Hamas on Tuesday called UNESCO’s formal adoption of a resolution effectively disregarding Jewish and Christian ties to Jerusalem “a victory for the Palestinian people.”
The resolution, passed Thursday in the committee stage of the United Nations cultural body and approved finally on Tuesday, referred to the Temple Mount and Western Wall only by their Muslim names and condemned Israel as “the occupying power” for various actions taken in both sites.
The resolution led Israel to suspend all ties with the cultural body and drew a furious reaction from Israel’s leaders, some of whom accused UNESCO of supporting anti-Semitism.
A spokesman for the Gaza-based terror group Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement that his group “welcomes” the resolution’s wording to the effect that “al-Aqsa is of purely Islamic heritage.” He said the decision marks a “victory for the Palestinian people.”
Abu Zuhri added that the UNSECO text “demolished the Israeli fiction” concerning the Temple Mount, the holy area Jews consider to be their most sacred place as the site of the two biblical temples.
Earlier Tuesday, the Palestinian Authority hailed the newly approved UNESCO vote on Jerusalem as a reminder to Israelis “that they are an occupying power,” while Israel’s envoy attempted to put a positive spin on the widely criticized decision.
In spite of an Israeli effort to delay a final vote, the UN cultural agency on Tuesday adopted the controversial Arab-sponsored resolution, though without the support of Mexico, which changed its “for” vote to an abstention in a surprise move.
The Palestinian Authority’s deputy ambassador to UNESCO, Mounir Anastas, told reporters Tuesday the resolution “reminds Israel that they are the occupying power in East Jerusalem and it asks them to stop all their violations.”
Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen said that although only Mexico changed its vote between Thursday and Tuesday, even that shift brought Israel one step closer in its mission “to dismantle the automatic majority enjoyed by the Palestinians and Arab states.”
The resolution Thursday drew widespread Israeli anger, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the body “absurd” and others accusing UNESCO of backing anti-Semitism.
The director-general of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, also Friday signaled her dismay and opposition to the motion, saying that efforts to deny history and Jerusalem’s complex multi-faith character harm UNESCO.
“The heritage of Jerusalem is indivisible, and each of its communities has a right to the explicit recognition of their history and relationship with the city,” Bokova said in a statement.
Israelis and many Jews around the world view the move as the latest example of an ingrained anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.
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