Two major Jewish organizations voiced strong praise today of Sen. Clifford Case (R, NJ) for his role last week in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recommending that the United States terminate its $16 million grant to UNESCO because of the anti-Israel resolutions it adopted almost two weeks ago.
Case introduced the UNESCO amendment to the foreign aid bill which stated: “The offensive resolutions recently adopted by UNESCO must be repealed. None of us can stand by and watch American money and talent being funneled through UNESCO to the PLO.” The Foreign Relations Committee voted to rescind the grant.
In a letter to Case. Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said he was writing to express the gratitude and appreciation of the 32 national Jewish organizations that comprise the Presidents Conference. He stated that UNESCO “by surrendering to Arab political pressure through its votes to exclude Israel from any regional association and to withdraw financial aid to Israel, has abandoned all pretenses to serving its educational, scientific and cultural purposes.”
Continuing, Rabbi Miller wrote: “The recommendation of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is fitting and proper–not only as an expression of our country’s opposition to UNESCO’s politicization–but also as an indication of support for Israel as the target of Arab power politics on the international scene: Your leadership in the Committee’s action on this issue is deeply encouraging to all of us.”
CAMPAIGN TO PRESSURE UNESCO
The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith also applauded Case’s role and urged “widespread vocal support for the Senator’s amendment. Seymour Graubard, ADL national chairman, announced that his organization is organizing a campaign to bring together all the creative people–scientists, writers. composers and artists–who contribute their talents to UNESCO “in an effort to compel the agency to withdraw the resolutions as the price of their continued participation.”
Graubard termed the UNESCO votes “a vindictive ploy on the part of the Arab bloc and its allies which perverts the cultural purposes” of the UN agency. He said that these “political votes of vengeance” against Israel have tainted the image and effectiveness of UNESCO, and if they are allowed to stand unchallenged “they can and will be duplicated in other areas of international non-political governmental life.”
Immediately after the UNESCO votes, leading Jewish and non-Jewish intellectuals, scientists, artists and writers in the United States, France. West Germany. Britain and Argentina signed petitions and sent statements to UNESCO declaring that they will not participate in the activities of that body until the resolutions are rescinded.
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.
