UN Ceremony Includes Map of ´Palestine´ in Place of Israel

Date Posted: December 9, 2005

The United Nations held a "Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People" last week. A large map of "Palestine," with Israel literally wiped off the map, featured prominently in the festivities.

The ceremony was held at the UN headquarters in New York and was attended by Secretary General Kofi Annan and the Presidents of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly.

During the festivities, a map labeled a "map of Palestine" was displayed prominently between UN and PLO flags. The map, with "Palestine" written in Arabic atop it, does not include Israel, a member of the UN for 56 years. The map does not even demarcate the partition lines of November 29, 1947, marking a Jewish state alongside an Arab state. The partition was dictated by the UN General Assembly itself.

With the map hanging behind him, Secretary-General Annan addressed the public meeting at UN Headquarters.

At the start of the ceremony, the dignitaries present asked attendees to observe a moment of silence. "I invite everyone present to rise and observe a minute of silence in memory of all those who have given their lives for the cause of the Palestinian people," the master of ceremonies said, "and the return of peace between Israel and Palestine."

Anne Bayefsky, who reported on the event for the Eye on the UN organization, said that the ceremony's wording was aimed at giving honor to the worst of Palestinian terrorists. "It was a moment crafted to include the commemoration of suicide-bombers," she wrote.

In response to the event, Bayefsky and her organization have once again asked the U.S. to withhold funding from the UN.

full story -- http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=94461

---