Teaneck, N.J., September 23, 2009. . .  The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned the assault of a yeshiva student in Edison who was attacked as he was walking home from school on Saturday, September 19, the second night of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  The assailant reportedly had been taunting the victim and his friend with anti-Semitic slurs before attacking the 19 year-old student.  The Edison Police Department arrested an individual who is being charged with aggravated assault.

Etzion Neuer, ADL New Jersey Regional Director, issued the following statement:

This vicious assault came on Rosh Hashanah, a time ordinarily marked by solemnity and festivity, and the timing makes this senseless and brutal crime particularly galling.  We congratulate the Edison Police Department for their swift action in apprehending the alleged perpetrator.

Our community will not stand for such brutal violence, and we have complete confidence that the matter will be investigated fully by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The victim was treated for a concussion.

The League has long been at the forefront of national and state efforts to deter and counteract bias crimes.

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.