Arab nations demand removal of Israeli panel in UN citing Jerusalem as the 'capital of the Jewish people'
A letter from the Palestinian UN mission to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft was circulated on Thursday, expressing "vehement rejection" and the removal of a panel from an Israeli exhibition that calls Jerusalem "the spiritual and physical capital of the Jewish people."
The letter echoes the general sentiment of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation at te UN.
It was stated in the letter that any references "which purport to assert Israeli sovereignty on this land ... are legally, politically and morally incorrect and unacceptable."
Palestinian Charge d'Affaires Feda Abdelhady-Nasser responded to the exhibit by saying that the UN Security Council and General Assembly "have clearly rejected Israel's illegal annexation of east Jerusalem" and called on Ban and Lykketoft to take "the necessary measures for the removal of the ... panel."
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the Israeli mission followed the rules for mounting an exhibition. He explained that while the UN tries to balance the wishes of the country wishing to exhibit without offending another country, it "is not an exact science."
The exhibition, in a corridor near a popular cafe in the UN basement, includes panels on Israel's Arabs, its technology innovations and other aspects of Israeli life.
