Antisemitic representations: UNESCO removed an annual carnival in Belgium from the heritage list

The Cultural Heritage Preservation Commission has decided to pull the Ballast Carnival off the list. The presence of a cartoon of ultra-Orthodox men sitting on gold sacks sparked the outrage of the Jewish community in the country. UNESCO CEO: "This is not the first time this has happened." Mayor: Elast's citizens have suffered ridiculous accusations

"Fear of the devastating consequences, too." Cartoon at the annual Ballast Carnival (Photo: AP)

A cartoon at the annual Carnival in Elst, Belgium. December 14, 2019. (Photo: AP)

UNESCO yesterday removed an annual carnival in the city of Elst, Belgium from its heritage list because of ongoing accusations of anti-Semitism. Again and again about racist and anti-Semitic representations ”at the event.

The Elst Carnival in the Flanders region was first added to the list of intangible cultural heritage in 2010. However, the presence of a parade of ultra-Orthodox men with covered noses sitting on gold sacks has caused a lot of rage in Belgium's Jewish community of 40,000 people.

John Benizri, Vice President of the World Jewish Congress, welcomed the decision, but said: "Unfortunately, this is not the end of the story.

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"Be vigilant and firm about exception." CEO of UNESCO Azoulay (Photo: AP)

UNESCO Director General, Audre Azulay, in a speech in France. December 14, 2019. (Photo: AP)

"The massive spread, directly or indirectly, of particularly charged anti-Semitic prejudice, even crookedness, control of the economy and banks, is not what we want for our children in the context of a family event like this," Benizri told AFP. "It is obviously harmful for them and the global audience."

Prior to UNESCO's decision at a meeting in Bogota, the capital of Colombia. Elest Mayor Christophe Dahais, who anticipated the upcoming decision, gave up the city's place on the list before it could be ruled out.

"The citizens of Elst have suffered from incriminating charges," the mayor said in a press release. "We are neither anti-Semitic nor racist. All those who support it are acting in bad faith. Elast will always remain the capital of ridicule and satire."
The head of the European Jewish Association in Brussels, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said city officials who had been ousted "jumped before being pushed", saying the mayor "remained consistently defiant and insulting."

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"True to its fundamental principles of respect, equality and mutual respect." Carnival at Ballast (Photo: AP)

The annual Carnival in Elst, Belgium. December 14, 2019. (Photo: AP)

UNESCO said in March that they would act vigilantly and uncompromisingly about such events, and expectations were high that the carnival would be removed from the list at a meeting in Bogota. A statement issued at the end of the meeting stated that "UNESCO is true to its core principles of respect, equality and dignity. Reciprocate peoples and condemn all forms of racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia. "

UNESCO Director-General Audra Azulai said earlier this week that the UN cultural body "should be vigilant and firm about the deviation of a festival classified as a World Heritage Site that belittles its core values." Azoulay added: "This is not the first time that racism and anti-Semitism have been floated. At this festival. "

Azulai hinted at her remarks at the 2013 festival, which featured a cartoon depicting the leader of the Flemish Nationalist Party as a Nazi SS officer intending to deport French-Belgian speakers. Irina Bokova, then head of UNESCO, denounced it and said "an insult to the memory of the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust."

Since the 1972 conference, UNESCO has classified the most historically and culturally important sites in the world, but it now also has the authority to defend "the intangible heritage of humanity."