SWC Statement on the State Department’s Release of Remarks on Anti-Semitism by Ambassador Howard Gutman

December 6, 2011

“While we agree that the Ambassador’s formal remarks were less strident than originally reported in the Israeli newspaper Ynet, nonetheless the Ambassador’s central point that a distinction must be made between Muslim anti-Semitism and traditional anti-Jewish hatred is seriously flawed, said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the Wiesenthal Center’s Founder and Dean and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Center’s Associate Dean.  “He overlooks the principal cause of contemporary Muslim anti-Semitism – the very existence of the Jewish State of Israel, not its policies.  Since Israel has no intention of disappearing, Muslim anti-Semitism, like Christian anti-Semitism must never be excused or explained away, rather it must be vigorously confronted whenever and wherever it raises its ugly head,” the Rabbis concluded.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

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