WIESENTHAL CENTER PRAISES SENIOR POLISH MEP FOR CANCELING DELEGATION’S PARTICIPATION IN ANTI-ISRAEL CONFERENCE

Center says other European Parliamentarians should “refuse to be part of this one-sided travesty that serves the forces of hate, not peace.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today praised Bronislaw Geremek, President Emeritus of the Polish Parliament and a current member of the European Parliament, for pulling the Polish delegation from the United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace to be held next week at the Parliament headquarters in Brussels. Despite its title, the Conference has no representation from Israel or Jewish NGOs.

In a letter to Gorembek, Dr. Shimon Samuels, Director for International Relations for the Wiesenthal Center, praised the Polish delegation’s decision saying the conference organizers only seek the European Parliament’s endorsement for what he says is “a campaign of vilification and the ultimate elimination of the State of Israel.”

“The hatemongers and antisemites behind this conference deserve the total contempt of the European community,” said Samuels. He urged Mr. Garembek and his Polish colleagues to help convince other members of the 28-state body to join the boycott.

“Other European Parliamentarians should follow the lead of the Polish delegation and refuse to be a part of this one-sided travesty that serves the forces of hate, not peace,” concluded Samuels.

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, and the Council of Europe.
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