ADL Asks UN Agency to Cite Disciplinary Action Taken After Disclosure that Its Funds Were Used for Anti-Israel Propaganda
New York, NY, August 17, 2005 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to make public steps the agency is taking following disclosures that agency funds paid for Palestinian Authority banners with the slogan, 'Gaza Today, the West Bank and Jerusalem tomorrow.'
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, had written to Kermal Dervis, UNDP Administrator, on August 15 to express alarm at reports that the Palestinian Authority banner carried a tag line saying it was paid for by the United Nations agency. Mr. Foxman wrote, "clearly, it is inappropriate for the UNDP, as an impartial global development organization, to fund such a political and provocative message. If indeed the UNDP did fund the banner, we hope you will immediately distance the agency from this message and direct your staff on the ground to steer clear of such partisan activities in the future."
In an August 17 response to Mr. Foxman, Mr. Dervis wrote that the UNDP involvement with the banners is "not at all acceptable and should not be allowed to happen again."
Mr. Foxman called on Mr. Dervis to provide the "particulars on what steps UNDP is taking to discipline its personnel on the ground, and to enact guidelines to prevent a recurrence of the use of UNDP funds, as well as its name, for overtly political purposes."
The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
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