Israel has barred a UNESCO team that is 'investigating' whether the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me'oras HaMachpeila) should become a 'protected' World Heritage site from visiting the site or the city.
Hebron’s Old City, including the Tomb of the Patriarchs, is one of the
35 sites the World Heritage Committee plans to consider for inscription
on the World Heritage List when it meets in Krakow, Poland from July
2-12.
The Palestinian Authority has fast tracked the inscription process by claiming that the site is endangered.
Since UNESCO recognized Palestine as a member state in 2011, the
Palestinian Authority has similarly fast tracked inscription of two
other sites on the list of World Heritage in Danger. This includes the
Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route in Bethlehem in 2012 and
the ancient terraces of Battir (2014).
The International Council
on Monuments and Sites, a professional body, which investigates
nomination requests and provides recommendations for inscription on the
list of World Heritage in Danger had recommended that both nominations
go through the normal process after making field visits to both sites.
This
time Israel has rejected its request to make a field visit to Hebron,
this includes a refusal to grant entry visas to Israel for the group,
Shama HaCohen said.
The 21-member World Heritage Committee
rejected the ICOMOS conclusions not to place the Church of the Nativity
and the terrace of Battir on its endangered list, Shama HaCohen said.
Therefore,
it’s “a shame to waste the time and money” of the ICOMOS committee
whose recommendations are otherwise typically adhered to with regard to
the inscription process, Shama HaCohen said.
“Israel won’t take
part in and won’t legitimize any Palestinian political moves under the
guise of culture and heritage,” Shama HaCohen said.
UNESCO - and all UN agencies - should be barred from Israel altogether. The only reason they come here is to try to destroy us.
Video: Israel's UNESCO Ambassasdor trashes resolution denying Jewish connection to Temple Mount
Israel's Ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-HaCohen, reacts to Wednesday's UNESCO resolution denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
Let's go to the videotape.
Ambassador Shama-HaCohen has been recalled from UNESCO for 'consultations.'
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is meeting now, and despite insistence by Lebanon and Cuba that its resolution denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount be adopted by 'consensus,' there is going to be a secret ballot due to the insistence of Tanzania and Croatia.
Developing....
UPDATE 11:32 AM
Voting has just concluded @UNESCO World Heritage Committee on Palestinian-Jordanian Jerusalem resolution. Now counting the secret ballots. pic.twitter.com/aOXyeqX8kz
'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.
Trump and Pence to speak out at Jerusalem rally against #UNESCO_Lies, but not at Aish HaTorah
The Republican party is looking for a new location for a Jerusalem rally at which candidates Donald Trump and Mike Pence will speak via satellite, after Aish HaTorah backed out of hosting it.
Aish HaTorah rejected a request by the
Republican Party to host a rally with speeches by Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence next
Wednesday after The Jerusalem Post reported exclusively that the event would be held on the organization's rooftop over-looking the Western Wall.
Trump
and Pence agreed to speak via satellite at the rally which was billed
as an event calling for the strengthening of Jerusalem following
UNESCO's controversial decision about the city.
"We decided not to do the event, because Aish is a non-profit
that doesn't get involved in partisan politics," Aish director general
Rabbi Steven Burg told the Post.
Burg said Aish would
do its own event in response to UNESCO "because the real issue is an
unjust decision trying to erase the Jewish connection to the Temple
Mount." Burg posted The Jerusalem Post article about the rally on Facebook explaining that Aish has decided not to host the event.
He said that he had received protest letters. There was also an outcry on Twitter.
Maybe Trump should just come here and visit the Kotel (Western Wall). That's what Romney did.
#UNESCO_lies avoids revote, finalizes resolution denying Jewish connection to Temple Mount, director general receives death threats
After last week's UNESCO vote denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, Mexico, which had voted in favor, fired its (Jewish) ambassador to UNESCO who walked out in protest, and then announced that it was demanding a revote in which it would abstain on the resolution. Brazil, which had also voted in favor, decided that it too could no longer support the resolution.
But it was all for naught. UNESCO's Executive Board decided a short while ago that the resolution 'was adopted.' There will be no revote.
Meanwhile, UNESCO's Director General, Irina Bukova, has received death threats for comments she made opposing the resolution.
