Thirteen prominent intellectuals have denounced UNESCO’s anti-Israel resolutions as “a callous insult to a community whose intellectual and cultural achievements are as little to be questioned as those of my country sponsoring the resolutions.” They said they would boycott the UN body until it reversed its anti-Israel attitude.
The intended boycott was announced yesterday in a letter published in The Times. It was sign by Julian Huxley, the first director general of UNESCO; Ernst Hans Gombrich, the world famous art historian; Lord Goodman, chairman of the Newspaper Publishers Association and former chairman of the Arts Council; Graham Greene, novelist; Stuart Hampshire, literary critic; Dan Jacobson, the South African novelist; Arnaldo Momigliano, professor of ancient history at the University of London; Henry More, sculptor; Iris Murdoch novelist and philosopher; K.R. Popper, professor of literature; V.S. Pritchett, author and literary critic Stephen Spender, poet; and Sir Mortimer Wheeler, a world renowned archaeologist.
CALLOUS INSULT TO ISRAEL
Their letter stated: “The ‘technical’ nature of UNESCO’s resolutions should not obscure their political Intention, nor the implacable hostility to the State and people of Israel which animates them. They are not only a callous insult to a community whose intellectual and cultural achievements are as little to be questioned as those of any country sponsoring the resolutions; they also amount to a rejection of that community’s elementary rights which is disturbing in its wider implications.”
The signatories added: “We wish strongly to associate ourselves with the protests of our French colleagues and to make known our intention of declining, until these decisions-are reversed, to participate in UNESCO’s programmes.”
In a separate letter published in The Times, Yehudi Menuhin charged that UNESCO “has reached the nadir of absurdity in the censure of a whole people on a contrived and transparently technical, charge.” He was referring to UNESCO’s, complaint over Israeli archaeological digs in East Jerusalem.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
