Why is Israel suspending cooperation with UNESCO?
Israel has suspended cooperation with UNESCO, the United Nations鈥� cultural agency, accusing it of downplaying Israel鈥檚 connection to a Jerusalem hilltop considered sacred in both Islam and Judaism, after one of the agency's committees approved a resolution intended to safeguard 鈥渢he cultural heritage of Palestine and the distinctive character of East Jerusalem.鈥�
The resolution criticizes Israeli administration of the site, including its restricting of access to Muslim worshippers and of use of force by police and soldiers. It also refers to the hilltop and its religious complexes 鈥撀燼l-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, and al-Aqsa Mosque 鈥� instead of the Temple Mount, as it鈥檚 known in Judaism.
In a Facebook post, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a 鈥渁nother delusional decision鈥� by UNESCO, and said the resolution denies Judaism's historic relationship with the site.
鈥淭o 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 or that Egypt has no connection to the pyramids,鈥� . 鈥淏y this absurd decision, UNESCO has lost what little legitimacy it had left.鈥�
was drawn up by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and Sudan, before passing with 24 votes in favor, six against, and 26 abstentions, . The United States voted against the resolution.
Mr. Netanyahu and other Israeli officials consider UNESCO鈥檚 resolutions on Israel to be hopelessly politicized, says David Makovsky, an expert on the Middle East peace process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, in an interview with 海角大神.
They argue "that these resolutions reflect a majority of 56 countries that identify themselves as Muslim states, and therefore purposefully try to airbrush any Jewish connection to land in Jerusalem, including religious sites" like the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary, he says.
The feud returns the spotlight to an agency that has often drawn ire in Israel, even as it鈥檚 typically seen in the US as an anodyne historical-preservation group 鈥� where it鈥檚 recognized at all.听
As the Monitor鈥檚 Dan Murphy wrote in 2011, UNESCO has long been 鈥渁 target for denunciation and anger,鈥�聽despite not possessing the same weight as other UN bodies 鈥� perhaps because of the lasting symbolic resonance of its work.
It has also had a history of political stances on global causes that fall to the left of many Western powers. In the 1960s, , UNESCO recommended that public education should contribute to 鈥渢he struggle against colonialism and neo-colonialism in all their forms,鈥� at a time when the Council of Europe was arguing for an equal presentation of the 鈥渕oral and intellectual鈥� benefits of colonial systems.
In Israel, ire against the organization is often rooted in designations of archeological sites that attribute their primary importance to Islam.
"You have a huge misuse of archaeology by both sides to prove their narrative is more true than others and to justify facts on the ground," Eric Meyers, a religion professor at Duke University,聽told the Monitor in 2013.听
As the Monitor's聽Christa Case Bryant wrote at the time:
Palestinian leaders have increasingly refrained from acknowledging the existence of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem 鈥� and some outright deny it. Meanwhile, those seeking to shore up the Jewish nation's ties to the city have largely ignored the legacy of centuries of Muslim presence as well as that of early ethnic groups such as the Canaanites, believed by some to be the ancestors of Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Israel鈥檚 scuffles with UNESCO have sometimes drawn the United States into the mix. Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan both moved to cut funding or pull the US from the agency, decisions influenced in part by its criticisms of Israeli policy.听And in 2011, UNESCO voted to recognize Palestine as a member, triggering laws passed in the 1990s requiring the US government to pull funding.
At a press conference on Friday, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner , which the United States had voted against.
"We are deeply concerned about these kinds of recurring, politicized resolutions that do nothing to advance constructive results on the ground. And we don't believe they should be adopted," he said.
