LINKS 'ANTI-SEMITISM' WITH TERRORISM

 

U.S. attorney general feted
at meeting of defamation group

 

In George Orwell's 1984 state repression was carried out under the auspices of a euphemistically named "Ministry of Love." In the former Soviet Union the same function—which included running the NKVD and the gulags was performed under the more prosaic label of "Interior Ministry." The analogous institution in the United States is called the "Department of Justice," with its secret police (FBI) and those special detention centers created under the so-called Patriot Act. It is headed by an "Attorney General," who is now teaming up with a leading anti-Aryan hate organization to explore ways of suppressing opposition to Jewish supremacism.

 

Ashcroft: We'll Keep Fighting Anti-Semitism, Terrorism
Associated Press  November 7, 2003, 4:39 PM EST

By DONNA DE LA CRUZ

NEW YORK—Attorney General John Ashcroft vowed Friday that the Justice Department would continue its fight against anti-Semitism and terrorism.

"This administration believes that acts of anti-Semitism must be confronted, condemned and denounced," Ashcroft said in a keynote address at the Anti-Defamation League's national meeting.

"As history shows, verbal attacks on the Jewish people are portents of more savage criminality to come," he added.

Ashcroft credited the ADL for standing up to hatred and bigotry and urged all Americans to do the same.

"In this battle, every voice and every hand is needed to triumph over terrorism," he said. "It requires us to speak out in America for our highest values and to take our battle to the terrorists abroad."

Ashcroft touted his department's efforts at battling terrorism, saying terrorist cells across America have been dismantled. The Justice Department has charged 286 people with terrorism-related offenses, and has secured convictions or guilty pleas from 154 people.

More than $200 million of funds from organizations suspected of supporting terror has been seized and two-thirds of al-Qaida senior operatives have been captured or killed, Ashcroft told about 450 people gathered at the Plaza Hotel.

Ashcroft also spoke at length about the benefits of the USA Patriot Act, passed overwhelmingly by Congress after Sept. 11. It greatly expanded the government's surveillance and detention powers, and the attorney general said without the legislation, some people indicted for terrorism-related offenses might not have been detected by officials.

Ashcroft spoke on the second day of the three-day conference, celebrating the ADL's 90th anniversary. The ADL was founded in 1913 by Chicago lawyer Sigmund Livingston, who saw a need for an organization to protect Jews from anti-Semitic acts.

Abraham Foxman, the ADL's national director, praised Ashcroft and President Bush for their efforts in fighting anti-Semitism.

"We the Jewish people feel more vulnerable today than we ever have since World War II, and the world is not a welcome place," Foxman said.