Wiesenthal Center Urges President Obama to Announce Veto Ahead Of Any UN Security Council Meeting on The Goldstone Report
WIESENTHAL CENTER URGES PRESIDENT OBAMA TO ANNOUNCE VETO AHEAD OF ANY UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON THE GOLDSTONEREPORT
“Words themselves are not enough—specific action is urgently needed,” said Center official attending the session.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center praised the United Nations General Assembly for holding an informal session on Thursday to address rising violenceagainst Jews worldwide, but cautioned that words were not enough to
stem the tideof anti-Semitism. Mark Weitzman, Director of Government Affairs for the Wiesenthal Center, praised the meeting, saying, “It was a positive and noteworthy session that had a wide range of supportamong the member-states. We especially commend Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, and US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, for their efforts in making the session happen.”
Photo: L-R, Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, SWC Director for Government Affairs, Mark Weitzmanand Israel's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, David Roet
Weitzman attended the session, representing the Wiesenthal Center, an accredited NGO at the UN. “Although it is good that the United Nations finally recognizes that anti-Semitism is a specifichate that needs to be addressed on it's own, and not just subsumed into other forms of prejudice, words themselves are not enough—specific action is urgently needed,” he added. He also praisedthe session’s keynote speaker, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, who told the Assembly that one of the components of today’s anti-Semitism stemmed from an ‘anti-Zionist delirium’ thatopposed the re-establishment of Jews to their historical homeland.
Professor Robert Wistrich of Hebrew University and the author of the joint Wiesenthal Center-UNESCO exhibit, People, Book, Land – The3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People with the Holy Land, joined Irwin Cotler, the former Canadian Justice Minister and current member of the Canadian Parliament participated anafternoon panel. Proffesor Wistrich stressed that 70 years after the Nazi Holocaust, anti-Semitism is not a historical hatred, but a problem fueled by current affairs. Weitzman expressed the hopethat the panel’s “advice and suggestions will translate to positive action,” adding, “It is critical any declarations and points made in this session are followed through quickly and concretely,otherwise this was nothing more than a self-congratulatory propaganda session".
For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updatessent direct to your Twitter feed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400.000 members. It is an NGO atinternational agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament.