UNESCO postpones Jewish exhibition upon Arab request

The UN culture body has decided to postpone an exhibition on Jews upon a request from the Arab group. In a press release on Friday, UNESCO said it had received "a letter from 22 Member States, of the Arab Group, expressing their concern that the planned exhibition could impact negatively on the peace process and current negotiations underway in the Middle East." "In this context, regrettably, UNESCO had to postpone the inauguration of the exhibition," said the statement. The exhibition is entitled "People, Book, Land – The 3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People to the Holy Land." UNESCO said a number of elements relating to it still remain to be agreed upon. "This includes unresolved issues relating to potentially contestable textual and visual historical points, which might be perceived by Member States as endangering the peace process," it said. "The UNESCO Secretariat is obliged by the Organization's rules and regulations to consider fully the concerns raised by its Member States or any Regional Group regarding planned exhibitions or manifestations." "Fully in line with the efforts of the UN system as a whole, UNESCO is deeply committed to the successful outcome of the peace process in order to achieve stability and peace in the region.