The 39th International PEN Congress of the world’s foremost literary association wound up in Jerusalem with a resolution calling on members to exercise their influence on their national representatives to reverse the UNESCO resolution against Israel.
“The International PEN Executive regards the UNESCO decision to discriminate against Israel…as an offense to the very cause of culture.” the resolution declared. “Israel’s contribution to the scientific and cultural development of the Mideast, since the birth of the State to this day, is an indisputable fact and has been recognized by the world at large….”
Another resolution called on Arab and Jewish writers in the region to influence the statesmen of their countries to extricate their peoples and their governments from the prolonged and frustrating conflict…” It added a call to PEN to initiate meetings and conferences of Israeli and Arab writers “for the sake of direct talks on the problems of the region….”
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