Bokova said following the drafted resolutions "nowhere more than in
Jerusalem do Jewish, Christian and Muslim heritage and traditions share
space".
“To deny, conceal or erase any of the Jewish, Christian
or Muslim traditions undermines the integrity of the site, and runs
counter to the reasons that justified its inscription on the UNESCO
World Heritage list [in 1981],” she stated on Friday.
I'm sure UNESCO would call her murder an 'honor killing.'
Israel's Education Ministry said on Friday that it is suspending all cooperation with UNESCO, a step that goes further than Israel's (and the United States') previous decisions to suspend their contributions to the agency, a decision President Obama has unsuccessfully attempted to reverse on several occasions.
#Sukkot at that place where #UNESCO_lies and says Jews have no connection
Picture taken around 7:00 am this morning at the Western Wall (base of the Temple Mount, and as close as yours truly will get for now), a place #UNESCO_lies has tried to disconnect from the Jewish people.
The Palestinian-drafted resolution, which
passed 24-6 with 26 abstentions, claims that the site of the two Jewish
Temples is sacred solely to Muslims. It refers to the area only by its
Islamic names: Haram al-Sharif and Al-Aqsa Mosque (the shrine situated
on the site). This is essentially the equivalent of passing a resolution
airbrushing Muslim ties to Mecca, a move which would rightly be deemed
Islamophobic. (Incidentally, in 1925, the Islamic Waqf overseeing the
Temple Mount published
a pamphlet stating that “the identity of the site with Solomon’s Temple
is beyond dispute.” Obviously, the Waqf did not anticipate the
ingenuity of the United Nations.)
Unsurprisingly, the United States, Britain, Germany, Estonia,
Lithuania, and the Netherlands voted against the resolution. Shamefully,
the other three European countries on the UNESCO executive
board—France, Sweden, and Spain—could only bring themselves to abstain
in the face of textbook anti-Jewish bigotry. (They had each previously
voted for a previous incarnation of the same resolution, before realizing how bad it made their countries look.)
Adding to the bitter irony of UNESCO’s anti-Jewish turn is the fact
that yesterday was Yom Kippur. Predictably, the liturgy of Judaism’s
holiest day makes repeated reference to Judaism’s holiest site. One of
the most frequently cited verses in the day’s lengthy prayers is Isaiah 56:7, in which the prophet imagines an interfaith utopia on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount:
וַהֲבִיאוֹתִים אֶל־הַר קָדְשִׁי וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים בְּבֵית
תְּפִלָּתִי עוֹלֹתֵיהֶם וְזִבְחֵיהֶם לְרָצוֹן עַל־מִזְבְּחִי כִּי בֵיתִי
בֵּית־תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכָל־הָעַמִּים׃
I will bring them to my sacred mount and let them rejoice in my house of
prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on my
altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
The UNESCO resolution is perfectly in keeping with Isaiah’s ecumenical sentiment, as long as one adds in “except the Jews.”
To be fair, perhaps the resolution’s supporters—which included such
noted experts on Judaism as Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and Qatar—were not
familiar with this particular verse of Isaiah, nor the myriad of other references to the Temple Mount in Judaism, nor the extensive archaeological and other evidence
for the Jewish Temples that stood there. But one would think they’d be
familiar with the famous prophecy of Isaiah carved into the wall outside
the United Nations in New York.
And
the many peoples shall go and say: “Come, Let us go up to the Mount of
the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in
his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.” For instruction shall come
forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Thus he will judge among the nations and arbitrate for the many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war.
Israel was not reported by UNESCO, but in 2011 a non-UNESCO report had our overall illiteracy rate at 2.2%.
Conclusion: 'Palestine's illiteracy rate is comparable with Israel and the Gulf countries, i.e. with the relatively wealthier countries of the region. Israel isn't holding them down and they are not exactly 'suffering.' Shocking conclusion. (NOT!).
Bonus - the classrooms pictured in those tweets are MUCH nicer classrooms than those that my two youngest children (now 7th and 9th grades) study in. Because the 'international community' is obsessed with the 'Palestinians.'
