Agudath Israel: Today’s resolution by UNESCO, despite its revision from an even more egregious draft, deserves only condemnation.

The final draft was not the result of any new recognition or understanding by Arab leaders or other supporters of the resolution of the Jewish people’s connection to the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, Jerusalem or any other holy sites. It was simply the outcome of arm twisting and backroom deals. And even the resultant “compromise” is odious.

The resolution seeks only to empower Palestinian leaders’ attempt to “de-Judaize” Judaism’s holiest places. Indeed, the proposal itself makes no mention of any Jewish connection to Jerusalem, the Temple Mount or the Western Wall. And its new “tempered” language continues firmly on that path by declaring the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb – the sacred burial ground of Judaism’s patriarchs and matriarch – as Muslim holy sites. The resolution is a further attempt in the effort to sever the connection between the Jewish people and their holy sites and ancestral heritage.

The sponsors of the resolution understand well that repeating a big lie manufactures its own “truth.” That is their goal.

The Palestinian Authority and Arab states that sponsored UNESCO’s resolution have not changed that goal, only their strategy.

This resolution is a scurrilous, cynical calumny, aimed at achieving nefarious ends.

[TLS]