New York, NY, March 7, 2007 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on the German Catholic Bishops' Conference to publicly repudiate remarks made by members of a delegation to Israel and the Palestinian territories, who reportedly compared living conditions in the West Bank with those of Jews forced into the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.

Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke, the Bishop of Eichstaett, has since clarified his statements, saying that comparisons between the Holocaust and the Palestinian territories are "unacceptable."

"While we were encouraged by Bishop Hanke's clarification of his personal remarks, we believe that it is imperative for the German Bishops' Conference to publicly and strongly reaffirm that any comparison between the Holocaust and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is inappropriate and a breach of church teachings," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor.

In a letter to Karl Cardinal Lehmann, Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, ADL called on the religious body to "issue a proclamation as soon as possible," noting that the remarks of some delegation members "violate Vatican teachings about the uniqueness of the Shoah."

"At a time when the President of Iran publicly denies the Holocaust and sponsors an international conference devoted to such a heinous topic, it is incumbent upon Europe's religious leaders to stand as a moral voice against any attempt to de-legitimize or deny the murder of the six million," said Mr. Foxman.  "Comparing a complex issue like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the murder of six million Jews ends up diminishing the meaning of the Holocaust."

During a visit to the Palestinian town of Ramallah, Bishop Hanke told journalists: "In the morning we saw in Yad Vashem pictures from the inhuman Warsaw Ghetto, in the evening we're traveling to the Ramallah Ghetto.  It's enough to drive one mad."  Other members of the delegation reportedly compared Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to "what's done to animals."

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.