News Releases 2011
Paris, 21 December 2011
In a letter to UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed astonishment to discover that "a UNESCO-sponsored and Palestinian Authority (PA)-funded children's monthly magazine expresses reverence for Hitler 'because he murdered the Jews'".
According to the respected Palestine Media Watch (PMW),the educational magazine, ZAYAFUNA, ostensibly "promotes family values, encourages children to read and to participate in building a modern democratic society ...when it comes to portraying Israel and Jews, Zayafuna changes its tone and includes items glorifying Jihad..."
Paris, 28 November 2011
In a letter to German Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Minister of State Bernd Neumann, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed concern in regard to the Schloss Neuhardenberg Foundation, "a magnificent mansion property purchased by the Association of German Savings Banks as, according to its website, 'an ideal location for international gatherings that deal with artistic, political and scientific questions and problems of our time'".
The Centre had learned that Neumann shared membership of the Foundation's Board of Trustees with the Acting Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, Mostafa Dolatyar.
Read more: Wiesenthal Centre to German Minister of State:...
"Film's misuse of resources and misrepresentation violate UN Standards of Conduct."
Paris, 28 November 2011
In a letter to United Nations Development Programme Administrator, former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels pointed to "a case of apparent misuse of UNDP resources and misrepresentation under the UNDP Legal Framework for Addressing on-Compliance with UN Standards of Conduct."
Read more: Wiesenthal Centre to UNDP Administrator: "Launch...
Wiesenthal Centre Urges All German Party Officials: "Boycott Iran Sanctions-Busting Fair in Berlin."
Paris, 4 November 2011
Next Tuesday, an "Iranian Business Women" congress will be held at the Berlin Campus Hotel, to garner German-Iran transactions. The gathering is organized by EIEVENT (European-Iranian Ventures), together with the German Federal Assocation of Mid-Tier Businesses (BVMW), whose Board members includes politicians from the governing coalition FDP and the opposition SPD and Greens.
"For Iranian business women to be honoured in Germany - while their sisters in Iran are humiliated, silenced, repressed and stoned - is a slap at human rights", exclaimed Dr.Shimon Samuels, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations.
He continued, "now Iranian women are to be used as a pretext even on German soil". "Any German political representative attending this Fair, will be violating the sanctions regimes against Iran established by Germany, the European Union, the United States and the United Nations", added Samuels.
The Centre urged "both governing and opposition parties to call on their officials to condemn and boycott this travesty."
Paris, 28 October 2011
Der Spiegel reported in July that the German Defence Ministry had contracted to supply Israel with two more Dolphin-class military submarines. Equipped with both German and Israeli technology, based on the IDF' Navy' s unique experience, the transaction was to receive a Berlin subsidy of $ 155 million.
The deal has, reportedly, been scuttled to pressure Jerusalem into further concessions to the Palestinians and to scold P.M. Netanyahu for construction in Gilo - a district of municipal Jerusalem.