New York, NY, June 22, 2005 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today accepted the apology of Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) for his remarks comparing the mistreatment of American detainees at Guantanamo Bay with the acts of Nazis during the Holocaust.

"We're glad that Senator Durbin has come to understand why his comments were so painful and inappropriate," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. 

In a statement read on the Senate floor yesterday, Senator Durbin acknowledged that he had used "a poor choice of words. … I'm sorry if anything that I said caused any offense or pain to those who have such bitter memories of the Holocaust, the greatest moral tragedy of our time."

Mr. Foxman added, "All politicians, regardless of party affiliation or political persuasion, must realize that there is a point when inapt comparisons to the Holocaust become odious, especially when used to make a political point or advance a certain agenda.  While there is no taboo against invoking the lessons and memory of the Holocaust, inappropriate comparisons to the Nazis only serve to trivialize genocide and insult the memory of the six million."

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.