UNESCO resolution scraps Jewish claim on Masjid-Al-Aqsa and Al-Buraq

Jerusalem: UNESCO on Thursday voted on a resolution which denied all Jewish historic connection to Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Buraq (Western) Wall in occupied Jerusalem.

The resolution, was put forward by Palestine along with Arab countries including Egypt, Lebanon Algeria, Morocco, Qatar, Oman and Sudan.

24 members voted in favour of the resolution, 26 abstained from the vote, including Serbia and Turkmenistan and 6 voted against, according to the Haaretz newspaper.

The draft resolution acknowledges Jerusalem city is holy to all three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but says Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards are only sacred to Muslims.

In fact, it mentions neither the English equivalent, the Temple Mount– nor its Hebrew term for the site – Har HaBayit but is referred to only by its Muslim names – Al-Aqsa Mosque and Haram al-Sharif.

Al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem’s Old City — Islam’s third holiest site. The resolution also recognised Israel as “the Occupying Power.”

PM Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the decision as “absurd theater,” adding: “To say that Israel has no connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall is like saying that China has no connection to the Great Wall of China and that Egypt has no connection to the Pyramids.”

“With this absurd decision, UNESCO lost the little legitimization it had left. But I believe that the historical truth is stronger and the truth will win,” he said.

On Friday, Israel suspended cooperation with UNESCO after the UN cultural organisation adopted two resolutions on the occupied Palestinian territories including annexed east Jerusalem ahead of a final vote next week.

The status of Jerusalem is the thorniest issue of the decades-long Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 war and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community, declaring the whole city its indivisible capital.

The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised future state.

With AFP inputs