World Jewish Congress rejects UNESCO vote on Jerusalem as ‘distorted and illegitimate revision of history’

NEW YORK – World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder on Tuesday condemned the UNESCO Executive Board’s decision to vote in favor of a decision rejecting Israeli sovereignty and jurisdiction over Jerusalem as a “distorted, dangerous, and illegitimate revision of history,” and thanked the 10 member states that opposed the decision for “speaking up for truth and justice”.

“The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has once again undermined its own legitimacy by approving a ludicrous decision that denies the State of Israel’s sovereignty over its legal capital in Jerusalem,” Lauder said.

“This cynical move must be recognized for what it is: a distorted, dangerous and illegitimate revision of history, which serves only as bait for adversaries of Israel seeking to strip the Jewish people’s right to self-determination and deny its historic and religious link to Jerusalem. I urge the international community to condemn this decision in the harshest manner possible, and do everything in its power to rectify this error.”

“On behalf of the more than 100 Jewish communities worldwide represented by the World Jewish Congress, I thank the 10 states that opposed this decision for speaking up for truth and justice. Their refusal to agree to the outrageous charges leveled by the UNESCO Executive Board is a small but significant moral achievement for Israel and all purveyors of democracy within the international community.”

Twenty-two states voted in favor of the decision, which refers to Israel as an occupying power and declares all its legislative and administrative measures in Jerusalem “null and void.” In a marked change from the near unanimous approval seen in similar UNESCO votes on Jerusalem, 23 member states abstained and 10 - the US, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Greece, Paraguay, Ukraine, Togo and Germany – opposed.