New York, NY, December 20, 2005 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) urged the government of Lebanon to denounce a university symposium hosted by the terrorist group Hezbollah's satellite television station, Al-Manar, in which students and a moderator called for Israel's destruction and for Jews to be burned or killed.

"We were deeply troubled to learn that Lebanon's largest state-run university held a symposium in which panelists and a moderator called for Israel's destruction and for Jews to be burned or killed," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.  "Lebanon is on the cusp of creating a new future for its people, and such incendiary and hate-filled forums should not be part of this new Lebanon."

In a letter to the Lebanese ambassador to the United States, Farid Abboud, the League urged his government to "immediately make clear that such events and sentiments are intolerable and in no way reflective of Lebanese policy."

According to translations provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the symposium at Universite Libanaise, which was broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar on November 29, was devoted to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and featured students calling for Israel to be "wiped off of the map."  One student said: "Just like Hitler fought the Jews, we are a great Islamic nation of Jihad, and we too should fight the Jews and burn them."

At one point, the moderator told a student: "Go ahead and incite.  This is what we're looking for.  We want some action."