Egyptian Antisemite Loses Bid for UNESCO

From ANSAmed:

Israel is celebrating the appointment of Irina Bokova, Bulgarian ambassador to France, as the new secretary general of UNESCO, beating her competitor Egyptian Faruk Hosni. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that Israel congratulated Bukova and was "convinced that a fruitful cooperation with UNESCO will continue and deepen." Israel, according to local press, had promised Egyptian Hosni Mubarak that it would not block the candidature of Hosni, Minister for Culture, who has in the past often expressed opinions that are extremely hostile to the Jewish State, even declaring himself prepared to burn works by Israeli writers. Statements, which after his UNESCO candidature, Hosni tried to soften and correct. However, a number of intellectuals from the West, many of whom Jewish, and other countries had openly taken a stand against Hosnìs candidature.