UNESCO: The Shame of a Disaster Foretold

Here is an open letter I have co-signed along with Elie Wiesel and Claude Lanzmann:

Who declared in April 2001: "Israel has never contributed to Civilization in any era, for it has only ever appropriated the contributions of others" -- and added almost two months later: "the Israeli culture is an inhumane culture; it is an aggressive, racist, pretentious culture based on one simple principle: steal what does not belong to in order to then claim its appropriation"?

Who explained in 1997, and has repeated it since in every way possible, that he was the "archenemy" of all attempts to normalize his country's relations with Israel?

Or who, as recently as 2008, responded to a deputy of the Egyptian parliament who was alarmed that Israeli books could be introduced into the Alexandria Library: "Burn these books; if there are any there, I will myself burn them in front of you"?

Who said in 2001 in the newspaper Ruz-al-Yusuf that Israel was "aided" in its dark intrigues by "the infiltration of Jews into the international media" and by their diabolical ability to "spread lies"?

To whom do we owe these insane declarations, this anthology of hate and error, and this frenzy of conspiracy theories?

To Farouk Hosny, the Egyptian Minister of Culture for the past fifteen years and undoubtedly the next Director General of UNESCO if nothing is done before the May 30 deadline for nominating candidates to stop his apparently unstoppable march to one of the most important posts of cultural responsibility on the planet.

Even worse: the words that we just cited are only a few -- and not even the most nauseating -- of the innumerable declarations of the same tenor that punctuate the career of Mr. Farouk Hosny over the past fifteen years and that, consequently, precede him as he aspires, even today, to a role on a worldwide scale.

The evidence is there: Mr. Farouk Hosny is not worthy of this role; Mr. Farouk Hosny is the opposite of a man of peace, dialogue, and culture; Mr. Farouk Hosny is a dangerous man, an inciter of hearts and minds. There is only little, very little time left to avoid committing the major mistake of elevating Mr. Farouk Hosny above others to this eminent post.

We thus call on the international community to spare itself the shame that would be the designation, already all but claimed by the candidate himself, of Mr. Farouk Hosny to the post of Director General of UNESCO.

We invite all countries dedicated to liberty and culture to take the initiatives necessary to avert this threat and avoid the disaster that would be his nomination.

We invite the Egyptian President himself, in remembrance of his compatriot Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature who must be spinning in his grave right now -- we invite him, for the honor of his country and as an heir of his great civilization, to become aware of the situation, and, with all urgency, to disown his minister and withdraw his candidacy.

UNESCO has certainly made other mistakes in the past -- but this particular abuse of authority would be so great, so abominable, so incomprehensible. It would be an obvious provocation so transparently contrary to the proclaimed ideals of the UN that UNESCO would not recover.

There is not a minute to lose in order to prevent the irreparable.

We must, without delay, appeal to everyone's conscience to keep UNESCO from falling into the hands of a man who, when he hears the word "culture," responds with a book burning.

Claude Lanzmann
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Elie Wiesel

Translated from the French by Sara Phenix.

Comments

[GrahamInCanada]

Never had I heard of the evil Mr. Hosny, until I read it here. I checked the first quote of the story, there is no record of such a quote anywhere on the internet except here and the echoes of here already generating. Same with the second quote, same with the third quote, etc.

Curious, said I, so then I reversed, and started looking for scandalous quotes from Mr. Hosny. Here is the first I found:

“the hijab is “a step backward for Egyptian women,” and that “women with their beautiful hair are like flowers and should not be covered up.”” – NY Times, Jan 28, 2007.

Twas a huge scandal in Egypt, nearly costing Mr. Hosny his job. So, this is his audience, and this is how he chooses to be scandalous in his own community.

Then I read about the vile anti-Semitism rampant in Egypt, and the environment Mr. Hosny must work within in order to work at all.

Then I read about the feud between Mr Hosni and Israel on whether Egyptians or Jews built the pyramids. Really, I kid you not:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1173879224279

Then of course, I found out about Mr. Hosni’s artistic works:

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=WDI&q=Farouk+Hosny+&btnG=Search&meta=

I wonder, is there any living Egyptian resident artist Israel would endorse for the role?

