utilized to provide diverse perspectives. TRUTH: ADLs claim that it was revealed that the map was actually one part of a packet of a range of other maps utilized to provide diverse perspectives, is based on a false statement to the Jewish Advocate by Newton Superintendent David Fleishmann. Fleishmann claimed that the map was part of a packet of 15-20 maps, which aside from the PLO map sequence all came from the Council on Foreign Relations and contained a variety of perspectives. Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) was given all the maps from the original packet by Newton parents. We published these on our website on December 6, 2013, three weeks before the release of the ADL report. As can be seen, not a single map contained in the Newton handout conveys a mainstream Israeli perspective, despite the ADLs claim that they provided diverse perspectives. Many of the maps given to Newton students are misleading and most are in some way critical of Israel. One of the maps labels the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem as an illegal Israeli settlement. Another claims that entire Palestinian cities are walled in by Israel. None of the maps could be sourced to the Council on Foreign Relations, as Fleishmann claimed. We sourced two of the maps in the packet to the Foundation for Middle East Peace, a group that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) itself has previously accused of pro-Arab propaganda and a decided slant toward the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian position. Two other maps come from the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA), another pro-Palestinian messaging outfit. Yet another map was created by BTselem, the hard-left Israeli anti-settlement group that the NGO Monitor accuses of abusive and demonizing rhetoric designed to elicit political support for Palestinians. Citing the work of far-left, non-mainstream Israelis to show they provide both sides is a common deceptive tactic of anti-Israel efforts. Interestingly, all identifying logos of the anti-Israel organizations that created the maps were removed from the handouts given to Newton students. This effectively concealed the maps sources and therefore their makers biased points of view. The above information was published in the Jewish Advocate on December 6th, three weeks before the ADL report was posted. The ADL is either ignorant of these facts or is deliberately making false statements about the maps packet. ADL ON A MUSLIM PRIMER SERIOUS BLUNDERS, TELLING OMISSIONS

ADL CLAIM: The APT ad claims that A Muslim Primer: Beginners Guide to Islam by Ira G. Zepp Jr. is being used as a classroom textbook and that it recommends the writing of Sayyid Qutb, who inspired Osama Bin Laden and is the father of radical Islam. While the book does cite Qutb - The easiest way to understand Islam and human rights is to heed an observation [about Islams egalitarian streak] by the Egyptian scholar Sayyid Qutb, it does not recommend his writing. In fact Qutbs writing is not listed in the suggested bibliography at the end of the book which is described by the author most helpful and which he recommends for those interested in ChristianMuslim relations. APT RESPONSE: This is a good example of the ADL making a false statement based on rushed research. Aside from the fact that asking readers to "heed an observation" by Sayyid Qutb is akin to recommending his writings and teachings to readers; the Muslim Primer does explicitly recommend Qutbs writings. Contrary to ADLs assertion, Qutbs writing is indeed included in the Suggested Bibliography at the end of the book. The Qutb essay quoted in the Muslim Primer is listed in the Suggested Bibliography as part of a compendium of writings by Muslim authors called Islam in Transition: Muslim Perspectives, compiled by John Donohue and John Esposito. The fact that Qutbs writings are part of the compendium is clearly indicated in a citation in the End Notes section of the Muslim Primer. The ADL apparently just scanned the author names in the bibliography for authorship by Qutb and failed to realize that his writings were listed under the name of the compendium editors. The ADL report also doesnt mention the context of the Qutb quote in the book. The author was using Qutbs writings to argue for the legitimacy of Islamic theocracy: The easiest way to understand Islam and human rights is to heed an observation by the Egyptian scholar Sayyid Qutb. He reminds us that from its beginning Islam had a strong egalitarian streak; it owed allegiance to no king or government. [] Islam never intends to fracture the unity Qutb calls a "two-in-one-society." Social justice (politics) and personal freedom (religion) are never divorced. Both are under obedience to Allah. [] Of course, God should rule a country through His proper servants. The common people do not have the authority and wisdom to make decisions for everyone or to make public policy. They could easily be wrong. Sovereignty in Islam inherently belongs not to the people but to God. Since the ADL reviewed the Muslim Primers Suggested Bibliography, it surely must have noticed that Yusuf Qaradawi is on that list right there between the Ps and Rs where Qutb would have been. On ADLs own website, there is a profile of Qaradawi, whom it labels the Theologian of Terror, According to the ADL profile: Qaradawi is the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a proponent of Hamas suicide bombings against Israel. He has said that

he wants to die as a martyr while shooting Allah's enemies, the Jews. He gave a sermon calling on Allah to annihilate the Jews and to "kill them, down to the very last one." The Chairman of the ADL New England Board, Jeff Robbins, in other contexts, has quipped that Qaradawi makes David Duke look like Bertrand Russell by comparison. According to Robbins, Qaradawi is a guy who is so loathsome in his anti-Semitism, in his calls for the killing of Jews, in his calls for the killing of Americans, in his support for violence against homosexuals, in his support for violence against women, that President Clinton barred him from entering the United States altogether in 1999. Yet here, the ADL reviews a book based on and in recommendation of the writings of Yusuf Qaradawi, one of the most anti-Semitic and militant Islamic radicals, knows that this book was used to teach Newton children about Islam, yet omits this key information from its report to the Jewish community. This is another clear indication that the reports purpose is not to review the Newton school curriculum for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic influences, but rather to defend the Newton Public Schools biased curriculum, the facts be damned.

