Friends Of Simon Wiesenthal Center's Reaction to Arrest of Seventeen in Canadian Terror Plot

June 5, 2006

Friends Of Simon Wiesenthal Center's Reaction to Arrest of Seventeen in Canadian Terror Plot

TORONTO ........."This weekend's arrest of 17 Canadian men on terrorist charges highlights the use and abuse of the Internet in planning such plots," said Leo Adler, Director of National Affairs for Toronto-based Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.

A member of Canada's Cross Cultural Roundtable on Security, Adler said the group, using the Internet for instructions obtained three tonnes of ammonium nitrate (one tonne was used in the 1995 bombing of the FBI building in Oklahoma, killing 168 people) were planning to build several bombs. It appears the Internet also became a prime source of communications among the group members.

"The Center's annual research Report, Digital Terrorism & Hate 2006, makes it clear that the spread of terrorist ideology and the communications between individuals is primarily through the Internet, which provides sites to Canadians that glorify terrorism and allow youths to become inculcated and learn how to commit such acts in Canada," said Adler.

Contact:  
David Eisenstadt
The Communications Group Inc. 
416-696-9900 ext 36
deisenstadt@tcgpr.com

ABOUT FRIENDS OF SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER FOR HOLOCAUST STUDIES 

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies is a Canadian human rights organization dedicated to fostering tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and social action. With over 40,000 members of all faiths, it confronts important contemporary issues including racism, anti-Semitism, terrorism and genocide. Friends is affiliated with the world-wide, Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, an accredited Non-Government Organization with status at international agencies, including the United Nations, UNESCO, OSCE and the Council of Europe, with offices in New York, Miami, Paris, Jerusalem, BuenosAires, and Toronto.  Simon Wiesenthal died in 2005 after devoting his life to preserving the memories of the victims of the Holocaust, while simultaneously seeking justice for the war criminals.