This post, by being so one sided, sure backfired, I’d say.

[Wozzeck]

Good work. Wonder how many signed on to Levy's agenda without doing any independent checking.

[OneTop]

Thanks for the research Graham, well done.

It's not the first time Mr. Levy has been a dues paying member of the Ministry of Truth.

[Sentientbeing09]

Wow.

Good work Graham!

[zaz33]

\Good work Graham.

Opinion is one thing - distortion another

[mjc]

Thank you for investigating this charge; most of us do not have enough background to have done so. Just a couple of comments: UNESCO cannot be under the complete control of any one of its directors and book burnings would surely warrant sanctions from such a worldwide organization; as is often the case, words that come forth from one's mouth given the circumstances are often quite a bit different from more deliberate discourse and writings. For many Arabs it must have difficult to remain silent after the atrocities committed on the Palestinians.

[mginla]

Well said. The UN continues to lose legitimacy as it increasingly becomes a soap box for racists and anti-semites. The racism conference was a joke. The UN has been co-opted by countries like Iran, Syria, Lybia, the Sudan and other hateful places and has developed an obsession for lashing out at the US and Israel.
It is inept at stopping real genocide (like the genocide perpetrated by muslims in the Sudan - where is the attention on that?) but may appoint an overt anti-semitic, book burning idiot to head UNESCO?
This must be stopped. It will further de-legitimize the UN and make it even more inept and meaningless. With real even-handed leadership, the UN could play a powerful role in helping to bring peace to the middle east.
Right now, the UN resembles many of the obsessive anti-israel activists who ignore the real problems in the middle east and the world to carry out their hateful agendas. Stopping this appointment would be a small positive step.
And the middle east needs positive steps - everyone wants peace. We just need real leadership to help bring that about.

[Sentientbeing09]

Israel deserves all the criticism it gets from the UN and more.

[Cenrand]

No doubt UNESCO will now focus exclusively on Israel, like the UN Human Rights Commission, ignoring Darfur etc. What a great victory for human rights.

[cinesimon]

That's right: ALL criticism of Israel is antisemitic, and the UN isn't at all made up of a group of nations therefore meaning that it's failings aren't the failings of those nations: but in REALITY, it's a part of the New World Order, and is very likely the Antichrist!

mginla, unbridled nationalism without any willingness to question a nation, especially one as militant as Israel, is very dangerous.
You do Israel real damage by trying to paint every single Israel critic as antisemitic- the more this happens, the les friends Israel will have: after all: we rely on our friends to call us out if we step out of line.

Are you an advocate of complete isolation fro the entire world, just because you're too fragile to accept any critical discussion? Way to further the interests of a nation! WELL DONE!

I really wonder sometimes whether the likes of the above poster has the interests of Israel at heart, or whether it just feels neat to be a righteous and tantrumy. They certainly have no interest in indulging in adult conversation!

[Cenrand]

Thats right, no criticism of Israel is at all anti-semitic. Especially what this guy, about to be appointed to head UNESCO, says about Israel. Keep burying your head in the sand about anti-Semitism. That should be a real boon to peace in the region.

[Spiritof1982]

The problem is that most anti-Semites don't have the spine to actually come out and air their views in public. They deal in a bunch of emasculated parsing and dancing around their real feelings. Most anti-Semites like this Hosny fellow aren't brave enough to publicly embrace their hatred.

[yappnmutt]

while hosny's views as you have reported are unacceptable the context of the arab/israeli conflict and the publicly announced sentiments of prominent members of both sides equates your protest to the usa chastising anyone for torturing americans.

unesco has very little bearing on israel. your cocerns are a nonissue.

[zaz33]

yappnmutt - They're obsessed with concerns.

