New York, NY, August 3, 2000…The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed CNN.com’s return of the designation of Jerusalem as a city in Israel to the web site’s weather section, but said it was unfortunate that CNN.com continued to politicize Jerusalem with a new qualifying explanation as to the city’s status. In recent months, of the featured "10,000 cities worldwide" on CNN.com’s weather site, only Jerusalem stood alone, without a country designation. ADL had been working with CNN Interactive staff to place Jerusalem on the list of other cities in Israel, including Haifa, Eilat and Tel Aviv.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

We welcome the return of Jerusalem to the State of Israel on CNN.com’s weather web page. However, we are disappointed that CNN.com continues to find a need to qualify the status of Jerusalem with a gratuitous politically-oriented explanation. We question why Jerusalem’s weather needs to be provided to CNN.com users with an update on the politics in the region. The conditions and forecast, whether hot or cold or sunny or rainy, do not warrant political commentary.

Today, CNN.com began listing Jerusalem under Israel. On the Jerusalem weather page, however, the name of the city has an asterisk, which states: "The status of Jerusalem, the seat of Israel government, is the most contentious issue in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Palestinian and Arab leaders consider part of Jerusalem the capital of the prospective Palestinian state."

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.