Wiesenthal Center: Attempts at UNESCO to Rebrand Jewish Holy Sites as Muslim will only Increase Barbaric Palestinian Terrorism

October 21, 2015

               

 

Center officials commend Director General Irina Bokova for forcing removal of Western Wall from resolution; Urge Kerry to demand end to Abbas’ 'big lie' campaign

 

The Simon Wiesenthal Center charged today that continuing efforts at UNESCO to rebrand Jewish holy sites as Muslim would lead to more barbaric Palestinian Terror attacks in Israel.

 

“The Wiesenthal Center commends UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova for successfully lobbying to remove the lurid and nefarious effort by the Palestinians to have the international body brand the Western Wall as a Palestinian site,” said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization with status at the UN and UNESCO.

 

“However, we take little solace in a resolution that rebrands two other religious heritage sites deeply connected to the history of the Jewish People and Judaism — Rachel’s Tomb and The Tomb of The Patriarchs--as Muslim sites. This outrage will not only succeed in abetting the big lie spread by both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas denying the 3,500 year bond between the Jewish people and The Holy Land, but contribute to reframing the Arab-Israeli conflict into an ideological religious conflict,” Hier and Cooper said.

 

"In a world where diplomacy would be based on truth and justice, UNESCO would have convened to unanimously condemn-- an act of violence aimed at an important historic heritage site in The Holy Land-- the arson at Joseph’s Tomb the only Jewish holy site under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Despite the fact that this is the third such violent desecration, we all know that no such vote will ever occur,” the Rabbis charged.

 

“We call upon US Secretary of State John Kerry as he begins new efforts to quell the violence by demanding an end to PA president Abbas’ campaign of fanning the flames of intolerance, violence and terror against Israelis,” Rabbi Hier and Rabbi Cooper concluded.

 

 

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).