The AJC, Jewish Progressives and Philadelphian Ted Mann

The American Jewish Committee recently stirred up an emotional debate across the organized Jewish community when it featured on its Web site an essay titled "'Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New
Anti-Semitism" by Alvin H. Rosenfeld, an English professor at Indiana University.
Rosenfeld's essay claims that public criticism of Israel is detrimental, even comparing it to the prelude to the Holocaust. He labels named and unnamed prominent Jewish academics, writers and individuals, "anti-Semites" contributing to the growth of a new virulent anti-Semitism in this country. Rosenfeld conflates criticism
of Israel and "progressive" (always in quotes in the Rosenfeld article). (To access the Rosenfeld essay in its entirety, go to the AJ Committee web site
Theodore Mann, a nationally-recognized Jewish communal leader for five decades,former president of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations,wrote the following open letter to David Harris, AJ Committee Executive Director:

David: I read somewhere a month or two ago your comment about the title to Jimmy Carter's book. I think you called it a case of false advertising. That's exactly how I felt about the title to Alvin Rosenfeld's essay, "'Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism". Yet you wrote the foreword to the essay, and praised it.Throughout the essay he seeks to make the label "progressive" a derogatory term, just as three decades ago, neo-conservatives made the "l" word, "liberal", a derogatory term. Yet today, isn't it obvious that if there is any sub-set of Jews that has caused an increase in anti-Semitism in America, it is the neo-cons who served the Bush Administration and who, rightly or wrongly, are regarded by countless Americans as largely responsible for dragging America into an unwinnable war in Iraq.
David, it's one thing to write an essay about Jewish anti-Semites and strongly condemning them. There have always been some of those and they deserve all the condemnation they get. It's quite another thing to suggest that they are "progressives", a label that most American Jews use to describe one's "liberal" views on social justice, poverty, civil rights and liberties, separation of powers, and separation of religion and government issues. As you know so well, those "progressive" Jews comprise the great bulk of American Jewish supporters of Israel. It is to them that the American Jewish Committee, and you yourself, and Mr. Rosenfeld owe an apology.
Warmest regards,
Ted Mann

You tell'em, Ted!