13 October 2023

At the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wiesenthal Centre’s Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, saw “Palestine” accomplish its annual heritage grab, this time getting Jericho. “This comes after years of misappropriating a list of Jewish and Christian sites... and paves the way for their next demand over the Qumran Caves and the Dead Sea Scrolls...”

Soon afterwards, the UN-Geneva “human rights” Council rehashed the narrative of the “Duban” WCAR, that had been held just before 9/11. At the time, Rabbi Cooper, the Centre’s Director for Global Social Action, and Dr Samuels had participated, horrified at the antisemitic turn of events... Only three months later, the latter discovered “an 8-point plan to delegitimize and destroy Israel by influencing diplomacy, the media and civil society”... At the UN, as representative of an international NGO with ECOSOC status, Samuels was given only 90 seconds to speak out...

He participated at a conference in Copenhagen rendering homage to the fishermen who, in 1943, in two nights managed to evacuate 7000 Danish Jews across the water to Sweden, safely beyond the reach of Nazi Gestapo. The 500 Jews that stayed behind were deported to Theresienstadt.

As Hamas unleashed a terrorist war on Israel and its people, Samuels oversaw from Copenhagen the participation of Wiesenthal Centre volunteers and sympathizers in pro-Israel marches in Paris, Strasbourg and Geneva. “We thank our good friends for standing with the people of Israel!”

Samuels delivering his speech for the UNHRC / Wiesenthal Centre at the Paris “Solidarity with Israel” rally.

From Paris, Samuels returned to Israel via El-Al, the only airline now flying to Tel Aviv. Indeed, his flight carried predominantly military reservists, making their way to defend their homes. Back in Israel, Samuels is presently at his daughter’s Upper Galilee kibbutz. “From there, we will soon know if Hezbollah will start waging war from the north.”

AM YISRAEL HAI - May the People of Israel Survive

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