New York, NY, November 11, 2004 ... A regular guest on the Arab satellite TV network Al Jazeera, Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi is often referred to as one of the most influential contemporary Sunni Muslim scholars – a man with progressive opinions on social issues, politics and democracy.  But the Qatari-based Sheik is also a radical supporter of terrorism and promoter of anti-Semitism, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

In the first of a series of pieces on radical Islamic influences, ADL has compiled the public statements and writings of this prominent scholar, including his conspiratorial anti-Semitism, his efforts to undermine Israeli-Palestinian relations, and his endorsement of suicide bombings and assassinations against Israelis and Americans.  The report, Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi: Theologian of Terror, is available on the League's Web site.

Sheik Qaradawi, whose Friday sermons are regularly broadcast live on Qatari television, is the founder and dean of the Sharia (Islamic Law) College at Qatar University and chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, an organization that seeks to become the official religious authority for European Muslims.  His teachings are exported to Europe and North America through several organizations sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood.

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.