'Palestinians' and Jordanians 'postpone' UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem's Old City
The 'Palestinians' and Jordanians today tabled (temporarily) a UNESCO motion that would have challenged Israel's ties to the Old City of Jerusalem. They didn't have the votes.
The revised joint Palestinian-Jordanian draft resolution on “the Old
City of Jerusalem and its walls” was submitted to the 21-member
committee, which convened for its annual meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on
July 10-20.
The text calls for a return of the Temple
Mount and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to what it called “the historic status quo”
following the 1967 Six Day War, under which the Jordanian Waqf
religious authority had the right to administer all aspects of the sites
“including maintenance, restoration, and regulating access.”
Under arrangements agreed to by Israel after
it captured the area, non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site but not
to pray. The Palestinians says Israel is seeking to change this, a
charge the Jewish state adamantly denies.
A similar resolution adopted by UNESCO’s executive board in April infuriated Israel.
The complex, which was the site of the two
biblical temples, is Judaism’s holiest site. Muslims regard the compound
— today it houses the Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock mosques — as the
third-holiest site in Islam.
While Jews are allowed to enter the site,
their worship there is banned under arrangements instituted by Israel
when it captured the area from Jordan in 1967.
...
In the UN document, Israel is repeatedly
referred to as the “occupying power” while being accused of causing
damage to the site, conducting illegal excavations and preventing the
Jordanian Waqf, which administers the site, from conducting repairs and
renovations. The text also refers to the Western Wall plaza in quotation
marks, after using the Arabic term Al-Buraq Plaza without
qualification.
In the draft, the Jordanians and Palestinians
accuse Israel of “intrusive constructions, tunneling and underground
excavations” and “aggressions against religious sites and prayer
places.”
In April, 33 countries voted for the resolution, 6 voted against and 17 abstained. At least two countries that voted in favor in April - France (which is trying to depict itself as an 'honest broker' to promote its 'peace proposal') and Brazil - have now called their votes a 'mistake.'
By the way, Israel is the only country in the Middle East in which adherents of all religions are free to worship.... So glad Obama brought the US (which voted against in April) back into UNESCO.... /sarc
UNESCO chief blasts 'Palestinian' attempt to have Western Wall declared a Muslim holy site
As the 'Palestinians' decry Israel for supposed 'changes to the status quo' on the Temple Mount, they are attempting to create one of their own by orchestrating a UNESCO vote (you will recall that they are members of UNESCO - that's why the US hasn't paid dues in four years) declaring the Western Wall (pictured) to be an Islamic holy site. UNESCO director general Irina Bukova is not pleased, and blasted her own board today for bringing the matter to a vote.
“We all have responsibility to UNESCO’s mandate, to take decisions that
promote dialogue, tolerance and peace,” said Bokova. “This is especially
important for young people, who should be nurtured and educated for
peace.”
She issued her statement on Tuesday, in advance of
Wednesday’s highly publicized vote by UNESCO’s Executive Board in Paris
on a draft resolution, which “affirms that the Buraq Plaza [the Western
Wall] is an integral part of al-Aksa Mosque/al-Haram al-Sharif.”
A
statement put out by her office said that Bokova “appeals to the UNESCO
Executive Board to take decisions that do not further inflame tensions
on the ground and that encourage respect for the sanctity of the Holy
Sites.”
Her office added that the discussion “could be seen to
alter the status of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls, inscribed
on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, and that could further incite
tensions.”
The “protection of culture heritage should not be taken hostage, as this undermines UNESCO’s mandate and efforts,” Bokova said.
She
has consulted with nations on the 58 member board to encourage them to
pursue constructive dialogue that promotes tolerance and mutual respect
such as outlined in the mandate of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Jerusalem is a city that is
holy for Jews, Christians and Muslim and it should be a place of
dialogue for all three faiths, she said.
Bokova called on “all
parties to ensure that cultural heritage, including religious, is
preserved and accessible to all and to resume dialogue in the spirit of
mutual understanding.”
The six-page draft resolution – submitted
by Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Kuwait, and the United Arab
Emirates on behalf of the Palestinian Authority broadly condemns Israeli
actions in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza.
