Following the adoption of a resolution by the UNESCO Executive in Paris, which accuses Israel of “aggression and illegal measures taken against the freedom of worship and access of Muslims to the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder said that “the UNESCO Executive has given in to false claims and to radical, one-sided Palestinian demands. Alas, this will do nothing to calm the tensions in Jerusalem and the Holy Land – on the contrary.”
However, the WJC president praised UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova for taking “a courageous stand by opposing this incendiary resolution” and thanked her for helping to remove a critical reference in it which would have declared the Western Wall, the holiest Jewish place of prayer, a Muslim site.
Lauder spoke with Bokova on the phone on Wednesday and expressed his appreciation for the UNESCO chief’s successful efforts in toning down what he called “unacceptable and inflammatory language” used in the original resolution text, including a reference to Jerusalem as the “occupied capital of Palestine."
The proposal was sponsored by six Arab states (Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates) on behalf of the Palestinians and proposed to declare that the Western Wall should be considered by UNESCO as an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On Tuesday, Bokova deplored the resolution and appealed to the UNESCO Executive to take decisions that do not further inflame the current tensions in Israel and that encourage respect for the sanctity of the holy sites, thus echoing the call of the World Jewish Congress. “We all have a responsibility to UNESCO’s mandate, to take decisions that promote dialogue, tolerance and peace,” she declared in a statement.
Lauder thanks six countries for taking 'principled stand' and voting no
The amended resolution was adopted by the UNESCO Executive Board in a vote of 26 in favor, six against and 25 abstentions. It confirms an earlier decision that the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb, two West Bank sites holy to both Jews and Muslims, are considered by UNESCO to be part of a State of Palestine. The text also condemns Israel for what it calls the “aggression and illegal measures taken against the freedom of worship and access of Muslims to Al-Aqsa Mosque and Israel’s attempts to break the status quo since 1967.”
Ronald Lauder praised the six countries that voted against the resolution - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States - for taking a “principled stand.”
