VILNIUS, LITHUANIA - Stillreeling from a no-fly zone and the flying ban on most commercial airlinesthrough Europe, a bitter consequence of the coronavirus, Lithuania has beendealt another blow: an international boycott against tourism in Lithuania. Theprotest will mean that thousands of jobs in the tourist sector in Lithuaniawill be lost.
The boycott is a result of the Lithuanian government’s ill-fateddecision toconstruct a conference centre on a Jewish cemetery, in violation of the GenevaConvention and the EU Charter of Human Rights. The respective charters prohibit the desecration of a cemetery.
Dr. Mathew Anthony Harper, a White House press spokesman for Christian news networksdeclared that the Lithuanian government’s decision to build the conferencecentre is atrocious. Dr. Harper together with prominent members of theinternational Jewish community have indicated that they will boycott Lithuaniantourism, if steps to initiate the construction go ahead. A petition signed by leaders from a broad spectrum of religiousdenominations, unequivocally declared the government’s proposal as a desecrationof a Jewish cemetery. The cemetery is home to tens of thousands holy Jewishscholars who are buried on the site. The historical site has origins which goback over 500 years.
An independent poll conducted by the CBD News Corporationconcluded that 63% of Europeans would support the boycott and not visitLithuania, if the the government went ahead with its plans.
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Barry Jenkins
Human Right’s Watch (Europe)
Website: https://telegra.ph/Lithuanian-Tourist-Industry-Suffers-Setback-06-02
