New York, N.Y., March 22, 2002 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today commended the Bush Administration for taking steps to designate as a foreign terrorist organization a Palestinian group responsible for numerous suicide missions in Israel.

"We commend the President for taking action against the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, a violent and deadly terror organization," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Terrorist organizations like Al Aksa, whose aim is to kill as many Israeli civilians as possible, should not have the ability to raise funds and expand their recruitment activities into other countries."

Secretary of State Colin Powell this week moved to add the Al Aksa Brigades to the State Department list of foreign organizations that sponsor terrorism. The group, an armed faction of Fatah, has claimed responsibility for numerous acts of terror against Israel, including the March 21 suicide bombing in central Jerusalem, which killed three people and injured more than 80. The attack was timed to coincide with the visits of U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni and Vice President Richard Cheney to the region.

The Al Aksa Brigades has carried out numerous suicide attacks against Israeli citizens and soldiers. It is the fourth Palestinian group to be designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization subject to international sanctions. The others are Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Fatah was founded and organized by Yasir Arafat in the 1960s and continues to be connected with the Palestinian Authority chairman.

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.