Jewish Interfaith Leaders and Vatican Officials Issue Joint Statement Condemning Anti-Semitism

July 12, 2004

Source: Anti-Defamation League

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ChJew_31/4534_31.htm

On July 12, 2004 Anti-Defamation League issued a press release that reported, "For the first time a meeting of Jewish interfaith experts and worldwide representatives of the Holy See produced a joint declaration that expressed, 'the total rejection of anti-Semitism in all its forms, including anti-Zionism, as a more recent manifestation of anti-Semitism.'  Given the rise in global anti-Semitism, Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, Director of Interfaith Affairs for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and one of the drafters of the declaration, said, 'the importance of this statement at this time cannot be overestimated.' Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor participated in the 18th Meeting of the International Jewish Liaison Committee (ILC) in Buenos Aires which brought together members of the International Jewish Committee on Inter-religious Consultation (IJCIC) and the Vatican's Pontifical Committee on Religious Relations with the Jews, as well as local Catholic and Jewish representatives. 'Meeting in Latin America took on a special significance in light of recent ADL surveys that show foreign-born Hispanics in America hold strong anti-Semitic views,' said the Rabbi. Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps, the 12th anniversary of the bombing of the Israel Embassy in Buenos Aires and the 10th anniversary of the bombing of the Jewish community center, the AMIA, in the Argentine capital, the declaration stated, 'we declare our determination to prevent the re-emergence of anti-Semitism which led to genocide and the Shoah,' and 'we commit ourselves to the struggle against terrorism....Terror, in all its forms and the killing "in the name of God" can never be justified. Terror is a sin against man and God.'"