The Asian American Foundation’s ADL partnership is a betrayal to Asian American communities 

Currently entering its ninth month, Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza continues to cast fault lines in U.S. politics. Students, activists, and voters have challenged the complicity of the U.S. government, universities, and corporations in enabling the mass destruction of Gaza and the genocidal violence that has taken over 40,000 lives and counting. For some Asian American activists, the movement in defense of Palestinian lives has raised some surprising revelations about the influence of Zionism in Asian American movement spaces.          

Nowhere is that influence clearer than in the case of The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), the $1 billion philanthropic organization founded in May 2021 amidst rising  national attention to an increase in anti-Asian hate incidents. TAAF claims to be committed to “building a safer, more inclusive future for AAPIs everywhere” by using its deep pockets to fund “best in class organizations” that work to confront anti-Asian discrimination. But the presence of the Anti-Defamation League’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt on TAAF’s Board of Directors has drawn concern from activists who say that Greenblatt’s staunch support of Israel and smears against supporters of Palestine undermine TAAF’s supposed vision for a more inclusive future. 

Despite branding itself as a civil rights organization, the ADL has a long history of targeting and surveilling progressive organizations, promoting Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism, and supporting racist, militarized policing. In 2020, over 500 organizations launched the Drop the ADL campaign to expose this racist history and warn against collaboration with the ADL. Since October 7, ADL’s repressive tactics have only grown.  Greenblatt has been a leading voice in suppressing pro-Palestinian students and emboldening violence against protestors on campus, whom he smeared on national television as “Iranian proxies.” Greenblatt has proudly consulted with universities like Harvard and Penn, urging administrators not to negotiate with student protesters and to “eliminate” encampments. In April 2024, over 60 Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and allied groups issued a joint statement condemning the ADL and Jonathan Greenblatt for this ongoing campaign to dehumanize Palestinians and endanger Americans who support their human rights. The ADL’s reactionary record is an embarrassment for TAAF, which counts Greenblatt and the ADL as central incubators in its origin story.  The question is: why is TAAF so intertwined with an organization that has promoted Islamophobia, anti-Arab violence, and carceral repression? 

Over the last eight months, dozens of organizations that receive funding from TAAF have asked just that. Led by 18 Million Rising, an open letter signed by over 70 Asian American and allied progressive organizations called on TAAF leadership to cease working with the ADL and to remove Greenblatt from its Board. Staff and philanthropic leaders have been calling on TAAF CEO Norman Chen and the Board of Directors to listen to the voices of Muslim and Palestinian activists who have been targeted by Jonathan Greenblatt since October 7. In spite of this, TAAF has yet to respond to these calls for accountability.

The ADL’s Islamophobic, staunchly pro-Israel agenda is in fact undermining the work that TAAF has committed to undertake. Where TAAF has committed millions of dollars to expand Asian American and Pacific Islander studies in K-12 education, the ADL has consistently attacked plans to expand ethnic studies in public schools. In California, the ADL successfully lobbied to remove all references to Palestine, the BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) Movement, and  the first Palestinian American congressperson in the U.S., Rashida Tlaib. The ADL has claimed that ethnic studies curriculum promotes “antisemitic and anti-Israel bias”—a conflation that is central to ADL’s work in undermining progressive movements. Yet as many progressive Jewish leaders—including dissenting ADL staff—have pointed out, the ADL’s assertion that critiques of Israel are tantamount to antisemitism leads to a dangerous conflation which promotes the criminalization and censorship of those who express discomfort with the government of Israel’s policies and actions towards Palestinians. What’s more, Wikipedia editors just declared the ADL as a factually “unreliable source,” grouping the organization with other agents of disinformation and right wing propaganda. 

But the collective call to end TAAF’s complicity with the genocide in Palestine is getting louder. The Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) recently rejected a $50,000 grant from The Asian American Foundation, citing the “existing TAAF leadership structure which goes against the tenets and values of the AAAS Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions resolution.” Activists with Asians for Palestine NYC protested outside of their annual summit and awards gala in May. And dozens of vendors, leaders, and organizations withdrew from the week of events, including Yu And Me books, which cited the ADL’s support for “the oppression of Palestinians and other disenfranchised groups” in its call for TAAF to reconsider its ties to Greenblatt and the ADL. In refusing to remove Greenblatt from its board, TAAF is sending a message – fighting against the root causes of hate and discrimination does not include the human rights of Muslims, Palestinians and their allies who are targets of the ADL’s pro-Israel agenda.

The Drop the ADL campaign puts it simply: the ADL is not an ally. By partnering with the ADL, TAAF not only legitimizes its right-wing activities to undermine the rights of Black, immigrant, queer, Muslim, Arab, and other marginalized communities—it betrays TAAF’s own commitment to build a more inclusive future for AAPIs everywhere. For TAAF to truly represent the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, they must also fight to protect the human rights of Muslims and Palestinians. The genocide in Gaza is a wakeup call for all people of conscience to stand on the right side of history, and philanthropic foundations and organizations to examine their leadership and commitments to combat disinformation, hate, and violence. For TAAF and the Asian American movement at large, this is a moment to insist that there is no room for Zionism and Islamophobia in our struggle for a more just world.