Tomb of the Patriarchs and Tomb of Rachel

The United Nations has once again reared its anti-semitic head.

The Executive Board of UNESCO has declared (see Decission below the flag) two of Judaism's holiest sites (Tomb of the Patriarchs and Tomb of Rachel) to be mosques and demand that Israel remove the sites from its National Heritage list.

In an effort to erase Jewish history and supersede Jewish religious sites with Islamic institutions, Muslims have intentionally built mosques upon numerous synagogues and Jewish holy sites.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office decried the ludicrous nature of the UNESCO decision:

“The attempt to detach the Nation of Israel from its heritage is absurd. If the nearly 4,000-year-old burial sites of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Jewish Nation – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah –are not part of its culture and tradition, then what is a national cultural site?”

In cooperating with efforts to erase Jewish historical ties to Israel, UNESCO is aiding and abetting those who hope to and obfuscate Israel’s Jewish past and undermine Israel’s Jewish future.

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UNESCO 185 EX/Decision 15
(page 16 of the linked doc)
Source: UNESCO

Implementation of 184 EX/Decision 37 [page 45 of the linked doc] on “the two Palestinian sites of al-Haaram al-Ibrahīmī/Tomb of the Patriarchs in al-Khalīl/Hebron and the Bilāl bin Rabāh Mosque/Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem” (185 EX/15 [resumen]; 185 EX/52 Rev. [propuesta de resolución de la directora])

N.B. After considering this item and following a vote taken by roll-call , with 44 votes in favour, 1 vote against and 12 abstentions, the United States of America having voted against, the Programme and External Relations Commission recommended that the Executive Board adopt the following draft decision:

The Executive Board,

1. Recalling 184 EX/Decision 37 [page 45 of the linked doc], and having examined document 185 EX/15,
2. Also recalling resolutions and decisions of UNESCO on the protection of the cultural heritage in the occupied Arab territories, as well as the provisions of the four Geneva Conventions (1949), the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954) and the related Protocols and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972),
3. Further recalling the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970),
4. Affirming that nothing in the present decision, which aims at the safeguarding of the cultural heritage located in the occupied Arab territories, shall in any way affect the relevant United Nations resolutions and decisions, in particular the relevant Security Council resolutions,
5. Sharing the concern expressed by the Director-General regarding the announcement made by the Israeli authorities that two sites, namely al-Haaram al-Ibrahīmī/Tomb of the Patriarchs in the city of al-Khalīl/Hebron and the Mosque of Bilāl bin Rabāh (Tomb of Rachel), in Bethlehem, both located in the occupied Palestinian territories, are to be included in the Israeli national heritage list,
6. Also sharing the conviction affirmed by the international community that the two sites are of religious significance for Judaism, Christianity and Islam,
7. Reaffirms that the two sites are an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories and that any unilateral action by the Israeli authorities is to be considered a violation of international law, the UNESCO conventions and the United Nations and Security Council resolutions;
8. Regrets the Israeli authorities’ decision to include the two sites in the Israeli national heritage list;
9. Urges the Israeli authorities to abide by international law and the relevant international conventions and decisions;
10. Also urges the Israeli authorities to remove the two sites from the Israeli national heritage list;
11. Thanks the Director-General for her commitment to strengthening UNESCO’s financial and technical assistance to the Palestinian educational and cultural institutions in compliance with the UNESCO General Conference resolution at its 35th session;
12. Invites the Director-General to submit to it a follow-up report at its 186th session and decides to include this item in the agenda of the 186th session of the Executive Board.

(185 EX/SR.9)

Conditions for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement are not here

Allow me to start with a citation of the Near Easterm emeritus scholar, always a clear and far-sighted analyst of the region, Bernard Lewis (from his book Faith and Power, 2010, OUP):

"From the international discourse in English and other European languages, it would seem that most of the Arab states and some members of the Palestinian leadership have resigned themselves to accepting Israel as a state. But the discourse in Arabic - in broadcasts, sermons, speeches, and school textbooks - is far less conciliatory, portraying Israel as an illegitimate invader that must be destroyed. If the conflict is about the size of Israel, then long and difficult negotiations can eventually resolve the problem. But if the conflict is about the existence of Israel, then serious negotiation is impossible. There is no compromise position between existence and nonexistence."

Since the book is a collection os previosuly published works, I would say that Mr. Lewis originally wrote those lines before Obama's Presidency and before the European bullying and menacing with the implementation of a Palestian State even without a prior agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

A lesson muslims learned from day one is that you can agree on lesser terms when force is not in your side; it will only be a first step in your way to your real goal. That is why the Koran's first suras are far more amiable, accomodating and friendly than those corresponding to later years, when Muhamad had already won battles and was already feared.

It is also true that, lately, Western powers have not defended their allies when they required assistance (Kurds in Irak, Georgians in Russia, Maronites in Lebanon, Coreans in Asia, etc) to no one 's surprise, since they haven't defended themselves either, even when ferouciously attacked, at home (WTC in NYC 1993, 9/11, March 2004 in Spain, London, Muhamad cartoons, illegal and legal muslim inmigration all over, etc.) or outside (USA in Lebanon 1983 or Mogadischio 1993, Somalia pirates, persecution of christians in Morocco, Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and..., etc.).

So Israel has no way out: it cannot trust those seating at the table, nor the enemies nor the mediators, nor the grantors. It can solely confide in the conditions negotiated themselves.

And the enemies are 'crecidos', that is, they see themselves winning, defeating the deprecated infidels, Christians or Jewish invaders. Why are they going to settle for less when they can have it all?

While they don't perceive that they might go backwards again and loose even more, they'll never concede anything. And this means that they will not renounce to the destruction of Israel, not for now, not in actual conditions, even if tactically they pretend otherwise.

And Europeans and Americans are not helping at all, on the contrary. If they really want to help they have to back Israel 200% and offer no concessions, or at least that is what he Arabs had to believe. Bullying Israel cannot lead anywhere useful... because the Arabs will want it all, including the anhilitaion of Israel... and Israel knows it.

Robert Aumann, Israeli Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2005 for his work on conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis, recently stated the obvious:

"... there can be no co-existence if one person isn’t willing to negotiate as hard as the other. The appeaser will always be swallowed up and simply cease to exist. It is stubbornness rather than the willingness to make immediate concessions that brings about successful negotiations. In other words, if you want peace, prepare for war."

I would like to see something different, but I am sorry to say it: Israeli concessions pushed by Americans and Europeans are the best way to impede any real negotiation... unless we are talk plainly about Israel nonexistence.

Pictures: Jerusalem from the Arab village of Bet Safafa