Santiago de Chile,
"People, Book, Land: The 3500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People with the Holy Land" is co-sponsored with UNESCO. After its launch in Paris, it went on to UN Headquarters in New York, US Congress, the Israeli Knesset, the Vatican, Copenhagen Town Hall, the New Delhi Gandhi Center, the British Parliament and the CCK Presidential Cultural Center in Buenos Aires.
It was opened this week in the Mapocho Station Cultural Center in Santiago, Chile, by its Director, Alvaro Navarro, Israeli Ambassador Eldad Hayet and the Wiesenthal Center´s Latin American Representative, Dr. Ariel Gelblung, within the framework of “Jerusalem Week in Santiago”.
This celebration takes place in a rarefied atmosphere due to an aggressive pro-Palestinian activism fueled by the Chilean Palestinian Federation, aligned with Hamas and a university students´ movement.
The Palestinian community in Chile is the largest outside the Arab World (more than 300,000) The Jewish community numbers no more than 15,000.
Dr. Shimon Samuels, Simon Wiesenthal Center Director for International Relation added the hope that “the exhibition opened in Santiago will counteract the current Palestinian campaign of identity theft of Jewish and Christian heritage due to be launched next month at the World Heritage Committee in Crakow,Poland ...we especially need the votes for of Latin America in the battle for historical integrity...Without acknowledgment and respect for Jewish and Christian heritage “in the Holy Land there is no chance for peace”
Dr. Gelblung, SWC Latin American Representative; Israeli Ambassador Eldad Hayet; Mr. Alvaro Navarro, Mapocho Station CC Director. The Wiesenthal Center attended the inauguration of Jerusalem Square in Santiago, together with the Israeli Ambassador, Santiago's Mayor, Congressmen and local Jewish representatives.
L-R Dr. Gelblung SWC Latin American Representative, Pablo Squella, Chilean Sports Minister who presented them the Center´s program against Racism in Sport. Finally, the Center´s Representative visited the Human Rights and Memory Museum, concerning the last 17 years of General Pinochet dictatorship and its consequences. There he addressed to Human Rights Groups stating that:“Nobody is born intolerant. As bigotry is learnt, education on human rights is a must.”
Dr. Gelblung at Human Rights and Memory Museum. For further information, please contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at +336 09770158 or Dr.Ariel Gelblung at +54 9 11 49695365. The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization numbering over 400.000 members. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO)