New York, NY, November 10, 2003 … Concerned that a resolution under consideration by the United Nations’ Third Committee on religious intolerance omits any mention of anti-Semitism, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today urged the ambassadors of 42 nations represented on the committee to “resist efforts to eliminate this reference.”

“We urge your opposition to the resolution, which marks a significant step backward from the United Nations’ landmark recognition of anti-Semitism as a form of racism, which is a bellwether of freedom and religious tolerance for all minority groups,” Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and author of Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism (HarperSanFrancisco, 2003) said in an open letter to 42 U.N. ambassadors.  “Now more than ever, it is vital that the General Assembly affirm the timeliness and urgency of combating anti-Semitism and resist efforts to eliminate this reference.”

ADL’s letter noted that the international community has made great strides in addressing the issue of anti-Semitism and affirming that combating anti-Semitism is integral and intrinsic to opposing all forms of racism and religious intolerance, most recently at the OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism in Vienna.

“Clearly, at a time when anti-Semitism shows no signs of abating, omitting any mention of it would send a dangerous signal about the United Nations’ commitment to the fight against what remains a pernicious form of religious intolerance and an assault on the fundamentals of human dignity and human rights,” said Mr. Foxman.