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GENEVA, July 15, 2016 — Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is refusing to include
any non-Islamic term for Jerusalem’s Temple Mount in a UNESCO resolution out of
fear that he and Jordan’s King Abdullah would be targeted by ISIS, reported
Israel’s ambassador to the Paris-based UN agency on science, education and
culture. (See story below.)
Israel is expressing alarm over an EU
members’ revised draft resolution at a session of UNESCO's World Heritage
Committee now meeting in Istanbul. Foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon
said it would be “crazy” for EU states on the 21-member committee—Poland,
Portugal, Croatia, and Finland—to agree to a text that is “denying Jewish
Jerusalem” and Temple Mount, thereby “denying the roots of Christian Europe.”
In a statement by the foreign ministry,
Israel said it was “concerned by the European Union’s intention to propose a
draft resolution that denies the connection between the Jewish people and the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site.”
“The
EU resolution would serve as an alternative to the draft resolution proposed by
the Palestinians,” yet “the EU proposal is a continuation of the attempts being
made to negate the Jewish people’s deep historic and religious ties to the
Temple Mount.”
“This despite France’s apology and
admission that it erred in supporting the April decision of UNESCO’s Executive
Board that considered the Temple Mount to be a site holy only to Muslims.” (See
below on France.)
“They must come to their senses!” wrote spokesman Nahshon on Twitter.
Palestinian Rep: Abbas Won’t Mention Temple
Mount for Fear of ISIS.
Israel’s ambassador
to UNESCO, Carmel Shama Hacohen, present at the UNESCO meeting in Istanbul and
leading the campaign against the European initiative, was quoted by Ynet as follows: “Though the Euro
soccer tournament ended, the EU is deep offside; instead of focusing on its
challenges, it may be adding troubles in a region that already has its share.
The European consensus for severing the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount
reaches a new record of hypocrisy.”
During the discussions, reported Ynet,
Ambassador Shama Hohen asked Palestinian delegate Mounir Anastas why
Palestinians are not prepared to recognize the Jewish right to the Temple Mount
and include the term “Temple Mount” in the resolution, alongside the Arab term,
Haram al-Sharif.
The Palestinian delegate replied,
according to Ynet, that if the Palestinians were to recognize the Temple Mount,
then Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah would
become number one targets of ISIS.
Shama Hacohen commented that “the
historical connection of the Jewish people to the Temple Mount is not subject
to the wishes and threats of ISIS, just like it is not subject to the will or
decisions of foreign countries and international organizations.”
“Palestinians and Jordanians should thank
God for Israeli sovereignty over Temple Mount, which gives them and the place
complete religious freedom and absolute protection from ISIS and the
destruction it sows of cultural and religious heritage sites in the entire
Middle East.”
Jordanian-Palestinian Draft Denies Jewish Ties
to Jerusalem
An earlier, Palestinian-Jordanian draft
referred ten times to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, the Islamic term for Temple
Mount, without mentioning that it has been the holiest site in Judaism for thousands of
years.
France backed a similar resolution
adopted at UNESCO’s executive board in April, but after an outcry several of
its leaders expressed regret. President Hollande pledged to be “vigilant” in
the next resolution, to affirm the shared significance of the holy sites.
Brazil also expressed regret. Now is an opportunity for both countries, who
exercise influence despite not being members of the committee, to play a
positive role in Istanbul.
Arab states can expect immediate support
from 11 of the 21 committee members. Six of them—Cuba, Indonesia, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Tunisia and Zimbabwe—are almost certain to back the Palestinians,
while another five, the Philippines, Jamaica, Turkey, Kazakhstan and
Azerbaijan, are likely to do the same.
On the other hand, it was hoped that
Croatia, Finland, Poland, Portugal, South Korea and Tanzania would take a more
balanced position, as possibly could Angola, Burkina Faso, Peru and Vietnam.
After UNESCO Vote in April, French Leaders Criticized Own Position
After the April resolution at UNESCO that effectively denied Jewish
ties to Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reprimanded French President Francois Hollande
for his country's support of the resolution, citing it as a stumbling block to
Israel endorsing a French-led international conference on the
Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
- In a rare
development, French leaders then questioned their own government's vote. President
Francois Hollande indicated that he will be
"vigilant" in ensuring that the next text on the subject,
expected in October, will be unequivocal in its affirmation of the shared
significance of the holy sites.
- Prime Minister
Manuel Valls more sharply criticized the resolution, saying: “This
UNESCO resolution contains unfortunate, clumsy wording that offends and
unquestionably should have been avoided, as should have the vote."
- Interior
Minister Bernard Cazeneuve also criticized France's vote, telling an event
organized by CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish communities, that he
does “not take a supportive view of the text.” The resolution “should not
have been adopted,” Cazeneuve said at the event in Paris, adding that the
resolution passed “was not written as it should have been,” the Le Figaro daily reported.
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