Stop the ACLU Director "Pleased" with Role in Jewish Family's Flight
Richard Bartholomew printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Wed Jul 05, 2006 at 04:29:00 AM EST
Kareiva: "I am pleased that we had an effect in this case...I'm not so sure I can take credit for it."
Stop the ACLU Director "Pleased" with Role in Jewish Family's Flight

A couple of days ago Bruce Wilson posted on a story broken by Jews on First about a Jewish family who had allegedly been forced to leave town after complaining about aggressive proselytising by the local Indian River School District in Delaware. One detail which was not included by Jews on First, but which I picked up on via a commentator at Dispatches from the Culture Wars, was that an organisation named the "Stop the ACLU Coalition" (STACLU) had publicised the family’s home address and phone number, in order to "expose" them as "ACLU plaintiffs". STACLU's denunciation wasn't even accurate – the ACLU has given the family some support, but they are in fact being represented by a Wilmington law firm.

Jesus' General has now contacted STACLU director Nedd Kareiva, to congratulate him for his part in what he calls the "Indian River Pogrom":

...I think you deserve partial credit for making that happen. After all, you did publish their name, address, and phone number on your web site (see screen cap below) as part of your "Expose ACLU Plaintiffs" project. It certainly wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that such information gave people the means they needed to drive the Dobrich family from their home.

Of course, you didn't do it all by yourself. The good god-fearing Christians of the Indian Hill School District deserve most of the credit...

Kareiva responds to the General (emphases added):

Pogrom? I'm not sure I want to call it that. That is not an appropriate term, however, I am pleased that we had an effect in this case. We have others we want to put up on the site to shame them but have not gotten around to it. And I'm not so sure I can take credit for it. However, if an ACLU speaker was booed, that's music to my ears.

I would appreciate it if you would sign your actual name rather than JC Christian.

Regards,

Nedd Kareiva
Director



To discuss this story, sign up for a free account

Display:
Stop the ACLU Director "Pleased" with Role in Jewish Family's Flight | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
This is significant..... (5.00 / 2)
There seems to be a bit of buzz building about the incident too. Thanks Richard, for clueing us in to this new development.

That's a very interesting quote from the "STOP The ACLU" spokesperson. Oh my. In technical terms, what happened in Indian River was not a progrom because no mob violence occured. From available reports, the incident seems to have involved significant antisemitism, and the targeted victims fled, apparently, due to threats of violence and not from violent attacks in process.  

So how then should we characterize this ? - "pogrom light" ?

The Stop The ACLU spokesperson quoted by Jesus' General seems a tad equivocal : "Pogrom? I'm not sure I want to call it that".  That would seem to indicate that Nedd Kareiva might want to call it a pogrom and take credit for that.

But, beyond the realm of 'gotcha' attack journalism, one thing is quite clear :

Nedd Kareiva is "pleased" at the effect his group's efforts had in Indian River, and one of those effects was the driving of a Jewish family from its home amidst threats and of violence.

If Stop the ACLU did NOT agree with that outcome, Kareiva and other spokespersons for the group would issue an apology for its role, however central or not, in the Indan River incident. But, it seems that Stop the ACLU sees nothing whatsoever that is disagreeable or problematic in what has just happened in Indian River, and that is telling.

Stop The ACLU also appears to have been doing a good deal of the heavy lifting in terms of recent attacks -- allegations of treason -- against the New York Times and The Washington Post. Americans will be interested to hear about how this group is working in areas to advance their agenda.

The letter Jesus' General sent to Stop The ACLU - and that Nedd Kareiva was reacting to - bears scrutiny. Here are the first several paragraphs :

Dear Mr. Kareiva,

Please allow me to be the first to thank you and the staff of Stop The ACLU for all yo