News Releases 2017
“You cannot permit on Polish soil, where a third of the Jewish people perished, an outrageous theft of Judaism’s narrative and heritage at a Crakow UN conference in the very shadow of Auschwitz-Birkenau.”
“The Palestinians and their retinue must be restrained from further fast track tactics and mayhem to monopolize the session, at the cost of truly endangered sites awaiting attention.”
Paris, 18 June 2017
In a letter to the Polish Chairperson, Prof. Jacek Purchla, of the 41st UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC), to be held in Cracow, 2-12 July 2017, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations and WHC Observer, Dr. Shimon Samuels noted:
“- grave concern regarding the Cracow meeting, indeed a malaise in WHC management due to hostile takeover of the agenda
“Many scholars and experts on antisemitism – including the Arte-approved Muslim co-author/consultant on the film, Ahmad Mansour – have glowingly endorsed this long-awaited documentary, as has the Wiesenthal Centre.”
Paris, 15 June 2017
In a letter to European Parliament President, Antonio Tajani, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, noted “the extensive media controversy around the refusal of Arte television to broadcast 'Chosen and Excluded – Jew Hatred in Europe', the film on contemporary antisemitism it had itself commissioned at the cost of the German and French taxpayer. Many commentators have dubbed this position as a 'censorship' based on fear of acknowledging that Islamist violence against Jews, BDS (boycotts) of the Jewish State and anti-Zionism are part and parcel of the scourge of antisemitism."
"We can only hope this was the act of an antisemitic lone-wolf or a budding Jihadist employee."
"Inaction on this issue will be construed as an AFP endorsement of Iranian declared policy to exterminate the Jewish State and an encouragement to it followers."
Paris, 7th June 2017
In a letter to Agence France-Presse (AFP) Chairman and CEO, Emmanuel Hoog, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed horror at an AFP map of the Middle East deleting Israel on it Twitter and Facebook page.
Samuels stated, "our members are horrified at the AFP map of the Middle East appearing on Twitter and your Facebook page (below)."
“Twenty-four Holocaust survivors, each matched with a top chef, cooking a favourite family recipe from an almost extinguished Jewish gastronomy… rescuing an inter-generational heritage from the jaws of the Holocaust.”
Paris, 29 May 2017
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, congratulated Tami Shachnaey of “Shorashim” (Roots) – the Israeli non-profit that aids Holocaust survivors and Ethiopian immigrants – for its triumph in the Gourmand International Cookbook competition yesterday in Yantai, China.
Link to the award ceremony film:
https://www.facebook.com/Shora
Shorashim’s “Grandma Cooks Gourmet” won the “Best Cookbook in the World” title, placing Israel third among 9 shortlisted countries and “Grandma” piled up an additional prizes in the non-profit category.
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"Thanks go to all the volunteers who drove participants to restaurants and markets.
Thanks to the Samuels family, who are affiliated to Verbe et Lumiere-Vigilance,
the Simon Wiesenthal Centre and UNESCO, and accompanied the project,
donating generously towards its publication."
Blog by Shimon Samuels posted on The Times of Israel
24 May 2017
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-open-letter-to-prime-minister-teresa-may/#.WSVakIKjEds.gmail
Madam Prime Minister,
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre congratulates you on your unrelenting stand against the warped madness of anti-Western terrorism and, more specifically, the Manchester Arena atrocity.
Permit me a few worrying thoughts for you to consider:
– Now that ISIS has claimed credit for the perpetrator, Salman Abedi, we can expect to see heroic obituaries for the Jihadist assassin, perhaps born in the UK