SPECIAL COMMENTARY

Defamed By Defamation's Watchdog

them of antisemitism. The Quigleys
New York
were caught up in a back-yard feud
nri-Defamation League
with Jewish neighbors, Mitchell and
director Abe Foxman likes to
Candace Aronson, in the affluent
tell stories about people he
Denver suburb of Evergreen. The
meets while traveling. They
ask him what he does. He says he runs Aronsons produced tapes of the
Quigleys' private conversations, picked
an agency that defends Jews. Their
off
a cordless phone by police scanner,
response, typically, is astonishment:
containing what they called
"Really? Jews need defend-
antisemitic threats. The
ing?"
ADL backed them up.
Foxman's point is that Jews
The jury decided the
are losing their underdog
alleged threats sounded
image as they win increasing
more like private venting.
acceptance in America. This is
one of those good news-bad
Apologies And Settlements
news messages, particularly
Thanks to the tapes,
for the folks charged with
though, the ADL was also
wielding the machinery of
found guilty of violating
Jewish power. It's easier than
J.J. GO LDBERG the Quigleys' privacy.
ever to throw your weight
Spe cial to
Altogether, the jury levied
around, but harder to elicit
the
Jew ish News
$1.5 million in compen-
sympathy. These are new,
satory damages against the
uncharted waters. Proceed
ADL — $1 million for William
with caution.
Quigley's suffering, $500,000 for
That lesson came back to bite Fox-
Dorothy's — plus a whopping $9 mil-
man with a vengeance last month,
lion in punitive damages, to teach the
when a federal jury in Denver deliv-
league a lesson.
ered an unprecedented $10.5 million
Curiously, no fines were levied
verdict against the Anti-Defamation
against the Aronsons, who initiated
League for, of all things, defamation.
the antisemitism charges and taped
The jury found that ADL's Moun-
the conversations, nor against the Jef-
tain States chapter had defamed a
ferson County district attorney, who
non-Jewish couple, William and
charged
the Quigleys with criminal
Dorothy Quigley; by unjustly accusing
ethnic intimidation before backing
J' J. Goldberg is a national writer on
down and apologizing.
Jewish issues and author of "Jewish
Both the Aronsons and the D.A.'s
Power. His e-mail address is
office, it seems, had long since settled
jjg@compuserye.corn
with the Quigleys — the D.A. for

A

$75,000, the Aronsons for a hand-
shake.
ADL officials say they tried to settle
too, but were rebuffed.
The Aronsons first approached the
ADL in October 1994, complaining of
antisemitic harassment. They had
moved to Evergreen that summer and
been befriended by the Quigleys. But
the friendship soured fast, going from
complaints about dogs to shouting
matches over who trod on whose lawn.
In October, things turned ugly
when Candace AronSon claimed
William Quigley tried to run her over.
Soon after, Mitchell Aronson picked
up the Quigleys' cordless phone on his
police scanner, and overheard Dorothy
Quigley complaining to a friend about
Aronson's wife in language he consid-
ered antisemitic.
Among other things, she reportedly
suggested that an "oven door" should
be painted on the Aronson house,
evoking the Holocaust.
In late October, the Aronsons
brought their fears to ADL regional
director Saul Rosenthal. They also went
to District Attorney David Thomas,
claiming they were victims of ethnic
intimidation, a felony in Colorado.
In consultation with prosecutors,
sheriff's deputies and ADL lawyers,
the Aronsons proceeded to tape
another 100 hours of phone calls.
Nobody — neither the Aronsons, the
ADL, sheriff's deputies nor prosecu-
tors — realized a new federal wiretap
law had just taken effect, outlawing

such surveillance.
In December, the Aronsons filed a
federal civil suit against the Quigleys.
Three days later, D.A. Thomas filed
criminal charges. In between, the
Aronsons appeared at a press confer-
ence with ADL's Rosenthal. He
accused the Quigleys of waging "a
vicious antisemitic campaign." Later,
in a radio appearance, Rosenthal
_described the feud as the worst case of
antisemitism in Denver since the 1984
murder of radio talk-show host Alan
Berg by neo-Nazis.

dent Larry Deitch that more than 30
Beth Jacob families chose Beth El.
Larry's warm welcome was a major
factor. But one of the Beth Jacob Torahs
and all of our memorial plaques also
found a home. The largest part of our
assets was donated to the Temple Beth
El Endowment Fund. Income from this
gift helps to fund musical, cultural and
educational programming, which keeps
the Beth Jacob name alive. In addition,
the Beth El Sisterhood has adopted the
Beth Jacob past presidents as part of
their legacy.
We were able to establish a chavura
group at Beth El, which still meets
annually, to keep our ties to each
other. Approximately 60 former mem-
bers meet each spring for dinner and
services at Beth El.
We really like to feel that we've .
merged our congregations. During our

discussions with the Beth El leadership
in 1991, our former president Steve Fish
suggested that we'd really like our "merg-
er"- to be cemented by joining our con-
gregational n a mes. After a pause for the
shock to register, Steve went on to sug-
gest that we take the "Beth" from Beth
Jacob and the "El" from Beth El.
You can see how well it worked.
Judy Schwartz
West Bloomfield

The Damage Was Done
Then the case began to collapse. D.A.
Thomas, learning the tapes were ille-
gal, dropped his intimidation charges.
In a public apology, he admitted the
tapes showed no evidence of "antise-
mitic conduct or harassment."
Soon after, the Quigleys sued every-
one involved for ruining their reputa-
tions. The Quigleys' suit claimed the
allegations of antisemitism rested
entirely on a handful of statements —
all by Dorothy Quigley, none by
William — in private phone conversa-
tions with friends. They said the state-
ments had been intended ironically, as
Quigley made clear in asides like
'
that's so sick. ,,
The accusation of antisemitism, by
contrast, was highly public. Covered
extensively in the press, the accusation
had a devastating effect
e ect on

"

DEFAMATION

on page 42

LETTERS

Hebrew Free Loan's
Roots Revisited

Not wishing to take any of the luster
away from the 150th anniversary of
Temple Beth El, an outstanding reli-
gious institution in our community, I
would like to address a remark made
by Penny Blumenstein in the article
on Beth El ("The Legacy of Beth El,"
May 12, page 19). She states that the
Hebrew Free Loan "exists largely
because of the stalwarts of Beth El."
May I refer her to the article in
Michigan Jewish History, the journal of
the Jewish Historical Society of Michi-
gan, titled "One Hundred Years Ago:
The Birth of Hebrew Free Loan," vol.
35, 1994-95. The niajority of the 10
founding members belonged to three of
four Orthodox synagogues (there were

no Conservative synagogues at the •
time), with no mention of their names
in the archives of Temple Beth El.
Recently, a good number of Reform
Jews have joined the board of HFL,
which for years was dominated by
Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
Milton S. Marwil
West Bloomfield

Beth Jacob
Still Lives

I wish to commend you for your cov-
erage of Temple Beth El's 150th
anniversary ("Redefining Reform,
May 5 and 12). As Temple Beth Jacob
co-president with Barbara Schreier, I
was deeply involved in finding a new
home for our membership in 1991.
It was primarily due to Beth El presi-

"

Franklin Archives:
Community Treasure

Thank you for the past two weeks' cov-
erage of Temple Beth El's first 150 yeart,
("Redefining Reform," May 5 and 12).

LEI .TERS

on ) a e 42

5/19

2000

41