BICOM

The head of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation) has sharply criticised a Palestinian attempt for the body to declare the Western Wall in Jerusalem a Muslim holy site.

The resolution, which is being submitted by six Arab countries on behalf of the Palestinians, would recognise the Western Wall as part of the al-Aqsa Mosque atop the Temple Mount. The Western Wall is one of the few surviving remnants of the Jewish Temple from the Roman era and due to Israeli restrictions which ban Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, it is the holiest site at which Jews are permitted to pray. Muslim tradition holds that Mohammed tied up his winged animal Buraq in the Western Wall vicinity before ascending to heaven.

Israeli officials have thoroughly condemned the resolution. Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely called it a “shameful and deceitful Palestinian attempt to rewrite history.” Israel’s Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama Hacohen said that the motion will “add fuel to the fire of incitement and ongoing terror” with an act which counters “ethical, realistic and historical truth.”

UNESCO head Irina Boskova yesterday echoed Hacohen’s sentiments, warning that the resolution “could be seen to alter the status of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls and incite further tensions.” The Temple Mount has been a focal point for the current wave of violence. Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have repeatedly publicly rejected Palestinian claims that Israel plans to alter the status quo at the site, which permits only Muslim prayer.

Boskova has reportedly succeeded in delaying a vote on the motion by a day and called for the UNESCO board “to take decisions that do not further inflame tensions on the ground and that encourage respect for the sanctity of the Holy Sites.” Hacohen told Maariv that all but one European country has said that “if the Palestinians don’t soften the text of the resolution they will oppose it.”