Warsaw, October 12, 2006 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on delegates from the 56 nations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to make countering anti-Semitism and intolerance among youth a priority.

In a plenary address to the OSCE's annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), Gary M. Bretton-Granatoor, ADL Director of Education, discussed the impact of anti-Semitism, bigotry, and hate crime on youth and proposed model initiatives that could be replicated in different countries.  "While we had come to view anti-Semitism as a relic of history, or as views of a dying generation, events indicate a startling trend that the offenders are young, and, sadly, so are their victims," Mr. Bretton-Granatoor said.

Mr. Bretton-Granatoor called on the OSCE to sustain its focus on the issue by:

• reappointing the three Personal Representatives of the OSCE Chair on Anti-Semitism; Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination; and  Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims -- and urging their focus on youth;
• convening a high -level follow up conference in 2007 and
• crafting model youth hate prevention policy guidelines for states.

ADL also presented 10 policy recommendations for participating states to strengthen data collection, education and law enforcement efforts to address and prevent hate violence among youth.

At a side event to the meeting on combating online hate, Christopher Wolf, ADL Internet Task Force Chair, discussed the danger of unintended consequences of Internet regulation.  Brian Marcus, Director of ADL's Internet Monitoring Unit, outlined tools for effective cooperation with law enforcement against cyber-hate. 

Messrs. Wolf and Marcus were in Warsaw attending the 5th annual conference of the International Network Against Cyberhate (INACH), which Mr. Wolf chairs and in which ADL serves as the U.S. partner.

Also at the meeting, the OSCE's Tolerance Unit launched an online database of promising practices against intolerance across the region which featured four of ADL's premier anti-bias programs.

The HDIM is Europe's largest human rights conference and is a forum where representatives from government, civil society and international organizations from across 56 participating states take stock of how governments are implementing their human rights commitments.  The 56 participating states include the nations of Europe and Eurasia, the United States and Canada.

ADL experts will address the next OSCE meeting on Education to Promote Mutual Respect and Understanding and to Teach about the Holocaust, in Dubrovnik, Croatia on October 23-24.

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.