Haaretz, Israel
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent
The World Jewish Congress on Monday launched a new global campaign on to convince world leaders to boycott Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's address to the United Nations General Assembly next week.
Ahmadinejad is set to speak at the General Assembly on September 23, at a special session to be opened by United States President Barack Obama.
In a petition published Monday, WJC President Ronald Lauder urged the leaders of the UN's member states to "to show that the values and goals of the UN Charter will be upheld at this year's General Assembly meeting.
"We ask UN leaders to send a strong message to Ahmedinejad, who regularly uses these forums to spread invective, threats and unspeakable accusations," he said, adding that "member states have an obligation to show that the UN cannot be hijacked for the purposes of spreading the kind of racist diatribe and bigoted views which the organization was founded to combat and overcome.'
