01 November 2011
The leadership of the World Jewish Congress has expressed deep disappointment over UNESCO’s decision to grant the Palestinian Authority full membership in the international organization. WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said: “The decision by UNESCO to admit the Palestinian Authority as a full member of the organization is highly disappointing and completely inappropriate. UNESCO does not have the mandate to make such politically explosive decisions and to predetermine statehood status for a non-state actor, particularly the Palestinian Authority, when rockets fired from Palestinian-controlled Gaza continue to send hundreds of thousands of Israeli children into underground bunkers.” Lauder added that “regretfully, this latest move by UNESCO is the most recent in a series of assaults against the fundamental legal, diplomatic and historical rights of the State of Israel.”

World Jewish Congress Secretary General Dan Diker stated: “The Palestinian appeal to UNESCO and the UN body’s decision is another unilateral step the Palestinian Authority has taken to further its goal to replace 3000 years of Jewish history with a new Palestinian narrative that negates any Jewish connection to the land of Israel. The decision also dampens the possibility of the Palestinian Authority heeding to the international community’s demand to return to the negotiating table and refrain from any unilateral decisions.”