New York, NY, March 11, 2010 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called yesterday's decision by the European Parliament to endorse the recommendations of the U.N. Goldstone Commission Report "outrageous."

The resolution passed with 335 votes in favor, 287 against and 43 abstentions.

Robert G. Sugarman, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director issued the following statement:

The European Parliament's action mimics the U.N. Human Rights Council – passing special resolutions that obsess over Israel and support biased and illegitimate reports designed to cast Israel as an outlaw state.  This counterproductive stand-alone resolution repeats earlier calls for implementation of the Goldstone recommendations already in its omnibus February 25th resolution.  This unnecessary "piling on" against Israel is clearly intended to raise the level of criticism against Israel. 

 

The narrow passage in the European Parliament shows that some representatives understand the danger of the Goldstone Report, while others have simply lost their bearings.  The contrast with the U.S. Congress, which voted overwhelmingly to call the Goldstone Report "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy," couldn't be starker.

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.