New York, NY . . . Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations today called on members of UNESCO’s Executive Board to vote against the latest blatantly anti-Israel resolution presented on behalf of the Palestinians by a group of Muslim countries that includes Egypt and Morocco, that is another affront to Jewish and Christian history and traditions.
Stephen M. Greenberg, Chairman and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, said, “The central theme of the Jerusalem resolution to be voted on tomorrow by UNESCO’s Executive Board is the denial of Israeli sovereignty over any portion of its capital, Jerusalem. Such a resolution by a United Nations body targeting any country in the world other than Israel would never see the light of day. Yet, a majority of the countries on the Executive Board of UNESCO appear ready to vote for this resolution. It is up to responsible members of the Executive Board to join with the U.S. in defeating the outrageous resolution.
We are heartened by reports that Italy has said it will oppose the resolution. We hope the other ten EU members including France, Germany, Greece and the UK, will also reject this misuse of UNESCO’s mandate by voting “no.” Indeed, any country that would not accept a UNESCO resolution rejecting the right to sovereignty of its own capital should vote against the resolution.
We are in touch with ambassadors from many of the countries on the Executive Board to urge a rejection of this measure which represents a further attempt to politicize UNESCO and to interfere in a sensitive and complex matter. UNESCO’s actions regarding Jerusalem and other holy sites are an affront to all who want to see meaningful peace negotiations and continue to deny thousands of years of Jewish and Christian history and tradition.”
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