[BobGriffin]

The remarks in April of 2001 can perhaps be found at http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/010414/2001041408.html
Jews (or descendants of Abraham) were almost certainly NOT involved in the building the Old Kingdom Giza pyramids, which were built before 2100 BCE. As far as I know, very very few people nowdays believe the Jews helped build the pyramids.
On the other hand, the ancient Aramaic-speaking community of el-Fantin (Elephantine) in/near Aswan was definitely Jewish, at least in part. The Elephantine papyri give conclusive evidence of this.
Hosny has been condemned by some in Egypt for alledgedly contacting Israel seeking Israeli support for his nomination to the UNESCO postion http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=19004
He has been condemned by others for his opposition to the hijab.
Be Well,
Bob Griffin

[JnrNorman]

To better understand UNESCO, consider a quote from Sir Julian Huxley, brother of the famous Aldous Huxley. Julian Huxley was the founding director-general of UNESCO when he said the following:

"The general philosophy of UNESCO should be a scientific world humanism, global in extent... It can stress… the transfer of full sovereignty from separate nations to a world political organization… Political unification in some sort of world government will be required…to help the emergence of a single world culture."

[JnrNorman]

The UN is designed to be an inefficient money grabbing world slug!

Dump UNESCO!
... rejoin UNESCO, a UN agency that has for decades promoted an anti-American agenda. ... better people through genetic manipulation, is not so bad after all: www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2002/tst093002.htmhtm

[cinesimon]

Oh, dear.

Fox has rotted your brain...

zee creetecal tinking skeels are goooone...

[Spiritof1982]

I guess that's why the US is delinquent on its membership dues?

[LLNYC]

"There, where one burns books,
one in the end burns men."
-Heinrich Heine

[Lavina]

Don't allow the people who traditionally lived in Palestine the way they have been treated and continue to be treated, and expect not to see some pretty virile anger. You ask too much.
Sources of information: http://www.icahd.org, http://www.tikkun.org --(google Robert Fisk Independent), http://www.consortiumnews.com (books- Israel Founding Myth by Morgan Strong)

Also, to people, who think it is their job to help fulfill prophesy, I've been through the Bible twice in study groups, and grew up in a church, where we actually studied the Bible on Sunday, and I don't remember ever seeing any place where we were commanded to help fulfill prophesy.

We were, however, asked to try to treat people in the best way we knew how. As long as we support the Israeli government, we are not doing that.

[KHAAANNN]

Since when does any position in the U.N. require a litimus test of wheather you "like" Israel or not?
It is the "United Nations", not the "I Support Israel Club".

[tony4sure]

I would venture that it is also the "I like all countries club", no the "I like all countries except...." club. Do you honestly think that someone who cannot appreciate a foreign culture is the best candidate for Director General of UNESCO? Isn't the UN, at its basic core level, the embodiment of Universalism? I would not want to see a bigot of any nationality there, whether Islamic, Israeli, Dutch, Brasilian or Vietnamese. The US should not be the have of such prejudice.

[KHAAANNN]

Oh, I don't know, one former Secretary General was a former Nazi, several have been totally corrupt, and Israel still has the US around to veto anything Israel doesn't like.
Israel has to learn to live with the fact that some people (and countries) don't like her, you know, like the U.S. has had to live with, and others.
Grow up. Deal with it.

[quindy]

Well, doesn't US presidential candidate has to pass the same test? How weird is that?

[Spiritof1982]

Dear Kanye Caps Typer,

UNESCO is a UN organ whose mission is the preservation of culture. You have missed the point of Mr. Levy's letter completely. It's not the fact that this clown would burn Israeli books that should be shocking (although I'm shocked at that simple-minded fact as well). It's the fact that Hosny would burn ANY books at all! How can you claim to be an officer concerned with preserving culture when your whole public life is lived in such a way as to take away from the cultural heritage of Jews? How can you claim to be such an officer when you would actively and eagerly burn books?

Please take time to brush up on reading for comprehension.

[myopinion2]

Let me respectfully sum up the comments thus far: "the apparent next head of UNESCO is virulently prejudiced against Israel and Jewish culture; I don't care. Doesn't bother me. Good."

And then you wonder why Israel ignores world opinion.

[harlekin]

im not sure with what right israel ignores world opinion, as it would have succumbed a long time ago, hadn't it been for the world's (first world's) support.

im not sure though, is it not ok to hold a visible social and political post if you are rhetorically against a racist, imperialistic regime but it's ok to hold the post as long as you are quietly part of the regime's machinery?

