UNESCO Passes Resolution Nullifying Jewish Ties to Al-Quds Holy Sites

Local Editor

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] on Thursday passed a contentious anti-"Israel" resolution denying Jewish connections to the "Temple Mount" and "Western Wall" in al-Quds [Jerusalem].

Twenty-four countries voted in favor of the decision while six voted against and 26 abstained while just two were missing from the vote.

The US, Britain, Germany, Holland, Lithuania and Estonia voted against the resolution.

The proposal, put forth by the Palestinians, along with Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, condemns "Israel" on several issues related to al-Quds and its holy sites.

The draft resolution, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, acknowledged that the city of al-Quds is holy to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity but said the "Temple Mount" holy site is sacred only to Muslims and fails to mention its significance to Jews.

An entire section of the proposal dedicated specifically to the "Temple Mount" complex refers only to the site's Muslim names [Al-Aqsa Mosque and Haram al-Sharif] and fails to mention its Hebrew or English names [Har HaBayit or Temple Mount].

The resolution refers also to the "Western Wall" plaza by its Muslim name [al-Buraq plaza] and only mentions its Hebrew-Jewish name [Hakotel Hama'aravi] later in quotation marks.

In a related notion, UNESCO passed a similar resolution in April referring to the "Temple Mount" solely as al-Aqsa Mosque and the "Western Wall" as the al-Buraq Plaza.

France was among the 33 countries that backed the resolution in the 58-member body causing a diplomatic spat which resulted in French President Francois Hollande pledging that France would not support such measures in the future.

Accordingly, "Israeli" diplomats had over recent weeks attempted to convince UNESCO member states to oppose or at least abstain during the vote.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team