On Monday, in Paris, ‘Palestine’ was voted in as a member of UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) – the first UN agency to bestow full membership upon the not-yet defined ‘Palestine’.

As a result of the vote, the United States, as required by law passed during the Clinton Administration, will cut off some $70 million in funding to UNESCO, or more than 20% of its annual budget.

Tens of thousands of concerned Simon Wiesenthal Center supporters have already joined the protest to UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova. If you have not signed the petition, we urge you to do so immediately and to forward to your family and friends.

As a full member of UNESCO, we expect the Palestinian leadership to step up their campaign to erase the history of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel by seeking to have historic and religious sites held sacred by Jews, as well as Christians, and Muslims, to be declared by UNESCO as wholly Palestinian Heritage sites. Last year, UNESCO adopted proposals by Arab states classifying Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem as a mosque and stating that the Cave of the Patriarchs was “an integral part of the occupied Palestinian Territories”.

Clearly, UNESCO’s admittance of ‘Palestine’ is also a serious blow to the United States and others who have urged face-to-face negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Please join the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s campaign today! Make your voice heard and help make a difference.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)