At no point does
the resolution mention the Jewish historical connection to Jerusalem,
which dates back to biblical times. Nor does it reference the Temple
Mount or the Western Wall, which was part of the retaining wall King
Herod built for the Temple Mount more than 2,000 years ago. It also
relies solely on Arabic names for the holy sites on and around the
Temple Mount.
Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama Hacohen
called the resolution “a total Islamization” of a site that is revered
by both Jews and Muslims.
Funny that we have not heard equally vehement opposition to this resolution from US President Hussein Obama, Secretary of State Kerry, UN Ambassador Power or National Security Council Chief Rice.
I wonder why the self-proclaimed 'most pro-Israel administration evah' has not come out against this. /sarc
The unbridled interference of Israel's Supreme Court in political and military issues of which it understands nothing has led to a situation in which Israel is about to place most of the land designated for the city of Gvaot outside the 'security fence' while still angering the fence's proponents and opponents.
In 2004, the International Court of Justice at the Hague issued a
non-binding advisory opinion, explaining that construction of the [security fence] over the pre-1967 lines was illegal.
Israel designed the
barrier to prevent the type of suicide bombings that killed around 1000
thousand people during the second intifada. It has refused to heed the
ICJ opinion, which it believes is legally flawed and the result of a
biased process.
But the pace of construction has been slow and
according to the United Nations, 12 years after the barrier's inception,
only 62% of its 712 kilometer route has been completed.
Among
the uncompleted sections is the route in the Gush Etzion region, just
outside Jerusalem, including a 45 kilometer stretch that was approved in
2006.
...
Palestinians,
settlers and environmentalists oppose the route and have appealed to
the High Court of Justice. Gush Etzion Regional Council head Davidi Perl
said that the planned route also places land outside the barrier which
is assumed to be part of Israel’s final borders in any permanent status
agreement.
This includes, he said, large portions of new project, Gevaot, where his council hopes to build a new West Bank city.
The
Defense Ministry last month reclassified the property as state land, to
pave the way for future building, but now the government intends to
approve barrier route that excludes the bulk of that project, he said.
...
In hopes
of blocking construction of the barrier near Battir, the Palestine
Liberation Organization sought help from the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, whose World Heritage Committee
registered the village's ancient terraces in June to the state of
Palestine. The Palestinians, the Gush Etzion Council and environmental
groups have also appeal to Israel’s High Court of Justice.
On
July 29th the HCJ ordered the government to review the issue by October
2nd, particularly in light of the diplomatic implications of Battir’s
new status as a World Heritage site. It noted a review was also needed
because in the last eight years the route has been altered for
environmental and quality of life reasons.
The status as a 'World Heritage' site - clearly a political move - has absolutely no effect on Israel's security needs, which should be the sole criterion in determining the fence's route.
The defense ministry’s legal expert Ahaz Ben-Ari advised the government that it could reauthorized the route.
“The
High Court of Justice’s orders to reauthorize the security barrier’s
route in the area of the village of Battir in light of UNESCO’s
decision, does not stem from legal issues resulting in the recognition
of the Battir terraces as a World Heritage site, but rather from the
diplomatic questions connected to the topic.”
And therefore the court has no place interfering. In a normal democracy, it's not up to the Supreme Court to determine the handling of diplomatic questions. Israel, however, is not a normal democracy.
“There is no legal
obstacle to authorizing [the barrier’s route], especially given that in
response to legal proceedings before the court the route has been
changed to lessen harm to the environmental and the landscape,” Ben-Ari
wrote. He added that the state has also promised to preserve the quality
of life of the Palestinians living in Battir.
The environmentalists are also whining about the route, but if the IDF was allowed to plan the route properly it probably wouldn't be anywhere near this area, but rather far deeper into the Judean desert.
Jonathan Schanzer warns that with the likely collapse of the current 'negotiations,' the 'Palestinians' have a plan B which consists of seeking recognition from the United Nations and its agencies. And there's little that Israel - or even the United States - can do to stop it. It's a diplomatic intifada.
