| CENTRE SIMON WIESENTHAL - EUROPE
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OSCE Urged To Ban Organizations that Preach Jew-Hatred and Jihad from CordobaConference on Antisemitism The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has learned that the "Union of Islamic Organizations of France" (UOIF) is toparticipate in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Conference on "Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Intolerance", to be held in Cordoba on 8 and 9 June2005. In letters to the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, and the Foreign Ministers of Spain and France, the Centre'sDirector for International Liaison, Dr Shimon Samuels, urged that "the OSCE ban the UOIF and ensure that a careful scrutiny exclude any organization that preaches hatred andviolence." Samuels called the UOIF "the very antithesis of the anti-racist Non-Governmental Organization profile forattendance at this conference." The letter noted that "through its website, the UOIF endorses Jihad, insurgent violence in Iraq and Jew-hatredgenerally", adding that "at its annual rally, the last held in Le Bourget in March 2005, the UOIF encouraged fundraising for programmes related to HAMAS, an organizationproscribed by the terrorist black lists of the European Union and the United States". The Centre's report of October 2004, entitled "The True Face of UOIF: Antisemitism, Advocacy and Financing ofTerrorism and the Call to Jihad", was attached to the letters. Samuels added: "The UOIF's official mentor is Sheikh Qaradawi, notorious for his praise for suicide missions,especially by women. Indeed, in view of these radical positions, the UOIF is no longer a member of the CFCM umbrella body for Islamic organizations in France." The Centre urged Dimitrij Rupel, OSCE Chairman-in-Office and current Foreign Minister of Slovenia, "to ban theUOIF and ensure that a careful scrutiny exclude any organization that preaches hatred and violence." In related letters, the Centre called on Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, "as the host country, to denyentry of such organizations to the Cordoba conference, and to the preliminary NGO seminar to be held by the Tres Culturas Foundation in Sevilla on 7 June". French Foreign Minister, Michel Barnier, was asked "toensure that France will be represented by NGO's active in containing antisemitism and xenophobia and, thereby, to advise the OSCE to exclude from its meetings the UOIF, itsmembers, and related organizations." Samuels concluded, "the Cordoba conference was to have carried forward the valuable recommendations of the OSCEBerlin Conference on Antisemitism of April 2004. To draw the lessons of antisemitism as a paradigm for other forms of intolerance is justifiable. To open the Cordoba conference toagents of antisemitism would be a travesty." For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33 6 09 77 0158. |