News

AJCongress Defense of Firings Not Credible 

Letter to the Editor by David A. Guberman
Vice President, American Jewish Congress, New England Region
Forward 11/30/01

Republished by permission.

The distortions employed by Jack Rosen and Phil Baum to defend their firing of Sheila Decter, the New England regional director of the American Jewish Congress, and their attack on the New England Regional Congress itself cannot conceal the fundamental unfairness of their conduct ("Shake-ups at AJCongress Are Cast as Shift to the Right," November 23).

Aft. Rosen and Mr. Baum reportedly claim that the firing "simply had to do with a failure to meet fundraising and membership goals." Reaching back 15 years, Mr. Baum alleges that "the national office was forced to cover 'significant' deficits incurred by the New England chapter, but declined to share exact figures."

For the last several years, however, the New England AJCongress has raised more money than any other region. Except for last year, when we ran a tiny deficit, in each of the last several years the New England AJCongress has run a surplus, in effect subsidizing the national organization. Mr. Baum has the figures.

Mr. Rosen and Mr. Baum's claim that they fired Ms. Decter for failing to meet fundraising and membership goals also lacks credibility because they failed to warn her and the regional leadership that her more than 20-year AJCongress career was in jeopardy. Neither did they warn us that her job depended on our turning out for their generally ill-attended national convention. Given that Mr. Rosen and Mr. Baum are responsible for the program, perhaps they are the ones who should have drawn the appropriate personal conclusions from the generally poor attendance. I am confident, however, that, if they had scheduled more time for plenary discussion of AJCongress policy and governance, i.e., the proper business of a national convention, more members would have attended.

As for Mr. Rosen's denial that he is engaged in moving AJCongress to the right, one counter-example is the fact that the individual he hired to direct the Philadelphia office, Joseph Puder, is a former executive of the far-right group Americans for a Safe Israel and author, among other things, of "The New Israel Fund: A New Fund for Israel's Enemies.”

David A. Guberman
Vice President
New England Regional Congress
American Jewish Congress
Newton, Mass.

Read our News Release announcing our formation