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SWC to British Institute of Directors: "Geographical Revisionism in Report on Saudi Arabia Implicitly Endorses Arab Boycott"

In a letter to Christopher Beale, Chairman of the Institute of Directors (IOD), Dr Shimon Samuels, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Liaison, protested the "geographical revisionism" in the "Special Report on Saudi Arabia, published in March 2005 in association with the Institute of Directors".

The letter noted, "In two regional maps appearing on page 14 of the Report, one state only is presented in total anonymity... Highlighting Saudi Arabia as 'The Heart of the Arab World', these maps name such non-Arab countries as Cyprus, Turkey, Iran, Ethiopia. Nevertheless, the State of Israel appears in one as a barren sovereignless territory and, in the other, as Jerusalem."

Samuels continued, "Our Centre has always had the greatest respect for the Institute of Directors (IOD). Indeed, I have lectured at functions on your premises and our constituency includes several of your members... Hence our astonishment at finding your logo on the cover of this report."

The Centre stressed "While we are well aware that Saudi policy promotes the Arab boycott against Israel, we are shocked that the IOD would accede to this policy and, thereby, implicitly endorse it," adding, "Not only does this boycott violate British, European and World Trade Organization provisions on freedom of commerce, your Report encourages the forces of rejection, which, despite current hopes for a renewed peace process, aim to truly delete Israeli sovereignty from the map of the Middle East."

The Centre urged the IOD "to issue a public explanation of this geographical revisionism and to announce the replacement of this Report with a corrected and unbiased edition".

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33 6 09 77 01 58.