The UK voted against the resolution, with twenty-six representatives voting in favor, six against, and twenty-five abstentions. The United States led the dissenters.
Advertisement
“When these holy sites are located within the confines or protection of the Israeli government, they remain open to people of all faiths, whereas when the territory is governed by the PA, they exclude people of the Jewish faith and in some violent cases, repel people of any faith”.
The Israelis are doing no such thing, but the claim underlies the wave of Palestinian attacks on Jews these past three weeks. It included lawmakers with close ties to right-wing pro-Israel groups like Reps.
“Nevertheless, the resolution accepted Wednesday does co-opt two other ancient Jewish holy sites: the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb, which contain the remains of the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs and are regular sites of pilgrimage for Jewish worshipers”.
Commenting on news, Conservative Friends of Israel’s Parliamentary Chairman, Sir Eric Pickles said, ” I warmly welcome the UK’s principled vote against the outrageous Palestinian resolution at UNESCO”. Muslim tradition holds that Mohammed tied up his winged animal Buraq in the Western Wall vicinity before ascending to heaven. Jews may pray at the adjacent Western Wall.
“That means respecting the claims of both Jews and Muslims to holy sites which have significance for both religions”, it said. “We’ve already seen what happens in holy sites in the Middle East when extreme Muslims destroy each other’s mosques, Christian sites, heritage sites, Jewish sites”, he said.
“That was enough to adopt a measure which blithely ignores the documented reality that Israel, since 1967, has not changed the Temple Mount status quo, allows millions of Muslims to visit there, and, more broadly, continues to seek a peaceful, negotiated resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, while the Palestinian leadership is missing in action”.
“This will only add to the tensions in the region and appear to reward those engaged in violence”, the organization said in a statement.
The Conference of the Presidents of Major American Organizations also joined the condemnation, calling the decision “offensive and a distortion of history”.
Advertisement
The complete list of those who signed the letter includes Lowenthal, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Sandy Levin (D-MI), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Susan Davis (D-CA), Steve Israel (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Steve Cohen (D-TN), John Yarmuth (D-KY), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Jared Polis (D-CO), David Cicilline (D-RI), Alan Grayson (D-FL), Lois Frankel (D-FL), and Lee Zeldin (R-NY).
