Hitler Ad Should Never Have Appeared On MoveOn.org [ADL]
New York, NY, January 5, 2004 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today said it was deeply troubled that MoveOn.org had allowed an outrageous and highly offensive political ad that directly compared President George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler to be posted on its Web site.
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and author of Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism, issued the following statement:
It is shocking that a mainstream political group like MoveOn.org not only allowed this vile and outrageous comparison of the American President to Adolf Hitler to be entered into its "Bush in 30 Seconds" contest in the first place, but that they even went so far as to make it available to the public on the Internet. Those responsible for this contest at MoveOn.org should have immediately identified this advertisement as one going far beyond legitimate criticism and rejected it out of hand. Instead, they made an irresponsible decision that has given legitimacy to the exploitative manipulation of images in a campaign season.
MoveOn.org clearly would not have accepted a pornographic ad as legitimate criticism of a candidate. Why did they think that images of Hitler, the Nazi whose evil regime was responsible for the slaughter of millions of people during the Holocaust, was a fitting and credible expression of criticism of President Bush and his policies? Their lack of discretion cheapens the level of political discourse in America, and their comments explaining it were hardly comforting.
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Simon Wiesenthal Center Criticizes MoveOn.Org For Posting Ad Comparing Bush To Hitler
The Simon Wiesenthal Center sharply criticized MoveOn.org for accepting and posting an ad comparing President George Bush to Adolf Hitler.
“Politics and preparing for a presidential election is one thing, but comparing the Bush Administration’s fight against Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein with the policies of Adolf Hitler is shameful and beyond the pale and has no place in the legitimate discourse of American politics,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the Center’s dean and founder.
“This ad is not about Democrats or Republicans - it is about lies and a distortion of history,” he added.
MoveOn.org was right to pull the ad but they should apologize for not using better judgment in posting it in the first place,” Hier concluded.
To read more and view ad, go to: Drudge Report
The Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe.