By Barry Shaw
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, voted on October 13, 2016 against the very principles upon which it was created.
UNESCO was founded in 1945 after World War II in order to establish humanity’s moral and intellectual solidarity. It says it strives to build networks among nations in order to enable this kind of solidarity.
These were its founding principles. Oh, how have the mighty fallen.
With shocking disregard to historical evidence, it insulted and denied the heritage of two of the world’s greatest religions, Judaism and Christianity, when it passed a resolution that denied Jewish, and therefore Christian, ties to the Temple Mount.
The October vote shattered thousands of years of faith, belief and historical, archaeological and literal fact.
Questions must be raised about why they made such an egregious mistake. Some will point to the Islamic regimes and undemocratic countries that dominate too many United Nations forums and are now dictating how they see the world.
But my beef is with the cynical politics of countries that should know better and must act with moral authority but went missing at this significant resolution.
It is time to name and shame those responsible for the passing of this historic upheaval.
It is hardly surprising to learn that among the nations that eagerly voted for the UNESCO principle that Jerusalem’s Temple Mount is strictly Islamic were Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman and Vietnam.
For the most part, that is a given. They are all in denial, ignorant or uncaring about the Scriptures as geographic and historic evidence that the Temple Mount was a Jewish construct.
If the tale of Abraham sacrificing Isaac on Mount Moriah, the site on which the Temple was built, is too far-fetched, how about the recorded histories of King Solomon and King David who built the first and second Temples together with the corroborating historic timeline that links both events?
And if that doesn’t convince you there is a treasure trove of artifacts that are scientifically proven to be intricately traceable back to specific periods that prove the authenticity of the Jewish temples and the events that unfolded there.
Russia voted in favor of the motion, ignoring the millions of Russian Orthodox Christians it insulted by its vote. But, shockingly, both South Africa and Mexico also voted that the Temple Mount is Islamic. Where was their Christian-based conscience?
Will we be hearing from the radical South African Christian leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu who often struts the world stage spouting moral and humanitarian values now that the deep center of his religious heart has been surgically removed by UNESCO? For, if there was never a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount, there couldn’t have been a Jesus. Ergo – no Christianity!
Not only has UNESCO with this vote announced that the Old Testament is a lie, a historical fiction, it also declared that the New Testament is null and void.
There were only six nations that voted against the motion that the Temple Mount has always been and will continue to be an exclusive Islamic holy site: the United States, Great Britain, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Germany and Estonia. That’s it! Only six nations had the moral courage to deny an obvious and internationally impactful lie.
Perhaps the greatest shame lies with some of the nations that, with the moral cowardice and political cynicism we have come to expect from them in other UN chambers, decided to go along with the intolerant and stupid regimes by abstaining.
These nations included Albania, Argentina, SPAIN, FRANCE, Ghana, Cameroon, GREECE, Guinea, Haiti, India, ITALY, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, SWEDEN, Togo and Ukraine.
I know that Europe was once a Christian continent but I did not suspect that the religious disorientation of countries like Spain, France, Sweden and Greece would lead them to not look at the meaning of this UNESCO resolution and vote against it for the lie that it is. Have they really abandoned their Christian origins so much that they have already disowned them? Perhaps Sweden will now remove the cross from its national flag?
As for Italy, what can I say? Together with Spain, they were the strong upholders of Catholicism, the Jews will say to an intolerant and anti-Semitic degree. Jews suffered badly in the past in both these countries. We recall the Spanish Expulsion and Inquisition of its Jews, a genocide inspired by the leaders of the Catholic Church.
But Italy? I invite all Italians, especially their politicians and diplomats who enabled the passing of this obscene vote to revisit the Roman Forum in Rome and stand under the Arch of Titus to look at the ancient carvings depicting the Roman rape of the Jewish Temple. They will see the Hebrew slaves being forced to carry the Jewish relics they plundered from Jerusalem during their conquest, pillage and destruction of our Jewish Temple.
How could they abstain from this motion? Were they reliving yet another plunder of the Jewish Temple by plotting with the Islamic world? For that’s what it looks like to me.
Can we now expect the Pope, as the head of the Catholic Church, to speak up in order to denounce UNESCO? Can we expect to hear the voices of any Christian leader as we are starting to hear those from rabbis in every branch of Judaism?
The shame of UNESCO displays itself in the myopia of countries that once were considered “enlightened nations.”
