DATE: Friday, October 17, 1997              TAG: 9710170678

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   39 lines

ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE CLOSES ITS NORFOLK OFFICE

The national Anti-Defamation League has closed the Norfolk office that for a decade served residents of Virginia and North Carolina.

The Washington, D.C., branch will handle complaints for the region, and response will be as good as or better than before, the director of that office said this week.

Finances are to blame for the closure of the office, which was on Newtown Road, said the Washington director, David Friedman.

The ADL plans to increase staffing in its Washington office, one of 30 branches maintained by the New York City-based league, he said. The organization expects to hire a professional to be associate director and deal with issues in Virginia and North Carolina.

Calls to the Norfolk office now are automatically forwarded to Washington.

The local arm, originally based in Richmond, was vocal about issues involving discrimination and hate crimes.

In May, for example, Norfolk's ADL objected to a Hampton man's use of ``ZYKLON B'' on a license plate, saying the reference to the poison used by Nazis to gas Jews was offensive. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles recalled the plate in May.

And late last year, the group objected to the Navy's sponsorship of a Promise Keepers rally at Scope, because government was involved in religion. The Navy subsequently withdrew its support of the Christian men's gathering.

``It's not that we are in any way closing or terminating our presence in Virginia and North Carolina,'' Friedman said. ``We recognize the importance of the Norfolk office, but it's not the best cost-effective'' approach to coverage.

The Norfolk office was staffed by a director, Samuel K. Kaplan, and another person. Kaplan could not be reached for comment this week.

The decision to close the office came last spring, Friedman said. It was one of two regional centers closed because of finances. The other was in Columbus, Ohio.

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