II.

DISTORTION OF FACT

THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THE ARAB WORLD STUDIES NOTEBOOK WAS TAUGHT ADL CLAIM: While APTs ad suggests that Newton uses the volume, The Arab World Studies Notebook as a textbook to teach hate and extremism, it emerged that the reading that was singled out for criticism was highlighted by one teacher who used it on a sole occasion in 2011 when it was actually used to teach about bias, and not in the context of advancing a political viewpoint. The Arab World Studies Notebook has since been removed from Newton schools. APT REBUTTAL: By it emerged that, ADL again means that this was what Newton school officials told the ADL. The ADL took their word for it without doing an independent investigation. Contrary to the ADLs assertion that the Arab World Studies Notebook reading claiming Israelis torture and murder Arab women was actually used to teach about bias, Tony Pagliuso, the parent who complained about the World Studies Notebook, told NewTV that his daughter came to him and asked him, daddy is this true? She would not have asked that question if the material was presented as an example of something thats biased and false. Further, it is hard to understand the explanation, first given by school officials, then parroted by ADL, that the text was used to study bias. We believe this text could be used quite effectively to teach bias: by showing students how anti-Semities use lies -- even obvious lies -- against Jews, and continue to show (through such easily accessible resources as MEMRI video clips that translate Arab rants and lies against Jews) just how rampant throughout the Arab/Muslim world
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this incitement has become, and how it is a serious obstacle to peace. There is, of course, no evidence that this was the way in which the material was used. School officials stonewalled and refused to answer questions about how teaching lies against Jews constituted teaching about bias in their schools. To this day, School Superintendent David Fleishman has refused to explain this. ADLs BLATANT WHITEWASH OF NEWTON SCHOOL OFFICIAL ACTIONS The ADL blatantly misrepresents the process by which the Jews murder Arab women text was removed from the Newton curriculum. ADL claimed that the schools have been responsive, and have addressed the questions posed to them in a thoughtful, constructive way. According to Pagliuso, I fully expected when I called that I would be told that Geez, we didnt catch this and this shouldnt be in the curriculum. That was my full expectation. I was very wrong with that expectation. I reached out to the teacher who was teaching the class. She was adamant that the material was appropriate, had been fully vetted, and that the curriculum was going to stay as it was. [The history department head told me] if I wanted to, I could come in and meet with her and the principal. I felt the entire meeting that I was being baited to come out with maybe inflammatory or what would be considered maybe rightwing statements or something like this. Almost like when I walked into the room with the principal of South, he already had me pigeonholed for a certain type of character, and I obviously didnt play into that. But he was rather disrespectful. While we cannot independently verify Pagliuso s claims, neither can the ADL independently verify claims to the contrary made by Newton school officials. That the ADL chose to exclude Pagliusos testimony from its report speaks to the distortion and selective omission of facts in the report. The ADL cannot claim to be ignorant of Pagliusos complaints because it was ADLs former Executive Director Derek Shuman that Pagliuso first contacted after his daughters account of the class in which the Arab World Studies Notebook was taught. The ADL failed to act on the issue, even as other organizations took the lead and succeed in getting the Notebook removed. It took over a year of grass roots Jewish protests, many op-eds, and a video before the School Committee removed the text. Most disconcertingly: School Superintendent David Fleishman told the public that the text was removed, not because it was anti-Semitic, but because it was outdated. This was neither thoughtful nor responsive, as APT implored Fleishman to explain how anti-Semitism had made its way into his schools and how he would alert others and now be more vigilant. He declined, and continues to decline. Further, we asked that he identify the students who had been instructed that Jews murder Arab women and explain to them that this is a lie. He declines to do this also. ADL MISQUOTES THE WORLD WHERE WOMANHOOD REIGNS SUPREME
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ADL CLAIM: The APT ad cites the article A World Where Womanhood Reigns Supreme as an example of teaching intolerance, and provides the following quote as evidence: Western gender equality is an unacceptable system of values.[] This description misrepresents the article, first published in the 1990s by Mary Walker, in which she shares her experience dealing with her perception of Islam as a faith dominated by prejudice and ignorance. APT REBUTTAL: While the ADL accuses APT of misquoting the article, it is the ADL that did not quote the article correctly. The original quote by Walker is: When I joined the team of "Living Islam" two years ago, my perception of Islam was dominated by prejudice and ignorance, and I found its treatment of women abhorrent. To me the veil symbolized the oppression of women, making them invisible, anonymous and voiceless. Contrary to the ADL, Walker is not saying that she used to think Islam was a faith dominated by prejudice and ignorance. Shes saying that her initial dislike of the Islamic custom of veiling women meant that she was an ignorant and prejudiced person when it came to Islam. She implies that only an ignorant and prejudiced person would be opposed to veiling. In effect, the article is telling young students that those who criticize the treatment of women in the Muslim world and the Islamic veil are prejudiced and ignorant bigots. This is a very problematic statement because many of such critics are themselves brave Muslim women like Malala Yousafzai, the 13 year girl who survived being shot in the head for criticizing the treatment of women in Islam. Such an extremely tendentious value judgment, cloaked in the language of tolerance has the potential to essentially bully the student reading it into not thinking critically about the topic for fear of being thought of as prejudiced and ignorant. This is especially true in the absence of teaching from the perspective of a feminist woman from the Muslim world who is critical of the veil. The ADL report does not indicate that any such perspective was taught. Aayan Hirsi Ali, for example, says that, The veil deliberately marks women as private and restricted property, nonpersons. The veil sets women apart from men and apart from the world; it restrains them, confines them, grooms them for docility. A mind can be cramped just as a body may be, and a Muslim veil blinkers both your vision and your destiny. It is the mark of a kind of apartheid, not the domination of a race but of a sex. Mona Eltahawy wrote in the New York Times, I am a Muslim, I am a feminist and I detest the full-body veil, known as a niqab or burqa. It erases women from society and has nothing to do with Islam but everything to do with the hatred for women at the heart of the extremist ideology that preaches it.

