Dr. Isaac Lewin, representative at the United Nations of the Agudath Israel as a non-governmental organization, received from Secretary General Kurt Waldheim yesterday the United Nations Medal of Peace in recognition of his many years of work for a UN declaration calling for elimination of all forms of discrimination and intolerance based on religious belief.
The declaration was approved unanimously by the General Assembly November 25. Waldheim presented a similar medal two weeks ago to Ismat Kittani of Iraq, the current President of the Assembly.
Lewin told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the medal was presented on an ad hoc basis whenever the Secretary General determined an individual connected with the UN had earned such recognition.
As a member of the Human Rights Commission, Lewin said he had started his efforts to obtain such a UN declaration in 1952. That commission adopted his resolution last March 10, with subsequent approval by the Economic and Social Council and by the UN Third Committee before the Assembly approved it, thus making it a UN international declaration.
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.
