US: UNESCO Holocaust resolution rejects 'any form of Holocaust denial'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The United States welcomed on Friday passage by UNESCO's General Conference of a resolution to promote remembrance of the Holocaust. A statement from State Department spokesman Sean McCormack's office said the resolution "clearly demonstrates the refusal of UNESCO's member states to countenance any form of Holocaust denial." That was a reference to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who early this year described as "a myth" that the Nazis slaughtered millions of Jews and people of other ethnic groups during World War II. The resolution, sponsored by the United States, Israel, Russia, Australia and Canada, asks UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura to work out with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon how UNESCO could promote Holocaust awareness and combat all forms of Holocaust denial. The 193 member states at UNESCO's 34th General Conference, its main decision-making body, adopted the resolution by consensus.