The Anti-Defamation League has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for setting a fire at the Congregation B'nai Zion Synagogue in Key West, Florida in the early hours of Tuesday morning, April 16. In announcing the award, ADL Southern Area Director Arthur Teitelbaum stated: "Based on my experience, a deliberately set fire at a synagogue should raise the concern of both law enforcement and the general community that this is a crime that deliberately targeted a Jewish institution."

The investigation into the apparent arson is being conducted by an Arson Task Force which includes representatives of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the State Fire Marshals Office, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and the Key West Police Department.

While it is fortunate that no one was hurt in the blaze, the synagogue was significantly damaged. ADL is working closely with the local Jewish community and with federal, state and local law enforcement officials to respond to this possibly anti-Semitic crime. When the perpetrator or perpetrators are apprehended, prosecutors will have at their disposal not only the state's arson law, but also two Florida statutes which ADL helped to draft - the 1982 House of Worship Protection Act and the state's 1991 Hate Crimes Act.

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