Even amidst the peace talks, the Palestinians have used the 194
campaign as leverage. In early November, for example, the Palestinian
Monetary Authority announced that it had obtained full membership in the
International Association of Deposit Insurers [16]. Senior Palestinian official Nabil Shaath
[17] also warned that the Palestinians could use the "weapon" of taking
claims against Israel in the International Criminal Court. Shaath
added, "There are organizations that await our application, and ask us
when are we applying."
Abbas himself has threatened
[18], "If we don't obtain our rights through negotiations, we have the
right to go to international institutions." Palestinian official Hanan
Ashrawi also warned that the Palestinian leadership was ready to join sixteen agencies [19] beginning in April 2014. "Everything is in place and will be set in motion," Ashrawi claimed. By late December, Saeb Erekat told Maan News Agency [20] that there were no less than sixty-three member agencies of the UN that the PLO sought to join.
And while the exact strategy has not been released, on January 25, Maan News Agency
[21] reported that a PLO committee had reached an internal agreement on
how to "take the Palestinian plight to the UN and its various bodies."
This included "signing international conventions and joining UN agencies
and different bodies." Among the most important of these bodies was
said to be the International Criminal Court (ICC), "because that will
enable the PA to sue the Israeli occupation over war crimes and crimes
against humanity."
Israeli officials quietly admit that the ICC is only one agency on a
short list of international bodies that they view as red lines. They
include the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International
Maritime Organization (IMO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and
INTERPOL. The concern for Israel is not that, not only would the
Palestinians gain acceptance as a state through these agencies (and do
so outside of the bilateral peace process), but that the Palestinians
would also try to isolate Israel from these agencies, which are crucial
to Israeli commerce, security and/or diplomacy.
Other Palestinian memberships would simply be insulting. For example,
Palestinians seek to join FIFA and then disqualify Israel from the
international soccer association. Indeed, Israel is growing increasingly
concerned that the Palestine 194 campaign is about to become part of
the larger strategy of Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS). The campaign
has scored some small successes in academia, with a handful of European
businesses joining, too. But should the majority of UN member states
embrace the strategy of shunning Israel from multiple international
organizations, BDS could evolve into a real threat to Israel's
legitimacy.
The Palestinians, for their part, know that if they take new steps in
this direction, it will open up a whole new front in the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This explains, in part, why Palestinian
officials have kept a lid on their strategy. However, Palestinian
officials in the past have been quick to point out that they do not view
the Palestine 194 campaign as antithetical to bilateral negotiations
with Israel. Indeed, they see it as a means to enhance their negotiating
position. But now that talks are ongoing, Palestinian officials will
not discuss how this dual-track strategy works, particularly in light of
U.S. opposition to the 194 track. Instead, Palestinian officials
articulate their full-throated support of the Kerry initiative. At least
most of the time [22].
For Washington, there is more at stake here than a Nobel Prize for
Obama, Kerry and Indyk. Washington maintains its laws prohibiting the
funding of UN agencies when the PLO gains membership. That law did not
change following the UNESCO debacle. This, of course, means that the US
could be forced to choose between the State of Palestine and sixty-three
different UN agencies.
Some may not seem like a loss—such as the International Olive Council [23]. However, others, such as the World Health Organization or the International Court of Justice, could be bruising.
There's a lot that the United States could do to fight this using the power of the purse. But with Obama in charge, it's unlikely that the US will do anything to fight it.
Prime Minister Netanyahu blasted UNESCO at the opening of Sunday's cabinet session for 'postponing' an exhibit about the Jewish people's connection to the Land of Israel. Netanyahu accused UNESCO of sending the message that facts might endanger the 'peace process.'
The exhibit “won’t endanger negotiations. Negotiations that are based
on the facts, on truth, cannot be endangered,” Netanyahu declared.
However, he warned, other UN behavior does hurt the chances for
peace. “What does undermine talks is some states’ automatically
summoning Israeli ambassadors over trivial matters, while serious
violations by the Palestinian Authority get no response,” he charged.
“The biased approach to Israel does not advance peace – it delays
peace,” he continued. “It strengthens the PA’s refusal to move forward
in negotiations.”
Last week, I reported that UNESCO announced that it was 'postponing' an exhibit that shows the Jewish people's 3,500 year connection to the Land of Israel out of deference to the 'peace process.' The postponement caused consternation in Israel and at Los Angeles' Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is co-sponsoring the exhibit. Now, the United States and Canada are urging UNESCO to reconsider.
