The good news is that for once, Israel and a United Nations agency find themselves on the same side of an argument. The bad news? It took the Holocaust to get them there.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has filed a complaint against the Iranian government that is sponsoring a competition for Holocaust-denying cartoons.
UNESCO director Irina Bokova will the issue when she meets with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who is to address the organization on Wednesday, which is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Last month, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) announced that as part of the Teheran International Cartoon Biennial held for the past 11 years under the auspices of Teheran’s municipality, a contest for satirical cartoons relating to the Holocaust will to take place in June, 2016, in the city of Mashhad. Organizers told the news agency that the winner will get a prize of $50,000, adding that the aim was to enable artists to raise questions about the Holocaust.
While Iran is known for its past Holocaust-denying cartoon shows, this year’s came as a bit of a surprise as it was announced only one month before the nuclear agreement with Iran went into effect. UNESCO’s rebuke will take place during Rouhani’s first tour of European capitals, which began Monday when he arrived in Rome and continues tomorrow in Paris.