Simon Wiesenthal Center Urges Berlin to Oppose Proposed UN Security Council Resolution that Would Force Israel to Pre-1967 ‘Auschwitz Borders’

February 10, 2020

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is urging Germany to declare its opposition to a draft UN Security Council resolution that would demand Israel’s return to its pre-June 1967 borders. The draft of the resolution slated to be presented this week by Tunisia, on behalf of the Palestinians to the UN Security Council, states several times that a two-state solution would be based on what Abba Eban, Israel’s late Foreign Minister and founder of the Peace Now movement dubbed, “Auschwitz borders.” In addition, the resolution labels “Israeli settlements”, “illegal occupied territories”, including “East Jerusalem”.
 
“On the eve of the June 1967 War, Israel’s border was a mere 7 miles between Jordan and the Mediterranean. No Israeli  will ever agree to place the nation’s heartland and key population centers in existential peril,” declared Rabbis Marvin Hier, Dean and Founder and Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish Human Rights NGO.
 
“Further, Israel will never cede sovereignty over its capital, Jerusalem. From 1948 to 1967, Jews were barred from visiting the Western Wall and all synagogues in the Old City were destroyed. The international community did nothing then to safeguard Jewish rights. Since 1967, pilgrims of all faiths have had their religious rights protected by the Jewish State,” Hier and Cooper added.
 
“We urge German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to announce that Germany will oppose any such an initiative and any language that defines Jewish holy sites, including the Western Wall, as ‘occupied Palestinian territory’.
It is high time for Germany, whose Chancellor describes her nation as a friend of the Jewish state, to draw a diplomatic red line against initiatives that would endanger Israel’s future,” Center officials concluded.
 
In December 2019, Germany’s UN Ambassador was listed on the SWC Top Ten Anti-Israel/Anti-Semitic Incidents for casting over two dozen anti-Israel votes at the United Nations.

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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).