New York, NY, September 12, 2005 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed its outrage at the desecration of four synagogues in the Gaza Strip by Palestinian mobs. 

ADL issued the following statement:

It is unacceptable that the Palestinian Authority failed to take steps to protect synagogues from marauding Palestinian mobs.  Although the Palestinian Authority may not have had much advance notice that Israel would be leaving the synagogues intact, responsible democracies do not allow their citizens to destroy houses of worship, be it mosques, churches or synagogues.  Indeed, Israel made the decision not to destroy these structures after leaving Gaza out of respect for former houses of worship.

Unfortunately, this is not the first instance of religiously significant places being desecrated by Palestinian mobs during the past five years.

At a time that there is so much hope in the region, wanton destruction of former houses of worship sends the wrong message for the future of Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation.

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.