You will remember the disgraceful images from the Aalst Carnival last March.
What has happened since then?
- the carnival organisers refuse to acknowledge that what they portrayed was wrong in any way
- the mayor of Aalst continues to defend it, despite being summoned to UNESCO in Paris to explain himself
- the Belgian equalities watchdog (UNIA) whitewashed the event in a duplicitous report
- the organisers continue to provoke the Jewish community by caricaturing Jews yet again, and are threatening a repeat of 2019 at the 2020 event
What will happen now?
UNESCO asked permission to send our letter of March 15 to all 24 members of the full UNESCO Council, which will meet in Bogota in December. Aalst is an agenda item.
We have written to UNESCO to request:
- that the Director General, Audrey Azoulay, receives the full printed 20,000 signature petition from us in person
- that we are given the opportunity to speak to the Council, in order to relay some of the comments that you took the time to make
IMPAC will also write individual letters to the 24 ambassadors who form the UNESCO Council explaining why we are asking them, in your names, to take the requisite action.
We have asked for a swift response from UNESCO. We will be there in Bogota during the meeting of UNESCO because we have much more chance of success if we are able to be present to maximise publicity.
Feel free to get in touch - info@im-pac.org. All offers of help and support welcome!