For
BMW, UN
Alliance of
Civilizations
Shills, Press
Grills,
Sponsor
Lunches
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 22 –
When the UN
Alliance of
Civilization
held a
press
conference at
the UN in New
York on
Friday, one
expected to
hear of issues
such as the
amateur video
on religion,
subsequent
rioting and
cut-off of
YouTube in
several
countries.
After
all, the last
AoC
representative
Jorge Sampaio
said “there is
a
balance to be
found between
freedom of
expression and
respect for
religion and
for religious
feelings and
principles.”
Inner
City Press
went to the
press
conference and
asked about
just this.
But the
majority of
the hour long
session was
about the
corporate
sponsor of the
UNAOC
“Intercultural
Innovation
Award,” the
German
car company
BMW.
BMW
was
extensively
praised by the
panelists
before any
questions were
allowed. Once
they were,
Inner City
Press asked
about the
propriety
of a UN
program like
AoC so openly
promoting a
corporation.
Jean-Christophe
Bas,
listed as
Senior Advisor
of the UN
Alliance of
Civilizations,
said that BMW
held helped
design the UN
program; he
said that as a
member of the
UN Global
Compact, BMW
“complies
with... ten or
twelve
principles.”
Inner
City Press
pointed out
that the
Global
Compact, when
Pressed, says
it
is about
reporting, not
compliance.
Companies are
thrown out for
not
reporting, not
for
substantive
non-compliance
with the
principles.
As
to BMW, Inner
City Press
asked about
criticism by
Greenpeace and
others of
BMW's role in
lobbying
against CO2
emission rules
in
Brussels.
Again
Jean-Christophe
Bas launched
into praise of
BMW, finally
saying he is
no expert on
the
environment
and that Inner
City Press
should ask BMW
directly.
But
isn't it the
UN, through
its Alliance
of
Civilizations,
that chose to
partner with
BMW?
When asked to
cite another
UN partnership
-- by the New
York Times,
which can
apparently be
named -- the
answer was
UNESCO's
arrangement
with L'Oreal.
And
who partnered
with the
Alliance of
Civilizations,
sponsoring and
promoting
their UN press
conference on
Friday?
Without
mentioning the
name of any
officials, it
was the UN
Correspondents
Association.
To
be diplomatic
we'll will
only for now
note that
there has been
more
serious
controversy
about UNCA
sponsoring
events in the
Dag
Hammarskjold
Library
Auditorium --
click here for
one example
-- and
more recently,
this week, demanding
the first
question from
Bolivia's
president Evo
Morales,
even when he
repeatedly
said no, he
had
recognized
another
(Latina)
journalist
first.
There
has been no mea
culpa
about this
fiasco, even
after the next
day's
doubling-down.
What about
this
sponsorship of
what became,
in
essence, an
attempted
advertisement
for BMW?
Without naming
the names
of officials
-- there seems
to be some
sensitivity
about this --
the
question is
raised, like
the question
of documents
obtained under
the
US Freedom of
Information
Act like this
one. And
the questions
should
be answered.
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
Ironically,
the Director
of the UN
Alliance of
Civilizations,
Matthew
Hodes, gave
the answer of
the afternoon,
telling Inner
City Press in
response to
the YouTube
video question
that there is
an absolute
right to free
speech, it's
just a
question of
how to deal
with it.
Hear, hear.
The Free UN
Coalition for
Access agrees
on the primacy
of
free speech
and freedom of
the press. If
we omit names
in this
report, it is
entirely by
choice and not
required.
Watch this
site.
, 
