The original letter in Czech, the press release in Czech, the English press release here
Martin Zrzavecký
mayor of the city of Plzeň
nám. Republiky 1
306 32 Plzeň
Jiří Suchánek
director Plzeň 2015, o. p. s.
Pražská 19
301 00 Plzeň
Prague, 23 April 2015
Case: Open letter calling on Pilsen 2015 to withdraw from hosting the Days of Jerusalem festival
Dear Mayor Zrzavecký and Director Suchánek,
We respectfully request that you reconsider your decision to host the Days of Jerusalem festival as a part of the event Pilsen 2015 – European Capital of Culture.
The Days of Jerusalem Festival and associated Day of Jerusalem claim to celebrate and present Jerusalem as a unified city; an Israeli city and the capital of the State of Israel. Under international law and de-facto Israeli policies, this is not the case.
In 1947, and then again in 1948, the city of Jerusalem was, through the United Nations’ General Assembly resolution, declared by the international community as Corpus Separatum. This means that Jerusalem was supposed to become an international city which does not belong to any single state. Nonetheless, in 1980, the State of Israel annexed Jerusalem and declared it as its capital. Yet, the international community has never accepted this annexation. Likewise, the European Union, through the statements of its highest-ranking representatives, repeatedly made known that it continues to view Jerusalem as Corpus Separatum.
