Israel's exclusion from the European region of UNESCO and the withholding of assistance provoked a wave of protest throughout the enlightened world. It was condemned by Israel as an attempt to exploit UNESCO for political purposes and as "unmitigated discrimination against as ancient people whose contribution to culture values has enriched the heritage of all mankind." Following is the text of the Foreign Ministry's spokesman:
Commenting on the resolution on Jerusalem passed on 20 November by the plenum of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris, the Spokesman for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs last night said that it was a purely political move which had nothing whatever to do with genuine concern for Jerusalem and preservation of the holy sites and historic places. The resolution distorts the truth and the principles and aims of UNESCO in order to further the anti-Israel international arena, the spokesman said, adding that it had no moral validity where Israel is concerned.
"The resolution entirely ignores objective reports on the subject of Jerusalem presented to the Director-General of UNESCO in recent years by internationally-recognized experts on preservation of historic sites such as Professor Angelis D'ossat of Italy, Professor LeMaire of Belgium and Dr. Reinik of Holland, the Commissioner-General on behalf of UNESCO under The Hague Convention of 1954 for the preservation of cultural assets in wartime. These reports confirm that the archaeological digs revealed historic discoveries of the greatest importance to Christianity, Islam and Judaism, and that the utmost care was taken to preserve cultural assets in carrying out these digs."
As the Minister for Education and Culture pointed out in his address to the Knesset on 13.11.74, it was the Arabs who desecrated holy places in Jerusalem. With the re-unification of Jerusalem in 1967, the Israelis discovered how extensive was the destruction perpetrated by the Jordanian government to the sites sacred to Judaism in the Old City, and particularly in the Jewish Quarter.
Since it was adopted by the Cultural Committee of the UNESCO conference, the resolution has provoked a wave of protest throughout the enlightened world. Famous writers and scientists, musicians, artists and theatre people from France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, England, the United States, Columbia and Switzerland severely condemned the resolutions calling on UESCO to withhold its aid from Israel and not to integrate Israel in its regional planning, and announced their intention to sever all contacts with UNESCO so long as this injustice is not amended.
This attempt to exploit UNESCO for political purposes and for unmitigated discrimination against an ancient people whose contribution to cultural values has enriched the heritage of all mankind is cause for dismay to all truly cultured people everywhere.