​A high-level B’nai B’rith International delegation concluded a visit to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, where top lay leaders and staff challenged the body’s growing exploitation as a political tool against Israel. The group met with new UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and diplomats accredited to the body.

On March 12 and March 13, B’nai B’rith leaders met with some two-dozen ambassadors and other diplomats from countries including Germany, Russia, Japan, Kenya, Greece, Italy and Nigeria. B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin led the delegation.

​“In the fall, the United States withdrew from UNESCO because of its frequent misuse as a weapon against Israel. UNESCO needs to be reformed and its member states must understand that delegitimizing Israel negates UNESCO’s own mission and standing,” Saltzman and Mariaschin said from Paris. “Most notoriously, UNESCO has even voted to whitewash the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall — which are the holiest sites in Judaism.”

​In addition to Saltzman and Mariaschin, B’nai B’rith was represented by: Chairman of the Executive Peter Perlman, Detroit; Senior Vice President Sheila Mostyn, Toronto; Senior Vice President Eric Engelmayer, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; B’nai B’rith main UNESCO representative and Executive Board of Directors member Stéphane Teicher, Paris; B’nai B’rith Executive Board of Directors member Seth Riklin, Houston; B’nai B’rith Executive Board of Directors member Brad Adolph, Chicago; Executive Board of Directors member and B’nai B’rith Young Leadership Network Chair Ed Redensky, Chicago; Chair of the International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy Charles Kaufman, Austin, Texas; B’nai B’rith Canada Senior Honorary Counsel David Matas, Winnipeg, Canada; Board of Governors member Jacques Jacubert, Paris; Board of Governors member and Executive Director of the AEPi Foundation Andy Borans, Indianapolis; Board of Governors member Dan Tartakovski, Mexico City; UNESCO alternate representative Annie Cohen-Ganouna, Paris; UNESCO alternate representative Irene Ores, Paris; Uri Strauss-Aronowitz, Miami; B’nai B’rith Young Leadership Network member Jessica Kreger, Miami; Mindy Stein, New York; Felipe Corbal Vidal, Mexico City; and Director of U.N. and Intercommunal Affairs David Michaels, New York.

Michaels coordinated the meetings in Paris together with U.N. Affairs Program Officer Oren Drori, from New York.