Update: On July 21, 2008, a San Francisco jury convicted Holocaust denier Eric Hunt of multiple charges for his bias-motivated attack on Elie Wiesel.  More

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New York, NY, February 15, 2007 ... The assault on Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Laureate, by a self-proclaimed Holocaust denier, was shocking.  History has shown how hateful words lead to hateful deeds.  When people, because of their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation are scapegoated and demonized, violence follows.

The attack on Prof. Wiesel demonstrates that today's Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites have been emboldened by the statements of the President of Iran and others that the Holocaust is a myth perpetrated on the world by Jews, and so they act out against Jews.

Bearing witness to the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel, eloquently writes, speaks and teaches about  the inhumanity of man and is the moral voice against it ever happening again, to anyone.

The attack against this individual who more than anyone else symbolizes the need to educate the world on the terrible tragedy that took place should arouse the consciences of good people to the fact that Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism are real threats.

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.