Warsaw, Poland, October 14, 2003 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on the 55 participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to "move beyond words to action" in the fight against anti-Semitism across the OSCE region. 

In private meetings with government delegates and in a statement to the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, ADL called for critical follow-up to the OSCE's June 2003 conference on anti-Semitism.

"We must move beyond words to action," said Stacy Burdett, ADL's representative to the OSCE meeting.  "Our resolve will determine whether the landmark meeting in June will fade away or whether it will be a starting point for a new worldwide effort to stand up against anti-Semitism."

In the statement presented at the OSCE meeting in Poland, ADL urged participating states to:

n       endorse a follow-up meeting in 2004 in Berlin to review implementation of programs, adopt new strategies and share best practices;

n       authorize a contact point within OSCE to monitor and report on anti-Semitic incidents and assess action by participating OSCE states;

n       denounce the vicious anti-Semitism emanating from the Arab world, which serves as the catalyst for and exacerbates the problem in the OSCE region;

n       Recognize and address the connection between the bias against Israel internationally – in the media, in governments -- and the surge of anti-Semitism on the streets in many member states.

To underscore the need for sustained action, ADL distributed to governments a list of anti-Semitic incidents in the OSCE region, many of which had taken place since the June 2003 meeting.