The United States and Canada called on UNESCO to rescind its sudden
decision to suspend an exhibit on Jewish ties to the Land of Israel – due to open at its Paris headquarters on Monday – in response to a protest by Arab states who fear it could damage the peace process.
“UNESCO’s decision is wrong and should be reversed,” said US Ambassador
to the UN Samantha Power on Friday. “The United States has engaged at
senior levels to urge UNESCO to allow this exhibit to proceed as soon
as possible.”
...
”UNESCO is supposed to be fostering discussion and interaction between
civil society and member states, and organizations such as the
Wiesenthal Center have a right to be heard and to contribute to UNESCO’s
mission,” said Power.
In spite of her harsh rebuke, the US had opted not to sponsor the
exhibit, which bore the sponsorship seal of only three countries,
Canada, Israel and Montenegro.
Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday there “is no
appropriate rationale to delay the exhibition and [we are] deeply
disappointed by the decision made to postpone it. Our ambassador to
UNESCO has written to the secretary-general of that organization urging
her to take all necessary action for this exhibition to go ahead as
long planned,” it said. Should UNESCO fail to open the exhibit as
agreed upon, the Wiesenthal Center plans to hold a press conferences in
Paris and Los Angeles on Monday to show its panels to the public.
Wiesenthal dean and founder Rabbi Marvin Hier said all the exhibit panels had been vetted and approved by UNESCO.
...
World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said: “It is sad that
Arabs deny the 3,500- year connection of the Jewish people to the Land
of Israel, especially when that connection is part of their own
tradition.
With this decision, UNESCO has done a disservice to the peace process and implicitly endorsed Arab rejectionism.
This exhibit will only happen if the US says it's going to cut UNESCO's funding again. With the Obama administration in power, I would not expect that to happen.
UNESCO accepts Arab League request to 'postpone' exhibit on Jewish people's connection to the Land of Israel
UNESCO has accepted an Arab League request to 'postpone' (indefinitely) an exhibit on the Jewish people's 3,500-year connection to the land of Israel. The exhibit was to take place in UNESCO's Paris headquarters, and was to be co-sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. The exhibit was designed by Hebrew University Professor Robert Wistrich, the author of a seminal book on anti-Semitism. The 'reason' for the 'postponement' is that it could 'harm the peace process.'
The center sent out invitations earlier this month using the phrase
“Land of Israel.” By Monday, both sides had agreed to the term Holy
Land, and UNESCO sent out its invitations.
A day later, UNESCO
received a letter from the 22 countries in its Arab Group. They were
concerned that while the exhibit’s title was innocuous, the subject
itself was political, and warned that hosting such an exhibit in the
midst of efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry to reach a
final-status agreement for a two-state solution undermined his work, as
well as UNESCO’s objectivity.
The same day, UNESCO decided to
postpone the exhibit even though it had met earlier with the Wiesenthal
staff in Paris to go over the final details. The exhibit was already
being set up in its halls, and it already had received a congratulatory
opening letter from President Shimon Peres.
In a letter, Hier
immediately called on Bokova to reconsider and not cave in to the
“bullying” of the Arab Group, particularly given that UNESCO experts
had already vetted and approved the exhibit. He recalled how he had
obtained her verbal approval in October 2011, on the same day that
UNESCO member states voted to recognize “Palestine” as a state and
accord it full membership rights.
That approval, he wrote, was
followed by a public signing ceremony in 2012 at the Museum of Tolerance
in Los Angeles. Hier provided The Jerusalem Post with a photograph
from that event, which showed Bokova standing by a panel for the
exhibit.
“Let’s be clear,” Hier wrote in his letter to Bokova,
“the Arab Group’s protest is not over any particular content in the
exhibition, but rather the very idea of it – that the Jewish people did
not come to the Holy Land only after the Nazi Holocaust, but trace
their historical and cultural roots in that land for three-anda- half
millennia. If anything will derail hopes for peace and reconciliation
among the people of the Middle East, it will be by surrendering to the
forces of extremism and torpedoing the opening of this exhibition –
jointly vetted and co-organized by UNESCO and the Simon Wiesenthal
Center.”
