Bulgaria’s Ambassador to France is the first woman to be elected at the head of UNESCO. She beat the Egyptian Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, in the fifth and final round of voting, even though he had been given as favourite.
The President of CRIF insisted on the importance of remembering the Holocaust, on the risk today of relativising this memory and on the dangers of confusing the Holocaust with other situations which have nothing like the same significance. Richard Prasquier referred to the dangers of confusing anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. He advocated the importance of educating people about the Holocaust and on the need to develop such education within UNESCO itself, at a time when some member countries refuse to acknowledge this need. “To teach the Holocaust is also to teach the essential values of truth,” said Richard Prasquier.
Dr Prasquier spoke in particular of the Aladdin Project, launched by the Holocaust Memorial Foundation, which seeks to circulate Arabic or Farsi translations of reference documents relating to the Holocaust in Arab and Muslim countries. Ms Bokova recalled that UNESCO is organising “a commemoration ceremony for the victims of the Holocaust” on 27 January, in the presence of many leading figures.
CRIF and UNESCO agreed to maintain regular contact in future. The President of CRIF was accompanied by Jean-Pierre Allali, a member of the Executive Board and Chair of the committee for relations with NGOs, trade unions and voluntary associations.
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