Los Angeles, February 27, 2008…..The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today applauded L.A. City Council Member Dennis Zine and the City of Los Angeles as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation for offering a reward to help find the perpetrators of the suspected hate crimes against the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus and a private residence in West Hills on February 18.  Both locations were attacked with incendiary devices.

ADL also thanked law enforcement agencies for their immediate and thorough attention to these crimes.

"Hate crimes send a message to an entire community that they are not safe.  Crimes such as this don't merely affect one building or one residence, they send shock waves through our entire community," said Amanda Susskind, ADL Los Angeles Regional Director.  "We are proud to live in a community where our elected leaders so willingly and promptly denounce these message crimes."

ADL expressed concern about the recent spate of hate crimes in the San Fernando Valley, including anti-Semitic graffiti and vandalism attacks in various locations of Tarzana last month.

"This series of hate crimes and graffiti messages directed at the Jewish people over the past month is horrifying and reminds us that we must never become complacent about the existence of anti-Semitism and bigotry in our community," said Ms. Susskind.
 
The most recent Hate Crimes Report released by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations for 2006 shows that Jews continue to be the most frequently targeted religious group, now accounting for 71 percent of religious-based hate crimes. 

ADL's 2006 Audit of Anti-Semitic incidents showed that anti-Semitic hate crimes and incidents continue to be a serious problem locally and nationwide.

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.