Bokova, in turn, said UNESCO successfully works with many
Jewish groups, and just this November held an event with B’nai B’rith
about the Yiddish language. But, she said, consensus was important to
the organization.
“Having in mind the delicate phase that the
peace negotiations are entering, I have no choice but to take seriously
the concerns raised in the letter of the chairperson of the Arab
Group,” she wrote.
Israel, which is sponsoring the exhibit along with Canada and Montenegro, expressed dissatisfaction.
“We
regret that such an important exhibition has been undermined by
inappropriate considerations,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal
Palmor, “and we hope a solution can be found to enable UNESCO to hold
the exhibit as originally planned.”
Canada had no response as of press time.
If
the exhibit does not open on January 20, the Wiesenthal Center plans
to hold press conferences in Paris and Los Angeles to show it to the
media.
Priorities: Obama and Rice want US to re-fund UNESCO
With the United States trillions of dollars in debt, President Obama and National Security Adviser Lazy Susan Rice have their priorities in order. The wrong order. They want Congress to re-fund UNESCO.
"Shameful that US has lost its vote at #UNESCO," Rice wrote on Twitter.
"Congress needs to fix this. Current law doesn't punish the
Palestinians; it handicaps the US."
...
Analysts have said that by losing its vote, the United States is
foregoing and important opportunity to exercise "soft power" - the
ability to exert international influence through other means than brute
force or money. That gap is likely to be filled by other emerging global
powers, such as China, they say.
"UNESCO directly advances US
interests in supporting girls' and women's education, facilitating
important scientific research, promoting tolerance, protecting and
preserving the world's natural and cultural heritage, supporting freedom
of the press, and much more," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki
said on Friday.
UNESCO also granted membership to an imaginary state called 'Palestine.' That action forced funding to be canceled under US law. And if that law is changed, 'Palestine' will likely be a full member of the General Assembly next week. That would really motivate the 'Palestinians' to negotiate in good faith, wouldn't it?
Well isn't this an ironic headline for the day that the United States is about to sign off on a nuclear Iran? The United States has lost its voting rights in UNESCO over the 'Palestinians.'
The US missed a Friday deadline to provide an
official justification of its non-payment and a plan to pay back its
missed dues, the UNESCO source said, automatically triggering the
suspension of voting rights.
As of the 1100 a.m. GMT deadline,
"nothing was received from the United States," the source said. Two
separate diplomatic sources also confirmed the deadline had been missed,
triggering the suspension of voting rights.
There was no immediate comment at the office of the US envoy to the UN agency.
UNESCO designates World Heritage sites, promotes global education and supports press freedom among other tasks.
The
withdrawal of US funding - which to date amounts to about $240 million
or some 22 percent of UNESCO's budget - has plunged the United Nations
Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization into a financial
crisis, forcing it to cut programs and slash spending.
UNESCO made no comment on the matter. Its Director-General Irina Bokova was expected to issue a statement later.
Boo. Hoo. I mean the US just has so much influence in that body with its right to vote....
You might recall that back in December, the 'Palestinians' submitted a heritage site to UNESCO for the 'ancient Roman irrigation network of Battir.' Of course, that 'ancient Roman irrigation network had nothing to do with the 'Palestinians.' As Giulio Meotti wrote:
Battir, however, is not “a
Palestinian village” with an old irrigation system, it’s the holy site
of the ancient Jewish fortress of Betar, the site of the last organized
resistance of the Jews to Roman rule in 135 C.E. during the historically
documenteed Bar Kochba rebellion.
But in the UNESCO protocols there is no mention of Betar.
Two months ago, the United States brokered a deal between Israel and the 'Palestinians' pursuant to which the 'Palestinians' would drop five items from their 'condemn Israel' agenda at UNESCO, and in return, Israel would do the following (as reported by JPost):
As part of the agreement brokered by the US between the PA, Jordan and
Israel, Israel has in return agreed to allow UNESCO experts to survey a
number of sites in Jerusalem. Israel has also agreed to take part in
UNESCO meetings about the Mugrabi Bridge, which runs from the Western
Wall plaza to the Temple Mount and which has been a source of conflict
between Israel and the Waqf Muslim religious trust.
