The ADL Exposed 1: Ignoring the anti-Semitic murder of an American college professor
The ADL positions itself as America's premier defender of Jews. This is the first report in a series that proves this claim is an egregious, shameful lie.
By Jon Sutz
December 14, 2022
Imagine waking up one day and learning through news reports that:
The previous day, a Muslim professor at a US university was shot to death, in his office, by a Muslim-hating white supremacist who had been employed as a teaching assistant at the school.
In the months prior, the shooter repeatedly sent anti-Muslim threats to this professor he killed, and another who tried to intervene, to whom he said, “I hope somebody blows your (expletive) brains out.” Further, he said he wished for all Muslims to be killed.
Although the university fired the Muslim-hater from his job, and expelled him from the school, neither it, nor its campus police department, nor the city or district attorney in which the university exists, filed criminal charges against him. Further, the university created no means to keep him out of the targeted professor’s building.
The shooter had been convicted of numerous violent crimes in other states, in recent years, which begs the question of how he was able to obtain the gun he used in this murder.
Now, imagine what would be happening in the coming hours and days:
This story would (rightfully) be the lead in every major national news organization’s “stack,” and become a topic of conversation at every water cooler, and in every classroom.
Hollywood celebrities would be posting graphics on social media calling for peace and tolerance, urging Americans to stand up to those who incite hatred against Muslims.
There would be candlelight vigils to honor the victim.
Everyone from President Biden to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) would be demanding to know why reasonable actions were not taken to ensure this violent Muslim-hater was held to criminal account, before he committed this murder.
And all the above would be happening, at least in part, because as those who’ve been paying attention to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL.org) know, it would have quickly jumped into action, to:
Take a leading role in publicizing the murder, particularly on Twitter
Demand said university, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors be held to account
Do TV appearances, and convened webinars, to address anti-Muslim hatred
Help educators to access resources to teach children about anti-Muslim hatred
A murder fitting these parameters actually occurred, in October 2022 — except the alleged perpetrator was a Muslim, who believed the professor was Jewish
The murder and the facts described above actually happened, on October 5, 2022, but with two key differences:
The alleged murderer, Murad Dervish, is Muslim
Dervish falsely believed the professor, Thomas Meixner, was Jewish, and threatened, then murdered him specifically on that basis
Note the details that were reported in the following days by various Arizona news organizations, Jewish news sites, and even the Jerusalem Post:
Dervish, a Muslim, openly said he wanted to see all Jews killed.
Dervish’s father admitted, one day after the murder, that his son tried to murder him and his wife, and had served time in prison for violent crimes.
The head of a nonprofit that helps enhance security at synagogues and Jewish schools wrote an editorial for an Arizona newspaper, that asserted there were more than enough red flags that Dervish could have, and should have been stopped long before he murdered Meixner:
“Many of the threats were made via text messages, although they were sent to a different professor, Eyad Atallah. In them, Dervish wished death to all Jews and accused Meixner of orchestrating a Jewish-led conspiracy against him. Dervish repeatedly made antisemitic comments to Atallah, including ‘You’re absolutely either a kike or doing their bidding.’ He noted: ‘As Arabs we’re supposed to stick together … instead you’re a filthy kike lover.’ He told Atallah, ‘I hope somebody blows your (expletive) brains out’.”
On October 18, 2022, Murad was indicted by a local grand jury on seven felony counts.
Prior to reading this report, had you heard about Prof. Meixner’s murder? If not, you can thank the ADL — which completely ignored it.
I’m a multimedia designer, writer, director and creative consultant, and have done extensive work to combat anti-Semitic hate and incitement. I also pay close attention to social media, particularly Twitter, and recently completed a 12-minute mini-documentary that exposes the fact that its previous management knowingly enabled the world’s top funder of anti-Semitic terrorism, and America’s most influential inciter of hatred against Jews, to flourish for more than ten years.
And yet, even I was not aware of Prof. Meixner’s murder until about two weeks ago. Soon after, I discovered that every news-savvy Jew and supporter of the Jewish people I asked, had not heard of it, either.
I assert there are two provable reasons for this omission:
The aversion by major American “news” organizations to address jihad, which was enabled in this case because…
…the ADL said nothing about this murder, or the related facts, anywhere — even though it claims it “is the world’s leading expert on antisemitism and is on the front lines, shining a light on all forms of antisemitism and empowering individuals and communities with tools to address this age-old hate”
You may find this impossible to believe.
Here’s the proof:
On December 5, 2022 – exactly two months after Meixner’s murder – I did the following searches, and archived the results:
At ADL.org: “Murad Dervish”. Result: Nothing.
At ADL.org: “Thomas Meixner”. Result: Nothing.
At Twitter: “@ADL Murad Dervish”. Result: Nothing.
