Simon Wiesenthal Center: Blaming The Jews For Everything Not Acceptable, Urges UNESCO To Sever All Educational And Cultural Ties With Iran

February 7, 2006

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER:  BLAMING THE JEWS FOR EVERYTHING NOT ACCEPTABLE, URGES UNESCO TO SEVER ALL EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL TIES WITH IRAN

In wake of Iran’s decision to publish cartoons defaming the Holocaust in response to cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that were printed in Danish and European newspapers, Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center wrote to UNESCO Secretary General, Koichiro Matsuura, to encourage him to sever all educational and cultural ties with Iran.  In his letter, Rabbi Hier pointed out that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, believed that this controversy was a “conspiracy planed by the Zionists.”

Hier said, “The mindset of blaming the Jews for whatever happens in the world follows the classic formula of Adolf Hitler, lifted directly from Mein Kampf….  The international community must not tolerate this denial of truth and debasement of history that stands in direct violation of the Charter of the United Nations…. Now is the time for concrete measures.  We call on UNESCO to take the lead in censuring the Iranian regime by suspending academic and cultural contacts as a repudiation of Iran’s genocidal campaign against the Jewish people.”

Hier continued, “The Islamic world is outraged by what they perceive is the international community’s indifference to the cartoons published in Europe depicting Mohammed.  Sadly, they brought this upon themselves.  Many in the world would have sympathized with them were it not for the fanatical violence they display and the fact that the Arab media is the chief purveyor of religious intolerance defaming Jews and Christians on a daily basis.  None … has generated any condemnation or disciplinary action by Arab leaders.”

“Before Adolf Hitler took power,” Hier continued, “when he wrote that he would expunge the Jews from society, the world dismissed it as the rantings of a lunatic.  When he became Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and began implementing his race laws, the world opined that it was only a matter of time before political expediency would moderate him.  By 1945, it was too late.”

“Today, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has taken a page from Hitler’s game plan,” he continued.  He labels the Holocaust a ‘myth,’ calls for Israel’s destruction, and seeks to acquire nuclear weapons.  Now his government is mimicking the famed Nazis’ ‘stabbed in the back’  ‘it’s the fault of the Jews,’ campaign by sponsoring a cartoon competition denigrating the victims of the Holocaust.”

“Never before has Santayana’s words rang truer, ‘Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it,’” he concluded.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS and the Council of Europe.

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, or visit www.wiesenthal.com.