Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Culture Organization on Thursday called the international body a “full partner” in Palestinian incitement, issuing the remark less than a week after Palestinian gunmen killed two police officers on the Temple Mount..
“UNESCO is a full partner to the false incitement by Palestinians and radical Islam who claim that Al-Aksa [Temple Mount mosque] is in danger,” Ambassador Carmel Shama HaCohen said, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Shama HaCohen sent a letter to UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova demanding that the body "condemn the use of Har-Habait (Temple Mount), as a place for launching terror attacks against Israel.”
On Israeli Independence Day this past May, UNESCO’s Executive Board passed a resolution describing Israel as an “occupying power” in Jerusalem and indicated that the Tomb of the Patriarchs, referred to as Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi, and Rachel’s Tomb, which it called Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque, are “an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Bokova subsequently strongly defended Jewish historical link to Jerusalem during a speech at the World Jewish Congress’ assembly in New York.
Earlier this month, the the 21-member UNESCO World Heritage Committee, meeting in Krakow, Poland, passed a resolution condemning Israel for its policies in the Old City of Jerusalem, and at the same meeting, approved a decision to include the old city of Hebron, including the Tomb of the Patriarchs, as a Palestinian world heritage site in danger.
The World Jewish Congress condemned the decisions as “a clear attack on Israel and will only further entrench divisions among all parties.”
