Mexican Diplomat to be Honored for Challenging UNESCO on Anti-Israel Vote

"The Mexican diplomat who was fired from his ambassador position for walking out an anti-Israel vote by a United Nations agency will be honored by the American Sephardic Federation.

Andres Roemer, who is Jewish, will be awarded the International Sephardic Leadership Award at a ceremony on May 21 at the Center for Jewish History in New York. The event will honor the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Jerusalem during the Six Day War.

"When confronted by the recent UNESCO resolution that sought to erase Jerusalem, Israel's Jewish and Christian history, Ambassador Roemer knowingly risked his position to voice and vote his conscience," read the federation's announcement.

In October, the Latin American diplomat risked his position by walking out of a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization vote at its headquarters in Paris - leaving his deputy to cast the country's vote - in a personal protest against the UNESCO resolution denying Jewish ties to Jerusalem.

"While the resolution still passed, Ambassador Roemer did not forget Jerusalem and his moral courage convinced several countries, including his own, to seek to reverse the resolution's ill-considered position against historical truth and the possibility of peace," according to the announcement.

For not following the instructions he had received from the Mexican government, he was fired a few days later..."