The 'Palestinians' are now claiming that they dropped their application to have the 'ancient Roman irrigation system' at Battir declared a world heritage site as a result of that deal.
The five resolutions that the Palestinians
temporarily shelved in UNESCO dealt with the Temple Mount, the Mughrabi Bridge
leading to the Temple Mount from the Western Wall Plaza, Bethlehem, Hebron and
Gaza.
The 'Palestinians' are also now claiming that the entire deal was a 'trick' by Israel.
Experts in Battir and Bethlehem who helped draft the application told
Ma’an that the Palestinian delegation in Paris received a completed file
in January. It should have submitted it by a February deadline but did
not, the officials said. This is because in early 2013, Palestinian and
Israeli officials worked out an informal agreement to freeze the
nomination, a PLO official with knowledge of the decision said.
In
return, the Israeli government indicated it would permit the UN agency
to send an investigative team to Jerusalem, the official said, speaking
on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss
the sensitive negotiations with Israel.
“All the paperwork was
ready for the Battir application ... It was stopped in exchange for the
delegation to Jerusalem,” the official explained.
Israel ended up reneging on the deal weeks after the deadline to submit Battir had passed.
“What
we did was bad. It was a really big mistake ... They were never going
to allow UN investigators into their ‘undivided, eternal capital,’” the
official added, referring to Israel's vision for Jerusalem.
But Israel says Battir was never part of the deal, and Israeli officials don't understand why the 'Palestinians' dropped it.
Israeli officials say they were unaware of the change of plans and
denied that delaying or canceling the vote at UNESCO was part of the
deal to bring the delegation to Jerusalem.
“This comes as a
surprise,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor. “I really can’t
think about why they would do that. They did seem very keen on pushing
that forward.”
Palmor told Ma'an late Saturday that the informal
deal to bring the UNESCO delegation to Jerusalem included shelving five
pro-Palestinian resolutions at the UN, but not Battir’s UNESCO
application. “As far as I know, the concrete measure was (only) to
freeze a number of resolutions.”
Israel ended up reneging on the deal weeks after the deadline to submit Battir had passed.
That's not true. First of all, the application had to be submitted in February as Maan itself admits.
Experts in Battir and Bethlehem who helped draft the application told
Ma’an that the Palestinian delegation in Paris received a completed file
in January. It should have submitted it by a February deadline but did
not, the officials said. This is because in early 2013, Palestinian and
Israeli officials worked out an informal agreement to freeze the
nomination, a PLO official with knowledge of the decision said.
The deal that allowed the inspection in Jerusalem to take place was reached in April. It therefore had nothing to do with Battir.
One
Foreign Ministry official characterized the visit as “professional” and not
political, and said the delegation would neither go to the Temple Mount nor deal
with the issue of the Mughrabi Bridge.
...
According to a UNESCO
statement, the mission’s goals are to “examine the state of conservation of the
Old City of Jerusalem and its walls, a World Heritage site.” The mission is made
up of experts from UNESCO’s World Heritage Center, the International Council on
Monuments and Sites, and the International Center for the Study of the
Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. It is to present its report
and recommendations before the beginning of the World Heritage Committee’s
annual meeting on June 1.
The Foreign Ministry is hosting the delegation,
a ministry official said, since Israel is “the responsible party for maintaining
and preserving” the site.
...
Under the deal, Israel agreed to attend a UNESCO meeting to be held
in June in Paris to discuss the Mughrabi Bridge.
But at the last minute, the 'inspection' was canceled. This is from the JPost at the time.
The spokesman said that contrary to an
agreement brokered in April at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, the PA
was now insisting on taking the delegation to the Temple Mount, and
meeting with Palestinian political personalities, not just "engineers,
architects and professional people".
"We have said this was unacceptable" the spokesman said. "Hopefully the delegation is postponed, and not cancelled."
It was not immediately clear whether some of the delegation participants had already arrived in the country.
So the inspection was canceled because the 'Palestinians' violated the agreement, and Battir was never supposed to be part of the UNESCO deal in the first place. Maan is telling more 'Palestinian' lies.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
