New York, NY, August 1, 2002 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called the United Nations report on Jenin, "a report that shouldn't have been written."

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

Secretary General Kofi Annan's report on Jenin was an investigation that shouldn't have been conducted, a report that shouldn't have been written.

This investigation was the result of a rush to judgement by some U.N. officials, non-governmental agencies, foreign governments and media, to believe the blatantly false Palestinian accusations of Israeli "massacres" during Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. The report's findings that there was no "massacre" of Palestinians by Israel, and that Palestinians deliberately set up terrorist operations in civilian centers should have been accepted as fact long ago. Indeed, the real conclusion of the report is the confirmation of the international community's propensity to question Israeli assertions, while accepting without question wholesale fabrications and exaggerations by Palestinian leaders.

This report will be constructive if the international community examines what led them to their embarrassingly flawed rush to judgement, and their reckless haste to condemn Israel based on clear untruths and rumors.

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.