The Ruderman Family Foundation is a U.S.-and-Israel-based Foundation which generously supports entities promoting the full inclusion of people with disabilities into the wider Jewish community.
Yesterday, Oct. 29, the Ruderman Foundation issued a statement expressing dismay over the report that an Obama aide referred to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as “Aspergery.”
Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, said “In his article in The Atlantic, ‘The Crisis in U.S.-Israel Relations is Officially Here,’ Jeffrey Goldberg quotes an unnamed source in the Obama administration who refers to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as ‘Aspergery.'”
“The term ‘Asperpery’ was used in a manner that is insulting to the millions of people around the world with Asperger Syndrome. It is never OK to insult someone by referring to them by using disability in a negative manner.”
The Ruderman Family Foundation called upon the Obama administration to release a statement denouncing the use of the name of a disability in a derogatory manner.
In earlier articles describing Goldberg’s article and the ensuing outcry, the JewishPress.com refrained from mentioning the use of the disability term as an insult, concluding it was simply too offensive to mention, but as a show of support to the Ruderman Foundation, The Jewish Press resolved to amplify their voice representing the rights of those with disabilities.