BRUSSELS—UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has invited the Belgian ambassador to the organization to explain controversial ribbons released this week for participants in the Carnival of Aalst and which are making fun of UNESCO and Jews in view of the 2020 edition of the annual parade. The Carnival was already condemned earlier this year for displaying antisemitic puppets.
On the ribbons, the Jews are depicted in a stereotypical fashion with a hat, ringlets, a hooked nose and golden teeth. “The sneer is aimed at UNESCO, but it is pretty difficult to find a funny image of that. So we chose Jews,” said Kris Vonck, the designer of the ribbons.
Jewish groups have denounced the ribbons and the antisemitic character of the Carnival’s float. They urged UNESCO to remove the carnival from its World Heritage list and stop funding it. A decision by the organization is expected at a meeting in Colombia in December.
The mayor of Aalst, Christoph D’Haese, was summoned in September to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris where he argued that the March carnival procession was not anti-Semitic.
UNESCO Assistant Director-General Ernesto Ottone Ramirez previously noted that the spirit of satire at Aalst Carnival and freedom of expression cannot serve as an excuse for “such manifestations of hate.”
The European Commission has also condemned the Carnival float.