New York, NY, November 3, 2003 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today condemned incendiary statements made by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the well-known leader of extremist Russian Liberal Democratic party, and called on Russian officials to speak out against such hate speech as the parliamentary campaign season begins.  At a news conference, Mr. Zhirinovsky expressed strong support for the recent anti-Semitic speech by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, calling it "the truth," and saying that the largest media, banks and companies "are run by Jews" and that Jews have "captured power all over the world."

"We urge authorities on the national and local level to condemn these statements by Zhirinovsky and to speak out against the use of anti-Semitic and xenophobic rhetoric by politicians of all levels," said Alexander Axelrod, Director of ADL's Moscow Office, who is monitoring the Russian political scene for anti-Semitic rhetoric in campaigns for the parliamentary elections slated for December 7.

Mr. Zhirinovsky has a long history of anti-Semitic rhetoric.  His most recent statements came during a news conference in Yekaterinburg on October 29, where he said:

"He (Mahathir) said the truth! There are more than billion of Muslims in the world, and they see that there is 4th World war is going against them. They see Israel as the main catalyst of this war, and this is not false.  The media outlets who are publishing bad articles about Islam are headed by Semites. The biggest banks and world corporations are run by Jews... This is a national talent of the Jews. Jews, who are no more than 16 millions in the world, captured power over the world. All banks, companies, the key "pain" points - everything is captured by Jews, and in our country too.... Today anti-Semitism is a powerful tool for solidarity of Muslim nations faced common threat. This tool today is similar to the way anti-Communism was used in the past for Western courtiers."

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.