Israel Demands U.N. Condemn Iran Anti-Semitic Cartoon Contest

Israel has called upon the United Nations to condemn an anti-Semitic Iranian-sponsored international cartoon competition, The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.

Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon wrote to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanding that he take a stand against the event, scheduled for June in Tehran.

The 11th Tehran International Cartoon Biennial, held under the auspices of the municipal authorities in the Iranian capital, this year invited cartoons on the Holocaust.

Danon called the event “an anti-Semitic act” and said Iran is “evil incarnate.” “Holocaust denial is the most powerful expression of anti-Semitism which legitimizes the murder of six million Jews,” Danon wrote in his letter to Ban.

He noted that on January 27 the U.N. will mark the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day, “while a U.N. member state is organizing an international competition with the sole purpose of denying the Holocaust.

“The Iranians are trying to desecrate the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, and the United Nations must stand by Israel and condemn this heinous act,” Danon wrote.

People from 50 countries are expected to vie for a $50,000 cash prize, according to Iran’s semi-official IRNA news agency. Organizers claimed to IRNA that the contest does not mean to “approve or deny the Holocaust” but simply to raise the topic.