by Raphael Ahren and Alexander Fulbright
Twenty-two countries vote in favor of motion; 23 abstain and 10 countries vote against; Israel envoy slams “new low, even by UNESCO standards”
The United Nation’s cultural body Tuesday passed the latest in a series of resolutions denying Israeli claims to Jerusalem in a move both forcefully condemned by Israel and touted as a diplomatic coup among to the growing number of countries opposing it.
Submitted to UNESCO’s executive board by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, the resolution on “Occupied Palestine,” indicating Israel has no legal or historical rights anywhere in Jerusalem, was expected to pass, given the automatic anti-Israel majority in the 58-member body.
The vote, which coincided with Israel’s Independence Day, passed with 22 countries in favor, 23 abstentions, 10 opposed and the representatives of three countries absent.
The resolution indicates rejection of the Jewish state’s sovereignty in any part of Jerusalem. Israel is referred to throughout the document as the “occupying power” in Jerusalem, indicating that it has no legal or historical ties to any part of the city. The resolution also harshly criticizes the government for various construction projects in Jerusalem’s Old City and at holy sites in Hebron and calls for an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza without mentioning attacks from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
The ten countries that voting against the resolution were the US, UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Greece, Paraguay, Ukraine, Togo and Germany.
Its wording was slightly less harsh on Jerusalem than previous resolutions in that it does affirm the importance of the city to the “three monotheistic religions.”
In the moments after the vote passed Israeli ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen, draped in a large Israeli flag, addressed the meeting.
“Even now, after this miserable vote, this blue and white flag is flying high above the Temple Mount and throughout Israel’s eternal capital city, Jerusalem, waving in the wind, saying to all ‘here we are, and we are here to stay,’” Shama-Hacohen said.
“This biased and blatantly deceitful decision, and the attempts to dispute the connection between Israel and Jerusalem, will not change the simple fact that this city is the historic and eternal capital of the Jewish people,” Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said in a statement. “Israel will not stand silently by in the face of this shameful resolution.”
In the lead-up to Tuesday’s vote Israeli diplomats were busy trying to prevent a European-Arab agreement under which the council’s European members would either vote in favor or abstain in exchange for a slightly softer text.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly made phone calls to European leaders in a bid to convince them to reject the resolution.
Earlier on Tuesday Netanyahu harshly criticized the UNESCO resolution for ignoring the Jewish people’s millennia-long bond to Israel’s capital city.
Speaking at the Bible Quiz held annually on Independence Day, Netanyahu said despite the text of the resolution, Judaism has deeper roots in Jerusalem that any other religion.
“There is no other people in the world for whom Jerusalem is as holy and important as for the Jewish people, even though a meeting will take place at UNESCO today that will try to deny this historical truth,” he said.
“We denounce UNESCO and uphold our truth, which is the truth,” that “throughout Jewish history Jerusalem was the heart of the nation.”
Unlike previous resolutions, Tuesday’s resolution does not refer to the Temple Mount exclusively as Haram al-Sharif, nor to the Western Wall Plaza only as al-Burak plaza, the Muslim names of these sites. Instead, the sites are entirely unmentioned.
Resolution 201 EX/PX/DR.30.1 affirms “the importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls for the three monotheistic religions.” It also notes that the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem, both of which are in the West Bank, “are of religious significance for Judaism, Christianity and Islam,” though it calls them “Palestinian sites.”
Earlier this week Israeli officials acknowledged the resolution passed Tuesday was somewhat easier to stomach than previous versions but emphatically urged Western countries to vote against it.
Full story here.