B’nai B’rith International condemns the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Executive Board for its brazen vote to reject Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem, the historic and present capital of Israel.
The vote is particularly odious, coming on Israel’s Independence Day.
B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin said: “This vote reflects the bias within the U.N. system itself. If there is to be any move toward resolving the conflict in the region, change needs to begin immediately in the international community, as reflected in these votes.”
In advance of the vote, B’nai B’rith sent letters to member states urging them to reject the measure.
The UNESCO Executive Board adopted the resolution with 22 countries voting in favor, 23 abstaining and 10 opposing the measure.
Saltzman and Mariaschin added: “The large number of abstentions and a steadily growing—though limited—number of nations willing to reject an absurd motion attempting to erase Israel’s millennia connection to Jerusalem demonstrates a moral line in the sand.”
B’nai B’rith commends the 10 nations that recognized the bias of this measure and voted to reject it: the United States, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Ukraine, Togo and the United Kingdom. The vote by Sweden in favor of the measure stands out among European nations for its disdain of the facts that link Israel and Jews to the city.
This cynical vote is indicative of the continuing politicization at UNESCO bodies, which threatens to doom the organization to irrelevance in matters relating to history and culture, the core of UNESCO’s mission.
B’nai B’rith, which has an office of U.N. Affairs at the world body’s global headquarters in New York, and representation at UNESCO in Paris and the Human Rights Council in Geneva, has long called-out anti-Israel bias.
The vote is particularly odious, coming on Israel’s Independence Day.
B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin said: “This vote reflects the bias within the U.N. system itself. If there is to be any move toward resolving the conflict in the region, change needs to begin immediately in the international community, as reflected in these votes.”
In advance of the vote, B’nai B’rith sent letters to member states urging them to reject the measure.
The UNESCO Executive Board adopted the resolution with 22 countries voting in favor, 23 abstaining and 10 opposing the measure.
Saltzman and Mariaschin added: “The large number of abstentions and a steadily growing—though limited—number of nations willing to reject an absurd motion attempting to erase Israel’s millennia connection to Jerusalem demonstrates a moral line in the sand.”
B’nai B’rith commends the 10 nations that recognized the bias of this measure and voted to reject it: the United States, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Ukraine, Togo and the United Kingdom. The vote by Sweden in favor of the measure stands out among European nations for its disdain of the facts that link Israel and Jews to the city.
This cynical vote is indicative of the continuing politicization at UNESCO bodies, which threatens to doom the organization to irrelevance in matters relating to history and culture, the core of UNESCO’s mission.
B’nai B’rith, which has an office of U.N. Affairs at the world body’s global headquarters in New York, and representation at UNESCO in Paris and the Human Rights Council in Geneva, has long called-out anti-Israel bias.
