Denver Colorado….April 16, 2002….Following a wave of anti-Israel graffiti on the Boulder campus over the past 24 hours, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Hillel Council of Colorado today called on C.U. President Elizabeth Hoffman to appeal to those responsible to stop creating an atmosphere of intimidation.

Bruce DeBoskey, ADL Mountain States Regional Director, and Pat Blumenthal, Hillel Executive Executive Director, issued the following statement:

The wave of anti-Israel, and at times anti-Semitic, graffiti chalked across the Boulder campus during Holocaust Awareness Week is creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation among Jewish students. We have asked the university leadership to issue a strong statement calling for the cessation of provocative activity, which is creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation among Jewish students at the university. We have also asked that the University take immediate action to clean up the offensive graffiti.

Recognizing that speech is Constitutionally protected, both organizations are particularly concerned about political speech crossing the line into anti-Semitism as evidenced in the use of term "Zionazis" found in several areas of the camps from the Physics Building to Norlin Library. ADL and Hillel call upon students at CU to tone down the rhetoric and not allow the situation to escalate.

The University is a place for open discussion and an exchange of ideas, not a forum for hatred and intimidation. We call on the University to take bold steps to reduce the tension and provide a forum where reasonable voices can be heard.

The Hillel Council of Colorado is the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life on college campuses throughout Colorado.

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.