SWC to UN Food and Agriculture Organisation: "What is the relationship of 'the pursuit of Judaism' to Food and Agriculture?"

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE - EUROPE
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Wiesenthal Centre to UN Food and Agriculture Organisation: "Is FAO Prepared for the Cost of Palestinian Admission? The United States Obligation to Defundover 20% of the Annual Budget?"

In a letter to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)Director-General, Jose Graziano da Silva, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre'sDirector for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, bluntly asked "the relationship of 'the pursuit ofJudaism' to food and agriculture?"

Samuels (pictured at Seminar) explainedthat he had "just sat through the United Nation’s seminar on 'Assistance to the Palestinian People', which will be indelibly marked by the comment of the Ambassador of Morocco – speakingfor the Arab representatives on the UN Security Council - 'we are here to stop the pursuit of Judaism in Palestine.'”

The letter noted, "This three-day hatefest was hosted by the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Rome - hardly consonantwith its published mandate “to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the worldeconomy.”

Samuels pointed out that "most of the democracies: Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States etc., declined to attend thisone-sided delegitimizing propaganda assault on Israel - a sovereign U.N. member-State.”

The letter stressed, "This litany of offence came from such questionable human rights champions as: Algeria, Afghanistan, Cuba,Namibia, Venezuela etc. Algeria, at one point, baldly endorsed “the disestablishment of Israel as a State”.

Samuels cited "invited 'expert' discussants and pet NGOs which called for:

- boycotts, expulsion of Israel from the OECD and suspension of the
European trade agreement with Israel."

- one agricultural connection was drawn with a campaign call against tax exemption status for the Jewish National Fund, anacknowledged afforestation and anti desertification agency.

- the representative of an NGO federation openly claimed that their role included "the targeting of governments, parliamentarians, UN and treaty bodies, the EU [and] media to impactpublic opinion."

- an Italian History Professor refreshingly explained that, as a teacher, her older students carried guilt in attitudes to Israel (hinting at the Holocaust), but 'young people arewonderfully ignorant, watch TV and ask why are the Zionists so bad? My job is to explain why that is so and shift their views.'"

Samuels emphasised to FAO, "There is a direct repercussion of such language on the intensity of anti-Semitism, particularly inEurope."

He argued, however, that "the incongruousness of such a meeting at your headquarters was perhaps addressed by:

- the Russian representative, who noted the 'symbolism of the meeting, here, where FAO works hard for the State ofPalestine,'

- a Law professor who claimed, 'the real issue is membership of other UN agencies as a full State.'

- an Arab delegate confided that 'the implicit intent of this conference is to follow the UNESCO manoeuvre by admission into FAO atthis April’s Council meeting, to be confirmed at the General Conference in June.'

Samuels suggested that the question relating to "'the pursuit of Judaism' to food and agriculture may no longer be germane,"continuing, "the question is now very different: is FAO prepared for the cost of Palestinian admission, following the UNESCO precedent? The Congressional legislation requiring the UnitedStates to defund FAO of over 20% of its annual budget?"

"Mr. Director-General, we urge you to defend FAO’s vital mandate from the politicization and agitation propaganda we witnessed thisweek on your premises," concluded the Centre.

For further information please contact Shimon Samuels (00)33 609770158, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for newsupdates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families inthe United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament(Parlatino).