New York, NY, April 30, 2008 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today issued the following statement in response to calls for the Jewish community to boycott the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games:

The Anti-Defamation League does not support a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games.  While there is no doubt that China has an extremely poor human rights record and that its actions in Tibet and Sudan are to be condemned, we believe that asking the Jewish community to engage in a boycott of the games could be counterproductive and would not produce any tangible result.

In calling for a boycott, some have drawn parallels with the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936.  We believe that these comparisons are inappropriate.  China is a complicated society that is changing and opening up in many ways, and one simply cannot equate the Beijing Olympics with those games in Nazi Germany on the eve of the Holocaust.

We believe that individuals are free to make their own decisions about whether or not they should attend the Summer Olympic Games in China.

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.