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ADL
Commends YMCA of the USA for Protesting Biased Report
Issued by International YMCA Organization
New
York, N.Y., February 16, 2001 ... The Anti-Defamation
League (ADL) today commended the YMCA of the USA for protesting
the biased, one-sided report on the Palestinians, issued
by the world body of YMCA, that excluded the Israeli perspective
on the ongoing conflict. "We commend Kenneth Gladish,
Executive Director of the YMCA of the USA, for speaking
out against this biased, anti-Israel report and distancing
his organization from it," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL
National Director. "To release a report that does not
mention Palestinian violence or concern for Israeli victims,
under the auspices of the international YMCA, provokes
the situation more than subdues it. We encourage other
members of the international YMCA to follow the lead set
by the USA and speak out against this document." Mr. Gladish,
in a letter to the international YMCA, protested the "language,
tone and characterizations" of the report, which refers
to the land as "Palestine" and not Israel, and said it
"can serve only to inflame the long-standing tensions
in the region." 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.
AJCONGRESS
CONGRATULATES YMCA OF THE USA FOR ITS CRITICISM OF ISRAEL-BASHING
REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL YMCA ORGANIZATION
(February
16, 2001) The American Jewish Congress today congratulated
the YMCA of the USA for its criticism of the report of
the Geneva-based World Alliance of YMCA's which blames
Israel exclusively for the violence in the region, and
which states that "the one-sided nature of the conflict
demands that the YMCA take the side of the oppressed Palestinian
people." AJCongress refers to the report as an "anti-Israel
diatribe" and a "document so flawed that in the minds
of all fair-minded people it can only serve to tarnish
the reputation of the organization that produced it."
In
a letter to Executive Director Kenneth Gladish of the
Chicago-based YMCA of the USA, AJCongress Executive Director
Phil Baum declared that Gladish was "right on the mark"
when he stated, "The language, tone and characterizations
(of the report) do nothing to aid the true cause of peace
and stability, nor do they position the YMCA for effective
service across the boundaries of the dispute. These documents
are inappropriate and can serve only to inflame the long-standing
tensions in the region." In the face of criticism, the
international group has acknowledged on its website that
the observers it sent "for reasons of time and circumstances
did not also visit Israel." "Tendentious and biased accounts
such as the report of the World Alliance can only encourage
the Palestinian Authority in its support of violence against
Israel," Baum wrote to Gladish. "Your letter provides
hope to the anguished people of Israel that they are not
alone in their struggle to live in peace with their Palestinian
neighbors, and that organizations such as the YMCA of
the USA recognize that fair-mindedness, openness to the
truth and a rejection of prepared a priori conclusions
is the only way to advance the cause of justice for all
of the peoples in the Middle East."
The
American Jewish Congress, founded in 1918 by Rabbi Stephen
S.Wise, Justice Louis D. Brandeis and other distinguished
Jews, specializes in combatting all forms of bigotry through
law and legislation. Considered the legal voice of the
American Jewish Community, it works to safeguard Jewish
interests, protect basic freedoms enshrined in the American
Bill of Rights and to advance the security of Israel.
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