Israel Matzav

'Palestinians' threaten members of UNESCO World Heritage Committee over Jerusalem vote

It's not the first time that the 'Palestinians' have threatened seemingly stronger countries to kotow them to do their bidding. But it's certainly one of the most blatant instances. There's a vote of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee coming up tomorrow that would once again deny the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount. And in light of comments about last week's vote made by Mexico, Brazil and Italy (none of which have a vote tomorrow), the 'Palestinian Authority' is making sure with threats that UNESCO's World Heritage Committee toes the line.

The resolution, which refers to the Temple Mount solely by its Muslim name of Al-Haram Al Sharif, is expected to be approved by the committee at its 40th session.

But in light of public statements on such resolutions made last week by Italy, Mexico and Brazil, the Palestinians want the resolution to pass by consensus, with the full support of all 21 member states of the World Heritage Committee (WHC).

On Monday, they sent a letter to committee members asking them to submit their positions on the resolution by noon Tuesday.

“Otherwise, the delegation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the delegation of Palestine would and according to the rules of procedure be obliged to consider other options,” they stated.

Without pledges of a consensus approval, the Palestinians and Jordanians plan to resubmit a text with language that was even more problematic to Israel, explained Israel’s Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen.

Wednesday’s vote, had initially been scheduled to take place in Istanbul in July, but the failed coup in Turkey cut that session short.

At the time, the Palestinians and the Jordanians had worked out a consensus text which they understood had the support of the European Union and the WHC.

In their letter, they reminded WHC members of this agreement and said, “At the beginning of the current WHC40 session, we learned that a few member states are still hesitant whether they can commit to our agreement in Istanbul or not.”

The Jordanians and the Palestinians said that they understood this “hesitance as a retreat from the consensual language.”

Shama-Hacohen said in response that “the Palestinians and the Arab states understand that after Mexico and Italy there might be more unpleasant surprises."

“They are broadcasting a message that says don’t abandon us or we’ll burn the house down with extremist anti-Israel resolutions,” said Shama-Hacohen. He added that such resolutions would only cause tremendous damage to UNESCO, under whose umbrella the WHC operates.

Just so totally shocked to hear UNESCO approves living a lie. 

Labels: Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Temple Mount, UNESCO

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:11 PM