The stones of the Kotel have been witness to the unthinkable pain of ancient destruction, and to the unbridled joy of reclamation during the 1967 Six Day War.
It is the Kotel that stands as a reminder of the Holy of Holies, and when the Temple is rebuilt it will only be on this sacred land in Jerusalem.
Leave it to Israel’s enemies, during a particularly dangerous time when Jewish blood is shed by knife-wielding terrorists within walking distance of the Kotel, to claim that the Western Wall is not connected to our faith, to our people and to the many millions who died at the hands of hatred without an opportunity to witness it in Jewish hands.
It appeared that the Palestinian resolution proposed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to declare the Kotel a Muslim holy site was appropriately panned by a number of world leaders, UN members and even Irina Bokova, UNESCO’s director general.
The language regarding the Western Wall was removed from the final resolution. However, UNESCO still gave a nod to the resolution, which also included language initiated by the Palestinian Authority and sponsored by six Arab nations, condemning Israel for “attempts to break the status quo” on the Temple Mount and for “aggression” concerning Muslim access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
And, there was no lessening of the anti-Israel UNESCO moves when it reaffirmed its 2010 measure recognizing and designating Rachel’s Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as Muslim heritage sites.
The resolution ignores the obvious connections to our very heritage, not to mention the architectural and anthropological proof of our claim to the land, which came some seven thousand years prior to even the advent of Islam in the seventh century.
The resolution’s revision of sacred Jewish history is further evidence that just when one thinks the Palestinians and their Arab allies couldn’t reach lower ground, they go ahead and prove that they very well can.
Turning over these holy sites to the Palestinian Authority are also sure to spell disaster. In an interview, Rep. Scott Garrett reported on his trip to Israel last week. He noted that the sites in Israel under Muslim control are not accessible in the same way the Western Wall is, and in some cases are not accessible at all. “When these holy sites are located within the confines or protection of the Israeli government, they remain open to people of all faiths, whereas when the territory is governed by the PA, they exclude people of the Jewish faith and in some violent cases, repel people of any faith.”
It is time for the UN to understand that Israel is not the enemy of peace. This resolution condemns Israel unfairly and gets the scenario altogether wrong.
