What is the #DropTheADL Campaign?

The #DropTheADL campaign’s current effort targets No Place for Hate, ADL’s anti-bias and anti-bullying initiative which has been integrated into schools across the country for 27 years. In 2025 alone, ADL reached more than three million students, worked with more than 2,000 schools through No Place for Hate^® and engaged more than 23,000 educators through online resources. Read below to learn more.  

A student-run initiative, No Place for Hate is a holistic, school-wide approach to improving school climate. Through student-led activities, participating schools take a school-wide approach to addressing incidents of bias and bullying and support the development of leadership and allyship skills in students.  

The #DropTheADL campaign is completely centered on ADL’s mainstream position on Israel and commitment to fight antisemitism, not any deficiencies in the program itself. No Place for Hate is not centered in antisemitism education. If you are interested in our framework for antisemitism education, learn more about our approach.

First and foremost, know the facts.

• ADL is a 113-year-old anti-hate organization whose mission is to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment for all.
• ADL is also a leading provider of educational programs throughout the United States and the world, partnering with schools and communities on antisemitism, the Holocaust and anti-bias learning to build more equitable and inclusive schools.
• In 2025 alone, ADL reached more than three million students, worked with more than 2,000 schools through No Place for Hate and engaged more than 23,000 educators through online resources.
• ADL is a reputable, mainstream organization that has done this education work for decades. #DropTheADL is a single-issue, politically driven effort to ostracize mainstream Jewish organizations in this country because we, like most Jews and most Americans, support Israel’s right to exist as the ancestral home of the Jewish people.  The campaign seeks to apply a discriminatory litmus test – a test applied only to Jewish organizations – and it has repeatedly failed.
• Remember that #DropTheADL is an already discredited and unsuccessful campaign, which dates back to at least 2020. These activists have tried this tactic and failed repeatedly over the years, including in 2025, when the National Education Association's board voted to reject an organized attempt to boycott ADL's education programs.
• ADL's mission since 1913 is to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and support justice and fair treatment for all. That mission is as important as ever.  This campaign uses falsehoods and double standards, as Colorado educator Josh Hirsch makes clear in an article published in the Denver Gazette, “Jewish Civil Rights Under Siege.”
• Finally, let us support you.  We are happy to share more facts and information about our work. Please reach out to your local regional ADL office if you need further support in responding to the false assertions of the #DropTheADL campaign.

Yes. ADL remains fully committed to that historic mission even as we prioritize fighting antisemitism at a time when it has reached historic levels. We believe America is better for everyone when all people are treated fairly and equally. ADL works with organizations and individuals across civil society. From faith communities, civil rights organizations and others, ADL educates communities about the threat of extremism, shares information and collaborates on strategies to protect our communities. From monitoring and analyzing domestic extremism that targets a variety of identity groups, to advocating for stronger policies to protect communities, ADL believes that one must combat all forms of hate to create an inclusive society.

Much of the work ADL does – even when prompted by the need to address antisemitism – ultimately helps protect targeted communities across America. Efforts to stop masked harassment and intimidation, establish safe zones around houses of worship, educate students and educators about bias and bullying more broadly, and bring stronger oversight and accountability for discrimination in schools through more effective Title VI enforcement create protections that extend well beyond the Jewish community including a 2026 settlement in Colorado. These are safeguards that help ensure people of every background can worship, learn, gather and participate in public life without fear of harassment or discrimination.

ADL works with groups and individuals across the political spectrum and from all backgrounds. More recently, we co-chaired the 2023 March on Washington with the NAACP and National Urban League, led the fight on federal hate crimes legislation, and most recently launched a partnership with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) to help them track, report and disrupt hate targeting the Latino community.

To suggest that ADL is not qualified to support schools is not only inaccurate, but dismissive of our longstanding history and expertise in this area.

The #DropTheADL campaigns are built on falsehoods and myths and relies on an ambiguous presentation of facts and fabrications to spread harmful untruths.

Peel back the rhetoric and the truth becomes clear: many #DropTheADL proponents refuse to acknowledge the historic rise of antisemitism in this country, or they claim the numbers are inflated. They seek every opportunity to discredit real data on hate crimes against Jews, and some have even rationalized antisemitic attacks against our community, such as the June 2025 firebombing of Jews at a peaceful march in Boulder, Colorado, as legitimate forms of protest. This is unconscionable at every level.

#DropTheADL’s own materials are focused only on Israel, Zionism and Palestinian solidarity rather than supporting inclusive classroom environments. In contrast, ADL is a leading provider of K-12 educational programming across the country because of its resources and programs with broad and relevant classroom applications.

ADL has fought against hate and for civil rights for the Jewish community and other marginalized communities throughout its history. From mobilizing support for civil rights and voting rights legislation, culminating in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, to the passage of the most important update of national hate crimes laws in 40 years, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, ADL’s commitment to fight hate has never wavered.

In 2023, we co-chaired the March on Washington with the NAACP and National Urban League, and most recently launched a partnership with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) to help them track, report, and disrupt hate targeting the Latino community.

Since the 1980s, ADL has worked with educators and students across the country and across the world through our educational initiatives and resources.

ADL Education programs reached more than three million students through in-person and online programming in 2025 alone, and more than 2,000 schools registered for No Place for Hate, committing to safe and inclusive school communities. More than 23,000 educators engaged with ADL Education through flexible digital and online learning.

Despite efforts to boycott ADL’s work, the number of students learning from ADL is growing, not shrinking. #DropTheADL must be viewed through the lens of its organizers' efforts to marginalize mainstream Jewish organizations for supporting Israel’s right to exist.

Learn more about ADL Education's impact.