Tel Aviv, December 19, 2007 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) played a major role as a participant in the first OSCE event held in Israel.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Mediterranean Seminar convened in Tel Aviv and focused on promoting mutual respect and understanding in the OSCE participating States and the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation, made up of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.

ADL urged Participating States to follow up by redoubling efforts to improve cooperation among the Mediterranean Partner States and presented several tools and programs in Arabic which could be adapted in the Arab states affiliated with OSCE to help challenge prejudice and discrimination and learn the skills necessary to live in an increasingly diverse world. 

Among other recommendations, ADL proposed that OSCE make its Holocaust education tools available to help Arab countries support the recognition and remembrance of the Holocaust as they have done throughout Europe. 

In a plenary address on the vital role of law enforcement, Dov Lutsky, former Deputy Police Commander of the Northern Command in Israel, highlighted the model of ADL's anti-bias training of law enforcement in Israel.  "A law enforcement officer can only be true to his role and mission if he fully integrates a set of humane universal values," he said. 

The meeting also showcased the OSCE's Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching About Religion and Beliefs in Public Schools, a project on which ADL experts served.

The League expressed disappointment that more Arab states affiliated with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe did not attend.

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.