Unesco Removes 'Racist' Belgian Carnival Aalst From Heritage List
Source: The Guardian
Carnival of Aalst included parade float caricaturing Orthodox Jews.
Unesco has removed an annual carnival in the Belgian city of Aalst from its heritage list over persistent charges of antisemitism. In an unprecedented move, Unescos intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage said it was withdrawing the carnival over recurring repetition of racist and antisemitic representations at the event.
The carnival of Aalst, in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders, was initially added to Unescos list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2010. But the presence of a parade float caricaturing Orthodox Jews with hooked noses and sitting on gold bags outraged Belgiums 40,000-strong Jewish community.
Anticipating Unescos decision at its meeting in the Colombian capital, Bogotá, Aalsts mayor, Christoph DHaese, on Sunday renounced the citys place on the list before it could be stripped of the designation. The citizens of Aalst have suffered grotesque accusations, the mayor said in a press release sent to TV Oost Nieuws, according to Belga news agency. We are neither antisemitic nor racist. All those who support this are acting in bad faith. Aalst will always remain the capital of mockery and satire....
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/13/unesco-removes-racist-belgian-carnival-aalst-from-heritage-list
The Brussels-based European Jewish Association president stated that the Aalst officials were jumping before they were pushed. "Despite widespread criticism, despite the clear grotesque antisemitic imagery, despite the opportunity to at least acknowledge the wrong and hurt caused, the mayor of Aalst has consistently remained defiant and mocking, said EJA president, Menachem Margolin...
Aalst carnival float caricatures orthodox Jews surrounded by money bags and rats.
Behind the Aegis
(53,961 posts)appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)and ugliness still and the mayor's comments.
trusty elf
(7,394 posts)We are neither antisemitic nor racist. "
riiiiight
bronxiteforever
(9,287 posts)UNESCO, through its Assistant Director-General for Culture, Ernesto Ottone Ramírez, took a strong position on behalf of the Secretariat, pointing out that a listed site that incites to racism is unacceptable, noted Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Wiesenthal Centres Director for International Relations.
In October 2019, the same float organizers released a series of stickers and ribbons displaying stereotyped Jews jumping on the logo of UNESCO, apparently suggesting Jewish control of the UN body (an ironic farce in the face of the State of Israels recent departure from the organization). These images predict even more antisemitism in the forthcoming 2020 Carnival, added Samuels.
...Nigel Goodrich and Patricia Teitelbaum of IMPAC pointed to the Belgian press and, "a stir in Flanders flushing out quite a number of racists."
Samuels had approached the newly appointed first woman and Jewish Prime Minister of Belgium, Sophie Wilmès, on this outrage... "Belgium has yet to issue a formal statement requesting delisting... The Aalst Mayor, in arguably antisemitic language, described withdrawal from UNESCO as a liberation from Jewish pressure."
https://www.wiesenthal-europe.com/en/news-releases-2019/569-is-belgium-ready-to-formally-request-removal-of-its-aalst-antisemitic-carnival-from-the-unesco-cultural-heritage-list
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)bronxiteforever
(9,287 posts)is so,so disgusting.
Behind the Aegis
(53,961 posts)appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)including red hair I find these illustrations particularly offensive. Somewhere I read that Hitler 'hated redheads' but can't find any supporting information. And of course there are plenty of redheads among Jewish families from No. Europe and Russia, along the Volga.