AT THE AMERICAS SUMMIT, SWC COMMENDS ARGENTINA FOR CIRCULATING PROPOSED REPUDIATION OF IRAN’S GENOCIDAL THREAT

Mar de Plata -- Argentina is circulating a statement to all 34 members of the Organization of American States repudiating the genocidal statements against Israel by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Simon Wiesenthal Center reported today. Argentine Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa confirmed this move today with Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Wiesenthal Center’s Director for International Liaison, as the OAS’ Fourth Summit of the Americas convenes in Mar de Plata, Argentina.

"We hope that the OAS will adopt a strong stance against the tyrannical Tehran regime," said Dr. Samuels, who is representing the Center at the Summit. "This and other protests are critically important to send a message to Iran that it cannot be business as usual for those who threaten to wipe out an entire people." Dr. Samuels has also met with delegates from Chile, Mexico, Panama, and Paraguay to seek a consensus in support of the OAS resolution.

The Argentine initiative comes on the heels of a call by the Wiesenthal Center to Argentine President Nestor Kirchner to take the lead to condemn Iran at the Summit. "The AMIA bombing eleven years ago gave Argentines firsthand experience of the murderous capacity of the pro-terrorist regime in Tehran," said the Center’s Latin American Representative Sergio Widder, who is also part of the Center’s delegation to the Summit.

In a related development, the Wiesenthal Center has launched an online petition campaign through their website (www.wiesenthal.com) to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on the eve of his trip to Tehran. The campaign has generated close to 20,000 signatures in its first day.

"The Simon Wiesenthal Center commends the growing international pressure on the Tehran regime to cancel its war against the Jewish people," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Center. "We are urging the UN bodies, including the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Commission to take action as President Ahmadinejad’s genocidal threat is clear violation of the UN’s founding principles."

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

For further information contact Shimon Samuels on + 54 9 11 6141-6808 (within Argentina 011 15 6141-6808).

El Centro Wiesenthal felicita la iniciativa argentina a favor de una condena hemisférica contra la proclama genocida del presidente iraní

El Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto de la República Argentina, Rafael Bielsa, confirmó hoy al Director de Relaciones Internacionales del Centro Simon Wiesenthal, Shimon Samuels, que su país ha hecho circular entre los 34 países miembros de la OEA una propuesta de declaración que repudia el llamamiento del presidente iraní a favor de la destrucción del Estado de Israel. La iniciativa argentina fue el resultado de una solicitud formulada por el Centro Wiesenthal al Presidente Néstor Kirchner el 28 de octubre último, para que en su carácter de anfitrión de la IV Cumbre de las Américas promoviera un pronunciamiento panamericano de condena contra Irán. Durante la Cumbre, el Centro urgió a delegados de Chile, México, Panamá y Paraguay a que contribuyeran a obtener el consenso hemisférico en a una resolución de la OEA a partir de la iniciativa argentina.

Para mayor información, contactar a Shimon Samuels al 011 15 6141-6808