Boston, MA,  May 8, 2007 -- Responding to news reports of an alleged ethnically motivated assault of three United States citizens of Moroccan descent by two Boston men on April 2, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed outrage at the alleged hateful attack.

Reacting to the news that Attorney General Martha Coakley's Office obtained a civil rights injunction against the two defendants, ADL New England Regional Director Andrew Tarsy and Regional Board Chair Jim Rudolph issued the following statement:

"We commend the Attorney General's Office for taking this incident seriously.  This brutal assault exemplifies a trend that immigrants – and those perceived to be immigrants - are increasingly the targets of hate and bias.  The defendants' alleged anti-immigrant slurs and vicious attack must be condemned in the strongest terms by people of all backgrounds."

The two defendants allegedly targeted the victims after overhearing them speaking to each other in Arabic inside an Allston restaurant.  The defendants allegedly then hurled anti-immigrant slurs, referring to the victims, in part, as "terrorists."  When the victims left the restaurant, the defendants allegedly assaulted them by kicking and beating them with a stick and belt.  One victim's head injuries were severe enough to require overnight hospitalization.

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.