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Alice Walkers article tells Newton students that these feminist women born and raised as Muslims are ignorant and prejudiced against Islam. The ADL is defending teaching this ludicrous claim. ADL CLAIM: "The writer endorses a view, often promoted by other feminists, that miniskirts and plunging necklines represent oppression." APT RESPONSE: This view does not make her opinions of Islam any less biased or more appropriate for a high school curriculum.

III.

ADLS ANTI-ISRAEL ARGUMENTS ISLAMIC HISTORY: THE COMING OF THE WEST ADL CLAIM: The APT ad claims that the article Islamic History: The Coming of the West ignores Arab genocidal threats against Israel and terrorists attacks prior to 1967 and that Israeli intransigence not Palestinian hatred and terrorism is to blame for lack of peace. The article does not cover attacks against Israel prior to 1967, but it is not a comprehensive piece and omits numerous facts about the conflict. APT claims that the article does not blame Palestinian terrorism for lack of peace. While this statement is accurate, APT fails to acknowledge that the article clearly notes how the 1967 war triggered underground warfare by Palestinian militants, whose attacks were primarily aimed at Israel, but also included strikes in Europe and hijackings on international air routes.

APT REBUTTAL: The ADL again acknowledges that APTs claims have merit in agreeing with our claim that this Newton curriculum material does not blame Palestinian terrorism for the lack of peace. Yet it then absurdly takes the anti-Israel position of blaming the Six Day War and Israels occupation of the West Bank for Palestinian terrorism (falsely identified as warfare by Palestinian militants) This is a common way of blaming Israel for the terrorism perpetrated against it. Underground warfare by Palestinian militants, also known as wanton murder of Israeli civilians by terrorists began even before the State of Israel was born and the claim in the article that this terrorism was only triggered after the 1967 war is false. Calling Palestinian terrorism "underground warfare" is akin to calling 9-11 "underground warfare." Hijacking airplanes, assassinating ambassadors in England, and taking Israeli athletes hostage in Munich is terrorism. Why would ADL think that APTs failure to acknowledge that the article clearly notes how the 1967 war triggered underground warfare by Palestinian militants is proof of APTs being unfair to the article and to Newton Schools? FLASHPOINTS: A GUIDE TO WORLD CONFLICTS
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ADL CLAIM: The Flashpoints website includes information about various conflicts in the world, including the Israel-Palestine conflict. The site is not particularly credible and it is critical of both sides, not just Israel. It lists Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and describes Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians as providing the motive and justification for draconian counter-terrorist policies and collective punishment. It also clearly labels Hamas as a terrorist organization and notes that some Palestinians and their foreign backers, ignoring the facts on the ground, continue to call for the destruction of Israel.

APT RESPONSE: Not being able to claim that this particular teaching material is credible, the ADL attempts to claim that at least its not biased, being critical of both sides, not just Israel. Yet the ADL justifies this claim by comparing two anti-Israel lies (Jerusalem is Palestines capital, and Israel carries out draconian counter-terrorist policies and collective punishment) with two undisputed and uncontroversial facts (Hamas is a terrorist organization and some Palestinians call for the destruction of Israel). These are not examples of unbiased honest criticism of both sides. The ADL must certainly know this. CONCLUSION The December 30, 2013 report, rather than put an end to the controversy, deepens concerns about the conduct of the ADL in publicly assuring parents that there is no problem in the Newton public schools. Additional info can be found at: www.opennewtonschools.org. If you have information on biased materials in your district, write to info@opennewtonschools.org.

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