Jerusalem, February 27, 2005...The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is distressed by the continuing use of Holocaust analogies by some protesters of the government of Israel's disengagement plan. 

Most recently, a conference hosted by an organization called the World Headquarters for Saving the Nation and the Land was held at the Jerusalem International Convention Center under a banner that read, "Arik Sharon, you are bringing upon us a Holocaust."  Leaflets bearing that message were passed out to the crowds.

Thousands of participants, many of whom were members of a messianic faction of the Chabad movement, heard speeches calling on their followers to stop the "deportation" of Jews from their homes.

ADL's Israel Office issued the following statement:

As the Gaza disengagement plan gets closer to being implemented, ADL urges those protesting against the plan to bear in mind that evoking Nazi imagery is offensive, demeaning to victims of the Holocaust and is a perversion of history.  For Jews to use such terminology when speaking of other Jews is perhaps the embodiment of perversion.  Furthermore, likening the Holocaust to this political process, no matter how painful, has the effect of fueling Holocaust denial outside of Israel by delegitimizing the unprecedented horror of the Shoah. 

Utilizing the language of the Holocaust is inciteful and can serve to legitimize violence against Israeli citizens who are working to make the disengagement possible either politically or practically by those who disagree with the policies of the government.  We welcome the investigation launched by the Israeli National Police, which will probe possible incitement violations by the speakers at the Jerusalem event.

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.