NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations sent an appeal to the ambassadors from member states of the United Nations, including members of the European Union, as well as South American, African and Arab states, urging them to walk out of the UN General Assembly should Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad be given the opportunity to address the international body.
“We have appealed to democratic nations that cherish the values of freedom and mutual respect to stand against President Ahmadinejad and either absent themselves from the UN General Assembly or walk out of the hall when he speaks, particularly if he should once again resort to threats, incitement or appeals to bigotry and anti-Semitism. President Ahmadinejad has repeatedly violated fundamental codes of conduct with his outrageous statements, most recently this past weekend when he again threatened to destroy Israel and one of his regime’s highest authorities dismissed the Holocaust as ‘superstition.’
“We would hope that his extremist rhetoric, calls for elimination of another UN member state, violation of human rights against his own people and support for international terrorism would bar him from this international platform. Moreover, his threats to destroy another member state violate the UN charter and should subject him to charges of incitement to genocide. Should he be allowed to speak in this forum, however, we call upon all member states that uphold democracy and human rights to manifest their rejection and disapproval of President Ahmadinejad’s incitement, bigotry, and Holocaust denial by walking out of the General Assembly during his speech.
“We hope that the decision and walkout by these member states will influence other nations to do the same,” said Conference of Presidents Chairman Alan Solow and Executive Vice Chairman Malcolm Hoenlein.
“As we stated in our appeal to these member states, we believe President Ahmadinejad’s threats must be taken seriously. While we hope our concerns will not be fulfilled, we strongly believe that to uphold the principles of the UN charter, both in letter and in spirit, it is imperative to show that such behavior will not be tolerated,” said Solow and Hoenlein.
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Preceding provided by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations