OUDepartment of Public Relations

June 22, 2004

OU Denounces Outrageous Comments by Saudi Crown Prince Blaming Israel for Terrorist Murder of Paul Johnson

The Orthodox Union today condemned the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic remarks by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah blaming Israel for the execution in Saudi Arabia of American contractor Paul Johnson by Islamic terrorists.

In a statement, OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb declared:

“Prince Abdullah’s scandalous blaming of Israel for the terrorist murder of Paul Johnson is a shameful attempt to deflect onto Israel blame for the Saudis’ own role in furthering radical Islamic terrorism both in Saudi Arabia and worldwide. Blaming Israel for Saudi failures is unacceptable and is a contradiction to any claim by the Saudis that they are confronting radical Islamic terrorism at its source – meaning, in Saudi Arabia itself.

“We call on Secretary of State Powell, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and all world leaders of good conscience who have recently made resounding denunciations of anti-Semitism in world bodies, to denounce Prince Abdullahs’s scurrilous remarks and to declare to him that Saudi Arabia will never free itself of the terrorism it spawned by falsely blaming Israel.”

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The Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of North America and beyond, is a world leader in community and synagogue services, adult education, youth work through NCSY, political action through the IPA, and advocacy for persons with disabilities through Yachad and Our Way. Its kosher supervision label, the , is the world’s most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 275,000 products manufactured in 68 countries around the globe.

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