New York, NY, November 26, 2014 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said an Instagram post by Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush equating the situation in Ferguson with the Palestinian people, “demonstrates a severe lack of understanding of both issues.”

Bush posted a photo on his account yesterday of a man holding up a sign which read, “The Palestinian people know what mean to be shot while unarmed because of your ethnicity #Ferguson #Justice.” Bush’s comments, which were published along with the photo, included, “No matter who you are, what color skin you have, where you live, we are all in this together! This isn’t a Ferguson problem it’s a global problem. We need change NOW! What happened to humanity? #JusticeForMikeBrown.”

“Racially motivated violence is never acceptable,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is not based on race, it is a political dispute based on claims to land, and by conflating the death of Michael Brown with the conflict in the Middle East, Reggie Bush demonstrates a severe lack of understanding of both issues. He should stick to football.”

ADL has recent documented a number of groups and individuals who have tried to equate the events in Ferguson with the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.  Follow us on Twitter: @ADL_NY