Itamar Eichner/Ynetnews/The UN has decided that Jews have no connection to Jerusalem

UNESCO has decided that there is no Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount following a Palestinian initiative on Thursday.

There were 26 countries who abstained from the vote, including Serbia and Turkmenistan, while 24 countries supported the initiative and six voted against it. It should be noted that not a single European nation voted for the initiative.

The countries of France, Sweden, Slovenia, India, Argentina, and Togo at first were going to vote for the resolution saying that Jews have no connection to Jerusalem, but were convinced to abstain from voting in the end.

The US, UK, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Estonia, and Germany voted against the Palestinian backed resolution.

In an unusual move, Israel sought the Holy See’s help in forestalling UNESCO’s adopting a Palestinian recommendation to deny any Jewish affiliation with Jerusalem and the Temple Mount Thursday afternoon, arguing that it will also harm Christians.

The Palestinians have demanded that an international delegation experts be sent to the holy sites to examine what they have described as the destruction of historical and archeological heritage by Israel. They allege that this has been carried out in a variety of manners, including the building of the Jerusalem light rail and archeological excavations.

Israel, along with the United States, has been working in recent weeks to reduce the majority support within UNESCO’s executive board. France, which supported the Palestinians in April, has promised to vote against this proposal.

The Palestinians are seeking, inter alia, to appoint a UNESCO permanent observer in Jerusalem and to appoint a series of condemnations of Israeli activities, such as the alleged demolition of a school in Kfar Adumim. (Israel claims that it was a dilapidated caravan that was destroyed and “not a school.”

From the MFA’s pamphlet (Photo: MFA)

Bibi responded to the decision, saying “The theatre of the absurd continues with UNESCO and today the organization has made its most bizarre decision by saying the people of Israel have no connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.”

“Obviously they have never read the Bible, he said, “but I would advise UNESCO members to visit the Arch of Titus in Rome, where they can see what the Romans brought to Rome after they destroyed and looted the Temple Mount two thousand years ago. One can see engraved on the arch the seven-branched menorah, which is the symbol of the Jewish people as well as the symbol of the Jewish State today.”

“Surely UNESCO will say that Emperor Titus was a part of Zionist propaganda,” he continued.

“To say that Israel has no connection to the Temple Mount and Western Wall is like saying China has no connection to the Great Wall of China or Egypt has no connection to the pyramids. With this absurd decision, UNESCO has lost what little legitimacy it once had. However, I believe that the historical truth will prevail,” he ended.

Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked added that “the UN is breaking its own record for ignorance and anti-Semitism. An organization that purports to present science and education instead presents the rotten politics of dictatorial Islamic countries. Instead of enlightened Western countries leading the organization, some are blindly following the shameful decision.”

Israel’s permanent delegate to UNESCO, Amb. Carmel Shama Hacohen, commented, “Israel and the Jewish people don’t require UNESCO’s or any other country’s confirmation of the special connection between the Jewish people and the State of Israel and Jerusalem in general and the holy sites therein like the Western Wall and the Temple Mount in particular.”
The ambassador continued, “There is no connection of another people to another place in the world that comes close to the strength and depth of our connection to Jerusalem from a religious, historical and national perspective, a connection that has stood the test of 2,000 years.”President Reuven Rivlin commented on Thursday morning, “There is no festival more connected to Jerusalem than Sukkot. The festivals of Israel all highlight the inextricable bond between our people and our land, and no forum or body in the world can come and deny the connection between the Jewish people, the Land of Israel and Jerusalem—and any such body that does so simply embarrasses itself.” Rivlin added, “We can understand criticism, but you cannot change history”.

US Permanent Delegate to UNESCO Amb. Crystal Nix-Hines has explained in the past to UNESCO’s executive board that unilateral decisions on the Middle East have made it harder for the American administration to resume paying its UNESCO membership fees. Shama Hacohen explained that the US Congress has blocked President Barack Obama’s efforts to resume the payments, some €80 million per annum, as both the Republicans and Democrats have opposed UNESCO’s decisions regarding Jerusalem.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released a pamphlet of the historical Jewish connection to Jerusalem, which has been distributed to all 120 permanent delegates to UNESCO whose countries have diplomatic relations with Israel.