It seems the light of truth and courageous honesty has dimmed in the democratic world. Will we see a new reformation and a return to the moral leadership that the world so desperately needs right now as a result of the profoundly disturbing lurch of UNESCO that has failed in its educational, scientific and cultural responsibilities?
Don’t hold your breath.
Barry Shaw is the Senior Associate for Public Diplomacy at the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies. He is the author of ‘Fighting Hamas, BDS and Anti-Semitism.’
UNESCO is a reflection of the world Jews have to face!
If the Western countries that know very well the ties of Israel and the Jews to Jerusalem, by abstaining have made UNESCO a no longer a valid entity that is now just another UN platform for anti-Semitism.
We now have the UNHRC driven by human rights violators and UNESCO that is driven by countries that wish to destroy any culture except Islamic culture.
Perhaps the cowardly abstainers should just abstain from everything UN and do away with the entire useless UN and all its sub-entities that cost so much to protect things that they actually destroy.
@ Austin:
Alternately, Israel should just carry out the suggestions in the above post as they relate to the Har Habayit, and UNESCO, and send protests in STRONG language to the other countries mentioned. Sisi should be contacted personally.
Israel FOR A CHANGE, should act in a pro-active way…The ambassadors of ALL European countries which abstained should be called in, asked to explain, and then sent home and their Israeli counterparts return to Israel.
The Egyptian and Israel Ambassadors should return home. Sisi should be personally contacted and asked why he treated his important ally in this way
The Chinese Ambassador should be seriously hauled on the carpet. Greece especially which has been heavily dependant on Israeli support, should be told that there will be no normal relations for the foreseeable future. The Gaza flotilla should be turned back with “extreme prejudice”.
The Har Habayit should be closed immediately, a letter sent to Jordan saying that “regretfully” the UNESCO decision has necessitated that Israel should re-assert its sovereignty, taking back the symbolic keys of the Mount from the WAKF, who should be sent to Jordan. Muslim areas of worship should be immediately delineated clearly, with heavy penalties for overstepping the boundaries, and Jews and others should be given free access to all the rest of the area. The Muslim hooligans who congregate there should be arrested and put in solitary confinement on bread and water for a few weeks, taught a lesson in humility and deported to Jordan.
Unesco offices and reps in Israel should be closed and deported respectively, and all interaction with them should cease.
Medical, communication and military equipment destined to go to the above countries should be held back owing to “unavoidable delays”.
Naturally this will have a temporary affect on Israel’s economy, but it will be well worth it, in the result.
It’s about time Israel showed TEETH instead of GUMS…. And a heightened military presence should be made obvious in all hot spots, to show resolution against any attempts of Arabs to take advantage of the UNESCO fiasco.
Nicaragua should come in for special treatment, with ALL Israeli products and connections witheld for the foreseeable future.
This could be just a synoptic preamble, to be followed by the REAL content of my mind. But I think I’ve shown my opinions, rash maybe, and it’s long past time for Israel to show the bravery, the “elan” it seems to have lost after 1967.
Much of the Islamic “fallout” will be in the countries with the largest Islamic populations, giving them something to occupy their minds and divert attention from scoriating Israel. Israel should activate some sort of “War Measures Act” for internal use.
@ Edward Buyes:
Not all countries belong to UNSECO. You would need to do a google search to find out who is not. The above listed I believe were all the members.
“Big Lies Matter”
@ stevenl:
Tomorrow UNESO may pass a decision indicating that planet Earth is flat! So who cares!
“I know that Europe was once a Christian continent but I did not suspect that the religious disorientation of countries like Spain, France, Sweden and Greece would lead them to not look at the meaning of this UNESCO resolution and vote against it for the lie that it is. Have they really abandoned their Christian origins so much that they have already disowned them? Perhaps Sweden will now remove the cross from its national flag?”
Christian and Secular Europe are Antisemitic first and last and for EVER.
@ Edward Buyes:
Of course Romania is in Europe. Look at the map!!!
Please reply to my question
IS ROMANIA IN EUROPE or not mentioned because?
The war of the West and the Muslims against the Jews goes UN-abated!
Israel is Jerusalem. Jerusalem is Israel. That is reality. That is history. Israel is in Jerusalem to stay that is reality. The Pals and their friends have true antisemitism and lies on their side. Lies will not get Israel to leave Jerusalem. War has not worked, terrorism has not worked and of course UNESCO is nothing but an irritant and will not work either.