In news so bizarre it could only be yet another chapter
in the world’s anti-Semitic hate for Israel, a U.N. agency is poised to
designate the Jewish “Wailing Wall” as an Islamic holy site.
Yes, you read that right. The U.N.
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is reported voting
on a measure to designate the Wailing Wall, the western wall of the Temple
Mount – one of the Jewish people’s most holy sites – as an Islamic (and as such
not Jewish) holy site.
As CNS News
reports: The flashpoint is the Temple Mount, where the biblical
Temples once stood. It is the holiest site in Judaism, but also is home to the
Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest.
Due to Muslim opposition Jews are
forbidden to hold formal prayer at the Muslim-administered site, although they
may visit. That “status quo” has been in place since Israel captured the area
from Jordan in 1967. Jews pray instead at the Western Wall – the remnant of a
retaining wall on the western flank of the hilltop that once housed the
biblical Temples.
The UNESCO measure due to be voted on
on Tuesday reportedly declares that the Western Wall is part of Al-Aqsa mosque.
This is a blatantly anti-Israel move and a slap in the face to the Jewish
people.
Israel rightfully argues that this
action would “distort history.” The Wailing Wall is incontrovertibly a
historic, cultural, and religious icon of the Jewish people. In fact, it
has almost no relevance or relation to the Islamic faith whatsoever.
As reports indicate: Last
summer, UNESCO’s world heritage committee adopted a controversial resolution
that referred to the area adjacent to the Western Wall as the “Buraq plaza.”
The name derives from the Muslim claim
that Mohammed tethered his legendary winged steed, al-Buraq, there during his
“night journey” from Mecca to heaven.
(There is no historical record of
Mohammed ever having visited Jerusalem, but the Qur’an says that he traveled in
one night from “the sacred mosque” in Arabia to “the farthest mosque.” There,
according to Islamic tradition, he led prayers with a congregation including
Adam, Noah and Joseph, before ascending to heaven. Muslim scholars say that
occurred in Jerusalem; Masjid al-Aqsa is Arabic for “the farthest mosque.”)
The timing of this vote is also suspect.
It comes amid renewed jihadist
violence against Israel and new calls from ISIS for a jihadist
war against Israel. It is exactly these blatant attacks on Israel that led to
the U.S. defunding UNESCO in
2011.
Yet, Secretary of State John Kerry has
been on an all-out publicity blitz, campaigning for a slot on UNESCO’s
governing board. Even as UNESCO was poised to vote on this outlandish
resolution to rewrite history and directly attack the Jewish faith, Secretary
Kerry announced
just this weekend:
The United States has a great deal to
contribute to UNESCO’s work, and I assure you — our commitment to this
organization has never been stronger . . . . In standing for re-election, both
President (Barack) Obama and I are also pledging to work with our former
colleagues in the US Congress, and do all we can to restore US funding to
UNESCO in full.
This position represents an absolute
abandonment of our ally Israel and Jews across the globe. The Obama
Adminstration professes its commitment to religious freedom as it stands by and
allows U.N. anti-Semitic hate mongers to pervert the Jewish faith and its
holiest landmark.
It’s shameful and appalling; and it
must end.
UPDATE 10.22.2015: The
provision of the UNESCO resolution declaring the Jewish Wailing Wall an Islamic
holy site was dropped on the day of the vote. However, it was replaced
with language blaming Israel for “aggression
and illegal measures” surrounding the Temple Mount. Despite the removal
of the redesignation of the Jewish Wailing Wall, the resulting language passed
by UNESCO is still incendiary and just one more example of the U.N.’s
anti-Israel bias.
Matthew Clark is Senior Counsel for
Digital Advocacy with the ACLJ. Follow Matthew Clark: @_MatthewClark.
http://www.redstate.com/2015/10/20/un-agency-make-jewish-wailing-wall-islamic-holy-site/
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