News Releases 2024
Report by Dr Shimon Samuels
New Delhi (WHC 46th session), 5 August 2024
UNESCO member-States wait for years for their national cultural treasures to receive World Heritage Status.
Yet, one exception is represented by “Palestine”, that uses the “fast-track” procedure, claiming a “state of danger” to appropriate Jewish and Christian heritage sites and build their own historical narrative from scratch.
by Dr Shimon Samuels, Emeritus Director for International Relations of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre
New Delhi (India), 31 July 2024
Mr. President,
I write to you with reference to an issue that I raised with the Iraqi delegation at the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) taking place in New Delhi, regarding the safeguarding of the ancient Tomb of the Biblical Prophet Ezekiel.
As former spokesperson of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, knowing the value of cultural heritage in a multiconfessional nation such as Iraq, and the importance of history in what was Babylon, the cradle of civilizations, I believe you will understand our issue.
FONDATION DU CAMP DES MILLES – MÉMOIRE ET ÉDUCATION
Le 27 juin 2024
AUJOURD’HUI, L’HISTOIRE ALERTE LE PRÉSENT
Manifeste du Réseau international « Institutions mémorielles et éducation à la citoyenneté »
Le réseau international « Institutions mémorielles et éducation à la citoyenneté » a été créé au Site-mémorial du Camp des Milles après les attentats de 2015 en France, dans le cadre de la Chaire Unesco « Éducation à la citoyenneté, Sciences de l’Homme et convergence des mémoires », afin de réfléchir aux voies et moyens permettant à ces institutions d’apporter aux citoyens des analyses fondées sur le recul de l’histoire et des sciences de l’homme face à un présent complexe, évolutif et dangereux pour la démocratie, marqué par la montée des extrémismes, des terrorismes, de l’antisémitisme, des racismes et de la xénophobie mais aussi par des résistances plurielles aux engrenages mortifères qu’ils déclenchent ou nourrissent.
Paris, 3 June 2024
Dr Shimon Samuels, Emeritus Director for International Relations of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, has sent congratulations to Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman in history to become President of Mexico.
He noted: “Our connection is the Colegio de Mexico, where I was a three-year scholar for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the mid-‘70s, while you researched ‘Advanced Sustainable Development’ there more recently.
“Of my three daughters, one is herself a scientist, the second – born in Mexico – is now in hi-tech, while the third lives in a kibbutz.
From Dr Shimon Samuels, Emeritus Director for International Relations, Simon Wiesenthal Centre
Paris, 24 May 2024
Mr. Prime Minister,
It is shocking to learn that Spain has unilaterally decided to recognize the “State of Palestine”.
It is shocking, because this political move is celebrated by Hamas, in their own words: “We consider this an important step towards affirming our right to our land.” Well, we all know what the terrorists want to be “their land” – the infamous “from the river to the sea.”