At Twitter: “@ADL Thomas Meixner”. Result: Nothing
It’s worth noting that the ADL’s own research shows that the dominant perpetrators of anti-Semitic harassment, incitement and hate crimes on US college campuses are affiliated with Muslim and left-wing groups. Yet the ADL neither publicizes this fact, nor cites its own research in the wake of reports such as these:
“More than 65 percent of Jewish students on America’s college campuses report feeling unsafe, and around 50 percent say they have hidden their religious identity to avoid physical or verbal attacks.” - Brandeis Center survey
Hate crimes against Jewish students on U.S. college campuses reached an all-time high. The number of religiously-motivated hate crimes on college campuses doubled between 2009-2017, most of which targeted Jews. - Forbes
During the 2017-2018 school year, the number of incidents of anti-Semitic harassment on U.S. college campuses, aimed mostly at pro-Israel students, jumped by 70%, the largest increase and number ever recorded. - Washington Free Beacon
Instead, the ADL regularly takes to Twitter to (rightfully) condemn incidents on school campuses that are attributed to white supremacists or neo-Nazis. Examples include:
December 2021: The ADL condemned swastikas reportedly found at the University of Illinois – Champaign (without mentioning that UI-C is one of America’s most notorious hotbeds of Muslim anti-Semitic hatred & incitement).
June 2019: The ADL published a report entitled, “White Supremacists Continue to Spread Hate on American Campuses”; yet a December 8, 2022 search using the string “Muslim Supremacists Hate on American Campuses” at ADL.org returned zero relevant results.
The ADL also (rightfully) celebrates news of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and right-wingers in the USA and beyond who plead guilty to, or are convicted of crimes. Sometimes the ADL posts links to its own investigations of the accused, to help law enforcement agencies investigate and prosecute them. Here is a small sampling, via a search at Twitter of the string “@ADL guilty” (archive capture here):
ADL celebrated guilty plea of Cameron Shea, the leader of the neo-Nazi group (USA)
ADL celebrated guilty plea of white supremacist Paul Miller (USA)
ADL celebrated guilty verdict against the neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn (Greece)
Although Murad Dervish has neither pleaded guilty to, nor been convicted of Prof. Thomas Meixner’s murder, the fact that the police were able to so quickly identify Dervish as the suspect, based on eyewitness accounts and physical evidence, was cause for celebration among those who (actually) work to (a) defend Jews, and (b) identify the primary threats facing them.
Yet the ADL was silent about every aspect of this horrific crime, and the mind-boggling negligence that everyone in positions of authority demonstrated since they became aware of what Dervish had done.
Also, consider the fact that the ADL publicly excoriated what it describes as “Jewish extremists” in Israel, before it even knew if they were guilty of what they were accused of doing.
Yet when it came to a Muslim extremist on US soil, who murdered what he thought was a Jewish professor, after such a long string of hate and threats against him, the ADL has been silent.
So what kinds of issues did the ADL publicly address during this time period, instead of anything regarding Prof. Meixner’s murder?
Keeping in mind that the ADL’s stated mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people,” here’s a sampling:
November 8: The ADL posted a Tweet that parroted the exact wording of the Democratic Party’s official core mantra for the mid-term elections: “Democracy is on the ballot,” insinuating that if Democrats don’t win, Republicans will destroy elections
November 20: The ADL posted a Tweet that urged President Biden to meet with survivors of a shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Colorado, to advance a hashtag campaign, #UnitedWeStand
November 22: The ADL posted a Tweet that claimed, “We are the global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry”
November 2: The ADL posted a Tweet linking to a report it produced, that insinuates only right-wing extremists present a threat to elections (while it completely ignores incidents like this)
November 6: The ADL posted a Tweet containing a list of “hotlines” for “election protection,” with various languages – except Hebrew
November 16: The ADL posted a Tweet that cheered President Biden rescinding Title 42, one of the key tools to stem the flood of illegal aliens pouring over the US southern border, including repeatedly-deported criminals (about which the ADL is silent)
The net effect of the ADL’s deliberate silence regarding the murder of Prof. Thomas Meixner is two-fold:
It emboldens Muslim anti-Semites, such as Murad
It signals to school administrators who prefer to look the other way, when so many red flags are staring them in the face, by non-white-supremacist anti-Semites, that they will be protected — by the very nonprofit that should be sounding the loudest alarm about their negligence
I know of no word other than “corruption” that adequately describes the ADL’s acts and omissions regarding the murder of Prof. Meixner (and many other incidents that I have documented in recent years).
It is urgent that Jews, donors to the ADL, and anyone who views it as a serious civil rights organization, become aware of these facts.
And it’s for this reason that I’ve named this report series, “The ADL Exposed.”
UPDATE, August 3, 2023: Student accused of killing professor: 'I fulfilled my mission', NYPost. Excerpt:
The former University of Arizona grad student accused of killing a professor made a chilling confession after police walked out of his interrogation, according to newly released video.
Murad Dervish, 47, was filmed muttering to himself when detectives took a break from grilling him last year over the fatal shooting of Professor Thomas Meixner hours earlier.
“Well, at least I fulfilled my mission,” Dervish says with an apparent sinister smile.
Because the apparent confession was made after the suspect was read his Miranda rights, the statement will likely be used in court for prosecutors to establish premeditation in the Oct. 5, 2022 murder of the U of A professor, CBS 5 reported.
UPDATE, October 29, 2023: ADL claims “Any attempt to attack Jews… should be met with a clear response by the authorities in place”:
Archive here.
https://twitter.com/ADL/status/1718738378894508096
Coming next: “The ADL Exposed 2: USC student Tweets desire to ‘kill all motherf-g Zionists’; school refuses to act; ADL silent”