Wiesenthal Centre Calls for Immediate Agence France-Presse Investigation into the Deletion of Israel from Social Media Map of Middle East

Paris, 7 June 2017

In a letter to Agence France-Presse (AFP) Chairman and CEO, Emmanuel Hoog, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed horror atan AFP map of the Middle East deleting Israel on its Twitter and Facebook page.

Samuels stated, "Our members are horrified at the AFP map of the Middle East appearing on your Twitter and Facebook pages (pictured)."

He continued, "When Iran first wiped the State of Israel off the map, this was defined by many as 'genocidal intent'."

The Centre called for an "AFP investigation, condemnation and immediate dismissal of the perpetrator."

"Inaction on this issue will be construed as an AFP endorsement of Iranian declared policy to exterminate the Jewish State and an encouragement to it followers," concludedSamuels.

For further information please contact Shimon Samuels (00) 33-608-994-816, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

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).