A third anti-Israel resolution has been submitted to UNESCO and observers believe it will be accepted without difficulty. The resolution accuses Israel of obstructing the educational and cultural life of the people in the occupied Arab territories. In proposing the resolution, the Arab and Communist delegates pointed to a UNESCO study on the state of education in the area.
The Israeli delegate, Nathan Bar Yaacov, rejected the charges, citing the remarks of the UNESCO Director General that the Israeli policy of non-intervention had left the cultural and educational structures in the occupied territories intact. Yaacov, in denying all charges, warned against “political intrusions” in what is supposed to be a cultural organization.
In a related development, 31 literary and scientific personalities have announced they will no longer collaborate with UNESCO because of the recent decisions taken against Israel. Among the signatories of the declaration are Jean Paul-Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Rubinstein, Madeline Renaud and Jean Louis Barrault.
In addition, a former Nobel Peace Prize winner has sent a letter of protest to the director of UNESCO protesting against that organization’s’ recent anti-Israel resolutions. Rene Casein, Honorary President of the Advisory Council of Jewish Organizations and former Nobel Prize. winner, expressed his “profound concern over the changing nature of UNESCO’s objectives.” He contended that UNESCO was becoming “the victim of the partisan spirit of those who wish to see it transformed into a machine of political warfare.”
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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.
