Former Mexican envoy to UNESCO Andres Roemer. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Mexico on Wednesday dismissed its envoy to UNESCO over his objection to the UN body’s recent resolution that ignored the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and Western Wall in Jerusalem.

According to a statement from the Mexican government, Andres Roemer was fired “for not having informed diligently and with meticulousness of the context in which the voting process occurred, for reporting to representatives of countries other than Mexico about the sense of his vote, and for making public documents and official correspondence subject to secrecy.”

Roemer, who is Jewish, walked out of last Thursday’s vote on the UNESCO resolution in a personal protest against his country’s support for it. Then, on Tuesday, Roemer attempted a last-ditch effort to force a revote and change Mexico’s ballot. However, Mexico eventually withdrew its motion, and instead issued a statement that it wished to change its vote from “support” to “abstain.” As a result, the resolution was formally ratified.

“Given what’s happened, I’m simply no longer the envoy,” Roemer told Israel’s Channel 2. “This resolution was a combination of ignorance or antisemitism and anti-Israel policy. It’s considered politically correct to vote against Israel over the situation [the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process], and it’s like that all over the world. Antisemitism is based on great ignorance. … We need education to fight it.”