WIESENTHAL CENTER PRESENTS 2005 TOLERANCE AWARD TO JORDANIAN KING FOR "STANDING ON THE SIDE OF HUMAN DIGNITY AND MUTUAL RESPECT"

A delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center met today with His Majesty King Abdullah II at the Royal Palace in Amman, Jordan, to present him with the Center’s 2005 Tolerance Award.

Center founder and dean, Rabbi Marvin Hier, presented the Award to the King for his "Courage and leadership in standing on the side of human dignity and mutual respect between people of all faiths and creeds and in opposition to the forces of evil, the disciples of terrorism and suicide attacks, fanaticism and antisemitism, who are the enemies of mankind and who wish to return human civilization to the dark ages."

Additionally, Hier praised King Abdullah for acting as a force for moderation at such a critical time in history. "You have taken to heart the painful legacy that the 20th Century with her wars, her genocides, and the Holocaust, and have imparted to us that nothing enduring was ever created by hate; no future made brighter by tyranny, and no faith ever strengthened by fanaticism," he said.

King Abdullah is the second Muslim leader to receive this honor from the Wiesenthal Center. The first was his late father, King Hussein, who was given the Award in 1995 when he visited the Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

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

Visuals available. For more information and/or to schedule an interview, contact the Center’s Public Relations department, 310-553-9036.