SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE-EUROPE
Tel.: +33(0)1 47 23 76 37
Fax: +33(0)1 47 20 84 01
Email:csweurope@gmail.com
"Should this perverse exercise proceed, the condition of Jews across Europe will be clear - abandonment by their own governments...it could be seen as a step towards a new "Kristallnacht - a surrender and endorsement of the most extreme elements of left, right and Jihadist"
Istanbul, 14 July 2016
In letters to French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May, Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels called on all three to, "Press Brussels immediately to halt a European Union draft resolution about to be submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting here in Istanbul."
The resolution serves as an alternative to a Palestinian draft in denying the tie between the Jewish People and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem - Judaism's holiest site.
France had publicly regretted its support for a similar resolution passed last April at the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris, while Germany and the United Kingdom had voted against.
Samuels warned, "Should this perverse exercise proceed, the condition of Jews across Europe will be clear - abandonment by their own governments."
The letters stressed, "Such a resolution could be seen as a step towards a new 'Kristallnacht' (the 1938 Nazi pogrom denoted 'the Night of Broken Glass') - a surrender and endorsement of the most extreme elements of left, right and Jihadist."
The Centre urged the three leaders to order their delegates at the World Heritage Committee to vigourously combat this unthinkable scenario for, thereafter, will come "the deluge" - a catastrophe for all of Europe.
For further information call Shimon Samuels on 0033609770158, 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 in the 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).