Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization applauded remarks delivered by President George W. Bush at Whitehall Palace in London.

In the course of articulating what the President described as the “three pillars” of a “forward strategy for freedom” in the world, Mr. Bush called upon European leaders to renounce anti-Semitism and repudiate Palestinian political leaders who support and promote terrorism. The President stated:

Leaders in Europe should withdraw all favor and support from any Palestinian ruler who fails his people and betrays their cause. And Europe’s leaders…should strongly oppose anti-Semitism, which poisons public debates over the future of the Middle East.

UOJCA Executive Vice President, Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, stated that the Orthodox Jewish community “deeply appreciates President Bush’s continued commitment to opposing terror around the globe, especially in the Middle East, and his consistent condemnations of anti-Semitism. We especially appreciate the President’s call to Europe’s leaders to repudiate what has now been termed ‘the new anti-Semitism’ in which opposition and hatred for the State of Israel is mixed with classical racial and religious hatreds that gave rise to the European Holocaust of the last century. We pray that European leaders will heed President Bush’s call.