Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect

Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect
Named after Anne Frank
Purpose Social justice organization
Headquarters 1325 6th Ave., 28th floor
New York, NY 10019
Location
Executive Director
 Steven Goldstein
Chair, Peter Rapaport
Revenue
$698,611 (2014)[1]
Expenses $849,836 (2014)[1]
Staff
9
Website annefrank.com
Formerly called
 Anne Frank Center USA

The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect is a nonprofit organization with a focus on civil and human rights activism in the United States.[2][3][4]

The group's stated objective is to advocate "for the kinder and fairer world of which Anne Frank dreamed."[5] It has been vocally critical of the Donald Trump Administration.[2][6] While it speaks out against antisemitism, it also criticizes what it sees as sexism, racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and other issues.

The Center is neither a Jewish organization nor a Holocaust organization[6] It is headquartered in New York City and its executive director is political activist Steven Goldstein,[3][6] known for his advocacy of LGBT rights as founder of Garden State Equality.[7]

History

The organization was originally known as the American Friends of the Anne Frank Center, and later the Anne Frank Center USA.[6] It is described by its chairman Peter Rapaport as neither a Jewish nor a Holocaust organization.[6]

From 2011 to 2016 the center had a small public gallery in lower Manhattan.[7] In 2016, the board of directors[6] brought in Goldstein as executive director. At the same time, its name was changed to add "mutual respect," and its mission was changed to include an emphasis on “exposing and fighting hate.”[8][7] The Center continues to put on traveling exhibits throughout the United States. The group opened an office in Los Angeles in 2017.[5]

The center received significant press attention in early 2017 due to its criticism of the Trump administration.[7][2][3][4][9][10] The Anne Frank Center has been described as "one of the loudest voices in the #resistance [sic] to Trump."[11]

Connection with Anne Frank and Otto Frank

According to the Center, it originated as an affiliate of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. It is not currently affiliated with either the House or the Anne Frank Fonds in Basel, Switzerland.[5] It has claimed on its website that it was founded in 1959 with Anne's father Otto Frank as one of its founders. That was disputed by The Atlantic, which reported in a April 2017 profile of the group that past staffers and documentation indicate it was actually started in 1977, with no involvement by Otto Frank.[3][6] After the Atlantic article appeared, it claimed that a document from 1959 shows that Otto Frank gave permission to use of his name in fundraising literature for the Anne Frank Foundation Inc. in the United States and Amsterdam, and that he was listed as president of the Foundation.[12]

The Center said it works with the Anne Frank House on bringing traveling exhibits[13] covering Anne's life and legacy through the United States, often incorporating contemporary issues outside of Antisemitism and The Holocaust.

Criticism of the Trump Administration

Executive director Steven Goldstein has harshly condemned the Trump administration, claiming it has failed to counter anti-Semitism and for his policies concerning refugees and immigrants. In February 2017, after the administration condemned threats against Jewish institutions, Goldstein called Trump's "sudden acknowledgment" of anti-Semitism " a "Band-Aid on the cancer of anti-Semitism that has infected his own administration." [9]

Goldstein called for Sean Spicer's resignation after his comment that, unlike Bashar al-Assad, "Hitler didn't even sink to the level of using chemical weapons."[11] He called for Sebastian Gorka's resignation in response to allegations that the Order of Vitéz, of which Gorka is a member, is an anti-Semitic, Hungarian ultranationalist group.[10]

The Atlantic and the daily online Jewish news site Tablet Magazine criticized the Anne Frank Center for politicizing Anne Frank's legacy in its criticism of the Donald Trump administration,[6][11] The magazines said that the media has paid undue attention to the Center because of its use of Anne Frank's name, and The Atlantic said that by "politicizing Anne Frank" it may undermine her legacy.[6]

Abraham Foxman, former head of the Anti-Defamation League, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that he believed Frank's name was abused and that "every time I read that he [Goldstein] says something under her banner, I feel uncomfortable.” Foxman was himself a hidden child during the Holocaust.[12][14]

In a Washington Post profile, Goldstein rejected accusations that he is politicizing Anne Frank and called her “one of the greatest feminist and social justice leaders in history.”[12]

References

  1. 1 2 "ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Anne Frank Center USA". Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Landler, Mark (2017-01-11). "Trump Under Fire for Invoking Nazis in Criticism of U.S. Intelligence". The New York Times.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Taylor, Adam (2017-01-26). "A charity named after Anne Frank has become a fierce critic of Trump’s plans for refugees". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2017-01-26. (Original title: ".)
  4. 1 2 Abbey-Lambertz, Kate (2017-01-25). "Anne Frank Center: Trump ‘Is Driving Our Nation Off A Moral Cliff’". The Huffington Post.
  5. 1 2 3 Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect: About the Center, accessed on January 31, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Green, Emma (2017-04-24). "Who Does the Anne Frank Center Represent?". The Atlantic.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Zax, Talya (23 February 2017). "Meet Trump’s Latest Nemesis — Steven Goldstein From The Anne Frank Center". The Forward. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  8. ↑ Respect, Anne Frank Center for Mutual. "Press release: The Anne Frank Center USA renames itself the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect and names civil rights leader Steven Goldstein as new Executive Director". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  9. 1 2 Krieg, Gregory (February 21, 2017). "Anne Frank Center: Anti-Semitism has 'infected' Trump administration". CNN. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  10. 1 2 Estepa, Jessica (March 16, 2017). "Organizations call for Sebastian Gorka's resignation for ties to far-right group". USA Today. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 Leibovitz, Liel (2017-04-20). "How Anne Frank Was Astro-Turfed". Tablet Magazine.
  12. 1 2 3 Selk, Avi (2 May 2017). "Meet the activist who calls Trump an anti-Semite using Anne Frank’s name". Washington Post. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  13. ↑ Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect: Traveling Exhibits, accessed on April 24, 2017.
  14. ↑ "A face off between Anne Frank and Donald Trump". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.