by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
UNESCO has halted its funding of a magazine promoting Hitler as a role model for the PA. It expressed “shock” over the incitement – but only after it was exposed by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) and Arutz Sheva and after the Simon Wiesenthal Center complained.
Zayzafuna, a magazine which ostensibly promotes democracy and tolerance, published an article by a ten-year-old Palestinian girl who said that in her dreams, Hitler told her, “Yes. I killed them [the Jews] so you would all know that they are a nation who spreads destruction all over the world.”
"UNESCO is shocked and dismayed by the content of the February issue, and has requested more detailed information and clarification from the editors of the magazine and the Palestinian Authority,” the United Nations agency said. “UNESCO deplores and condemns the reproduction of such inflammatory statements in a magazine associated with UNESCO's name and mission and will not provide any further support to the publication in question."
The magazine is run by a body that is sponsored by a Palestinian Authority agency. The chairman of the PA is Mahmoud Abbas, whose doctorate thesis was on Holocaust denial.
The article on Hitler was published last February and stated that Hitler killed Jews “so you would all know that they are a nation who wreak havoc on Earth”.
UNESCO said that while it “upholds freedom of expression as an integral part of its mandate, the inclusion in this publication of a statement that may be interpreted as an apology of the Holocaust is contrary to UNESCO’s constitutional mandate and values. It is totally unacceptable.”
UNESCO supported the publication of three issues of the Zayzafuna Magazine six months after the February 2011 issue following an agreement with the editorial board that “they would focus on building greater appreciation amongst Palestinians for their heritage and culture,” UNESCO added.
Giulio Meotti noted in Arutz Sheva last week, “When the United Nations celebrated its 50th anniversary, UNESCO refused to mention the Shoah - the Holocaust - in its World War II resolution, intentionally ignoring Israel’s request to include a reference to the destruction of European Jewry.”
He added that the article in Zayzafouna “is not just another example of Palestinian incitement to hatred…. When the Palestinian National Authority came into being in 1993, it pledged to junk its controversial textbooks, some of which date as far back as the ‘40s, and replace them with updated versions, purged of the anti-Jew racism and incitement that permeate the texts imported from Arab countries, many of which are reportedly still in use in Jordan.
“In 1994, Palestinian officials launched a textbook-replacement program, with the financing and help of UNESCO. The problem is that the Palestinian textbooks were not amended so as to be rid of the anti-Jewish remarks.
“’Palestine’ is shown to encompass all the Jewish State, the Jewish holy sites (such as the Temple Mount) have been erased, and Arab ‘martyrdom’ is praised. In these texts, Jews are described as ‘cunning,’ ‘locusts’ and ‘wild animals.’
“UNESCO, in 2003, financed the renovation of the Alexandria library, where a copy of the anti-Semitic booklet “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” was soon prominently displayed.”
Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151047#.Tvdsd1ZvIi5
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