WIESENTHAL CENTER: MAYOR LIVINGSTONE’S COMPARISON OF TERROR SHEIK TO POPE JOHN XXIII: "A MOCKERY TO EVERY VICTIM OF 7/7"

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today blasted London Mayor Ken Livingstone for comments made comparing Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based cleric who has advocated suicide bombing as a holy act, to the late Pope John XXIII, the pontiff who led the Catholic Church in the years after WWII.

"As Prime Minister Tony Blair tries to rally the world to take a united stand, Ken Livingstone subverts him as he once again validates an extremist who provides theological validation for suicide bombing and who publicly stands against such Muslim moderates as Jordan’s King Abdullah, who was rebuked by Qaradawi for trying to rally Muslims against acts of terror" said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Founder and Dean and Associate Dean of the Wiesenthal Center.

"By grovelingly comparing the Terror Sheik to the late, saintly Pope John XXIII, Livingstone mocks the victims of 7/7 and further emboldens Islamist extremism and terror," they concluded.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe.

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, or visit www.wiesenthal.com.