UNESCO approves resolution ignoring Jewish ties to Temple Mount
(JNS.org) The executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a resolution on Friday that ignores Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and Western Wall in Jerusalem.
With 33 votes in favor, six against, and 17 abstentions, the resolution solely refers to the Temple Mount areas by their Muslim names—Al-Aqsa mosque/Haram al-Sharif—with the exception of two references to the Western Wall Plaza in parentheses, the Jerusalem Post reported. The resolution also referred to the Western Wall plaza by its Muslim name, Al-Buraq Plaza.
The resolution criticized a number of Israeli actions on the Temple Mount, such as plans to build an egalitarian prayer space near Robinson’s Arch, and called on Israel not to restrict Muslim worshippers from the Temple Mount. (In fact, the Israeli government enforces a ban on Jewish prayer at the site.) The measure also condemned ongoing violence on the Temple Mount, but solely focused on Israeli actions and not Muslim rioters.
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Israeli cabinet holds first-ever meeting in Golan Heights to affirm sovereignty
(JNS.org) The Israeli cabinet on Sunday held its first-ever meeting in the Golan Heights amid reports that the territory is being discussed as part of Syrian civil war peace talks.
“Israel will never come down from the Golan Heights….In the 49 years Israel has controlled the Golan, it has been a place of peace and prosperity,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as Israel’s cabinet held its weekly meeting in the Golan to symbolize the Jewish state’s sovereignty in the area.
According to recent reports, a negotiated deal on the Syrian civil war that is being worked on by world powers would declare the Golan Heights as Syrian territory.
Israel’s Channel 10 reported that Netanyahu had phoned U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry over the issue, and that he will also discuss the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their upcoming meeting.
Israel gained control of the strategically important Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War. After Israel briefly lost territory during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel and Syria established a United Nations-monitored cease-fire line in the region, with Israel taking the western two-thirds of the territory.
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Clinton and Sanders spar on Israel in Democratic debate
(JNS.org) In a long exchange during last Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate, candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders sparred on American policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Sanders called himself “100 percent pro-Israel,” but added that “in the long run, and this is not going to be easy, if we are ever going to bring peace to that region that has seen so much hatred and so much war, we are going to have to treat the Palestinian people with respect and dignity….I believe the United States and the rest of the world have got to work together to help the Palestinian people. That does not make me anti-Israel. That paves the way, I think, to an approach that works in the Middle East.”
Sanders had recently ignited controversy through an interview in which he inflated the number of Palestinian civilian deaths in the 2014 Gaza war at least sevenfold.
Clinton said during the debate that Israel does not “seek this kind of attacks. They do not invite rockets raining down on their towns and villages. They do not believe that there should be constant incitement by Hamas, aided and abetted by Iran, against Israel. And so when it came time after they had taken the incoming rockets, taken the assaults and ambushes on their soldiers, and they called and told me…they were getting ready to have to invade Gaza again because they couldn’t find anyone to talk to, to tell them to stop it.”
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Report: Brussels terrorists targeted Israelis, Americans, and Russians
(JNS.org) The terrorists responsible for the bombings at the Brussels airport and train station in March specifically targeted Israeli, Russian, and American passengers, according to a new report by the French television station BFM.
Mohamed Abrini—who has been dubbed the “man in the hat” after appearing on closed-circuit television at the airport just prior to the attack, and was arrested last week—told interrogators that the selected targets were the “departure halls for flights to the United States, Russia, and Tel Aviv.”
The terrorists were only able to detonate the bombs near the check-in counters for those flights, but more than 30 people were still killed. In the wake of the attacks, the European Union (EU) parliament has passed a law requiring all EU countries to share passenger information for flights coming in and out of Europe, which will allow for tracking EU citizens traveling back to Europe from Islamic State-controlled areas in the Middle East.
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Hamas gearing up for next war with Israel, IDF officer says
(JNS.org) Eyeing a fresh round of violence with Israel, the Hamas terrorist organization is sparing no effort to enhance its arsenal and train its operatives, especially from the Gaza-ruling group’s elite “Nukhbah” terror unit, a senior officer with the Israel Defense Forces Southern Command told reporters Thursday.
In a briefing with military correspondents, the officer said that Hamas’s special forces currently include some 20,000 operatives. Hamas also strives to develop its drone and naval capabilities, including terrorist divers, he said, adding that the terror group was actively pursuing improved rocket-launching capabilities. But Hamas has yet to rehabilitate its pre-2014 firing abilities, which were significantly crippled during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge.
Hamas is currently focusing on developing its short-range projectile fire apparatus, which proved more effective during the summer 2014 war with Israel, as it challenged the Iron Dome missile defense system’s interceptors. The officer said the Islamist group was trying to increase the amount of explosives its arsenal of short-range projectiles can carry, as well as to develop mid-range rockets that could “escape” the Iron Dome.
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The following comment on UNESCO was received from the American Jewish Committee in New York City:
AJC deplores the UNESCO Executive Board action denying any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site.
The resolution, adopted by a vote of 33 in favor, six against, and 17 abstaining, calls the Temple Mount only by its Arabic name, al-Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif.
“Admirably, the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Estonia, and Lithuania rejected this highly politicized measure, and support the well-documented historical fact that the Temple Mount is deeply connected to Judaism, the oldest of the three monotheistic religions,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “On the other hand, France, Spain, and Sweden, choosing the convenience of politics over the reality of truth, joined the resolution’s Arab sponsors in seeking to uproot Jewish history on and around the Temple Mount. Indeed, the resolution they embraced furthers the Palestinian leadership’s campaign to deny the foundation of Israel’s legitimacy.
The UNESCO resolution calls the Western Wall Plaza, where thousands of Jews come daily to pray, by its Arabic name, the Al-Buraq Plaza. The words Western Wall Plaza, appear after the Arabic name, only in quotation marks, as if to question the Jewish name’s authenticity.
“UNESCO should be encouraging recognition, not denial, of Israel’s rightful connection to holy Jewish sites,” said Harris. “The Temple Mount action follows UNESCO denial of Jewish ties to Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem and to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Most regrettably, these decisions are not helping to bring the day of peace closer. Indeed, those countries supportive of a two-state accord, such as France, Spain, and Sweden, should understand that their votes end up creating less, not more, likelihood of a final-status agreement.”