[cinesimon]

Israel's bizarre inability to accept any criticism without labeling the critic antisemitic also has something to do with our blasse attitude.

[Cenrand]

So you don't find the criticisms leveled by this guy are anti-Semitic?

[nomoredead]

Couldn't they find where Mr. Hosny lives and build a wall around his house then not let him leave and just give his family a little food and water to survive ?

[tony4sure]

And this helps matters how?

[Spiritof1982]

It's the commenter's feeble attempt at being pithy. It shows that he has little understanding of UNESCO or the problematic nature of an appointment thereto of someone with Mr. Hosny's views on cultural works and cultural preservation.

[Wozzeck]

Does your concern for the UN extend to its Gaza war crimes investigation?

[SaltySaltillo]

I think we all know the answer to that question...

[Spiritof1982]

Adolescent diversion. I agree with Levy and Wiesel in their criticism here. I also share your concerns, Wozzeck, with the Gaza war crimes investigation.

What you have written shows that you are no better than Mr. Levy. You will ignore the appointment of someone as the head of UNESCO who has publicly espoused anti-Jewish sentiment and an eager desire to burn books for the mere fact that you are unhappy with Israeli policy vis-a-vis Palestinians and the Nakba.

[chipduyck]

I point the finger at the Israel as the problem . Go to the root of the problem. But you cant see past your religious identity. Israel means constant war.

[tony4sure]

Israel does? Are they killing invisible enemies? I am no upholding the country as an example of amity, but then the same goes for its neighbors.

[arvay]

When people start openly questioning the fitness of Zionists to lead important institutions, I'll listen.

Until then, we can judge his record by what he does, not by his politics. . .

[shotei]

The matters at stake here are not your views on the Arab-Palestinian conflict, but the basic values of a man that is about to become one of the most figures in the UN. This guy not only opposes cultural dialogue by arguing he would burn Israeli books (that, my friends, include leftist masters Amos Oz, A.B. Yehoshua) and dates back to Hitler's cultural policy.
Second, it is quite obvious that this man shows classic signs of anti-semitism by failing to admit the possibility of the Jewish State to create real culture and by talking about "Jews in the international media". He will take UNESCO back to the 1930s and, contrary to what many people here think, that is NOT a good thing.

[amalfedup]

Sources please! It is unbelievable this new trend of making up things and treating them as verifiable facts! Been listening to rush lately?

[tony4sure]

If Mr. Farouk Hosny is going to be responsible for culture at the UN, I rather judge him on many fronts. Not just politics and not just his record. Alas, Politics is Culture! I would be doing the same if we were talking about an Israeli candidate, or a candidate from any other nationality.

In any case, anyone who advocates book burning, and who is not cultured enough at a basic level to see that even a country such a Israel is capable of producing culture, does not deserve the post.

Talk about being biased. Who won't he like next? Germany? Japan? Guatemala? Will their books be excluded from the library at Alexandria? Would he burn the Popol Vuh?

Fahrenheit 451 anybody?

[Jerusalemite1]

As a resident of Jerusalem who deals with Israeli-Palestinian relations in the city , I have witnessed the transformation of UNESCO from a politicized forum prone to Israel-bashing, into a professionally driven organization that has contributed significantly to the cultural integrity of the city. When Israel began to implement its highly problematic and controversial plan regarding the Mughrabi Ramp leading to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, it was UNESCO that provided both the forum in which all stakeholders addressed the issues, and the professional tools to resolve conflict. The problem has not yet been fully resolved, but the significant progress that has been made would have not been possible without the discrete, evenhanded and highly professional work of UNESCO.

It now appears that the impending Hosny appointment threatens all that UNESCO has painstakingly achieved. This is all the more regrettable since the current complex and highly volatile situation in Jerusalem desperately needs the integrity of a professional, fair broker such as UNESCO.

Having often found myself on opposite sides of the political fence with Wiesel and Levi on Israel-Palestine issues, I have no problem roundly endorsing this letter. Friends of UNESCO - along with the friends of Israel, Palestine and peace - would be well advised to intercede and prevent this appointment.

[SaltySaltillo]

thoughtful comment. Thanks.