The Anti-Defamation League took some heat last year (including from Salon) for abandoning its stated commitment to civil rights and publicly opposing Park51, the planned Islamic community center near ground zero.
But now something hopeful has happened: The ADL is involved in an effort to intervene on behalf of mosque projects around the country. The project is called the Interfaith Coalition on Mosques and it has written letters and filed legal briefs in support of a couple of disputed mosque projects in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Temecula, Calif. CNN has a long story on the project:
Though much of the opposition to the mosques in Murfreesboro and Temecula alleges that the projects violate local zoning laws because of expected traffic or noise, the ADL says such complaints can be smokescreens for anti-Islamic bigotry.
"If a community is expressing hatred, the burden is on them to show that there are compelling issues" that should prevent the projects, said Deborah Lauter, the ADL's civil rights director, who is active on the group's coalition on mosque construction.