“I firmly condemn the attacks against the cultural institutions of the country and the looting of its cultural property,” said the Director-General of the UN Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova. “This constitutes irreversible damage to the history and identity of the Egyptian people.”

Ms. Bokova urged Egyptian authorities to ensure the protection and integrity of museums, sites and historical buildings, including those of religious importance. She also appealed to the Egyptian authorities to prevent the trafficking of cultural objects stolen from the Malawi National Museum.

“Egypt’s exceptional cultural heritage is not only an inheritance of the past, reflecting its rich and diverse history; it is also a legacy for future generations and its destruction seriously weakens the foundations of Egyptian society,” said Irina Bokova.

Ms. Bokova reiterated her agency’s readiness to provide technical support and mobilize the partner organizations of the 1970 Convention against Illicit Traffic of Cultural Heritage, including the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the World Customs Organization.

On Saturday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the recent attacks on mosques and churches “unacceptable” and appealed to authorities to contain violence and revive the political process immediately.

Egypt has been undergoing a democratic transition following the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak two years ago in the wake of mass protests. Last month, renewed protests – in which dozens of people were killed and wounded – led to the Egyptian military deposing Mr. Morsy. The Constitution was then suspended and an interim government set up.

The national campaign, “This Ramadan Make a Date with Justice: Choose Occupation-Free Dates,” is another step in the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that targets Israeli products on the international market. BDS began in 2005 as a form of peaceful protest to pressure Israel to abide by international law and end its occupation of Palestine.

“Muslims typically break their fasts in Ramadan by eating dates and drinking water,” said Mr. Awad Hamdan, AMP national programs director. “Unfortunately, many Muslims unknowingly use Israeli dates, most of which are grown in Israeli settlements built illegally on Palestinian land.”

Dozens of Arab- and Muslim-owned grocery stores in nearly a dozen cities across the US have pledged to boycott Israeli occupation dates. AMP chapters in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago, New York, New Jersey and the Washington DC area are participating, as are volunteer groups in Philadelphia. While the first phase of the boycott is targeting ethnic grocers and the Muslim community, the boycott eventually will be widened to include the general public and major chain retailers, Hamdan added.

“AMP is asking everyone to refuse to buy dates marketed by Hadiklaim under the names of Jordan River, Jordan River Bio-Tops and King Solomon,” Hamdan said. “Instead, people can support the American economy by purchasing dates produced in California and Arizona.”

“Most of the Israeli companies that export to the U.S. and the West are built in the West Bank. They’re built on stolen confiscated land,” said Jamil Morrar, owner of the Red Sea Food Market & Halal Meat in Sacramento, one of the stores participating in the boycott. “Honestly, anyone who buys Israeli products is supporting the Israeli occupation and it is against our policy to sell those products.”

In the United States, dates are grown in California and Arizona, which together produced about 28,000 tons in 2011, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. However, a vast amount of dates are imported into the U.S. as well. Israel produces more than half the world’s premier date, the Medjool; and Israeli exports to the United States were valued at $51 million in 2011, according to the USDA.

A 2006 investigative report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz exposed many of these unfair labor practices, which include leaving workers, including children, on the tops of date palm trees in the grueling sun for up to nine hours, in some cases, at a stretch with no breaks.

Palestinian workers are paid less than their Israeli counterparts, in violation of Israeli law. In addition, Palestinian child laborers are also subject to exploitation in the settlements. In 2008, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics found that more than 7,000 children between 5 and 17 years of age were working in the Jordan Valley alone, according to an AMP report.

Over 170 groups joined the BDS movement when it began in 2005, including many Jewish organizations like Jewish Voices for Peace.

In Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy Seals (photo from White House situation room), 13% of Muslims hold a favorable view of al Qaeda, 55% an unfavorable view, and roughly three-in-ten (31%) offer no opinion.

Support for the organization is in the single digits among Turkish and Lebanese Muslims. In Jordan, just 15% express a positive opinion, essentially unchanged from last year, but down significantly from 34% in 2010.  Al Qaeda receives its highest ratings in Egypt, where 21% hold a favorable and 71% an unfavorable opinion.

Before his death, support for bin Laden had waned considerably among Muslims around the world.  Perhaps the most striking decline occurred in Jordan, where in 2005 61% had expressed confidence in bin Laden to do the right thing in world affairs.  The next year, this number plummeted to 24% following al Qaeda suicide attacks in the nation’s capital, Amman.  By 2011, only 13% expressed confidence in him.

Support for bin Laden also declined steeply over time among Muslims in Indonesia and Pakistan, as well as the Palestinian territories.  Palestinians, however, remained more supportive than other publics – in 2011, 34% still expressed confidence in the al Qaeda leader.

The survey was conducted between March 19 to April 13, 2012,