UNESCO sets things straight in East Jerusalem

On October 12, UNESCO issued a draft resolution that renders null Israel’s religious and historical claims to Al Aqsa Mosque and Al Haram Al Sharif. 

Israel, as the occupier, UNESCO says, must not impede Palestinians and other Muslims from having access to these Islamic shrines and stop all its acts of aggression against them.

The UNESCO’s decision was taken with 24 votes in favour, six against and 25 abstentions. 

This historic resolution, while “affirming the importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls for the three monotheistic religions”, also affirms that “nothing in the current decision, which aims, inter alia, at the safeguarding of the cultural heritage of Palestine and the distinctive character of East Jerusalem, shall in any way affect the relevant Security Council and United Nations resolutions and decisions on the legal status of Palestine and Jerusalem”. 

The draft was, of course, met with criticism by Israel’s prime minister and others, but it should send the clear message that Israel, an occupying power, must cease and prohibit all excavations and works in East Jerusalem, particularly in and around the Old City.

It also asks for the restoration of the historic status quo that prevailed until September 2000, under which Jordan’s Awqaf Department exercised exclusive authority on Al Aqsa Mosque and Al Haram Al Sharif, and whose mandate extended to all affairs relating to their “unimpeded administration... including maintenance, restoration and regulating access”.

This demand is not even new; it enjoys international recognition and was agreed upon by Jordan and Israel when they signed the peace treaty in 1994. 

The UNESCO’s draft also “firmly deplores the continuous storming of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif by Israeli right-wing extremists and uniformed forces, and urges Israel, the occupying power, to take necessary measures to prevent provocative abuses that violate” the sanctity of these Muslim holy sites, and “expresses its deep concern regarding the illegal demolitions of Umayyad, Ottoman and Mamluk remains as well as other intrusive works and excavations in and around the Mughrabi Gate Pathway”, which is “an integral and inseparable part of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif”.

Israel’s reaction to this just resolution was to suspend relations with UNESCO, something it does every time the international organisation adopts a decision that does not approve of an Israeli policy or action in East Jerusalem.

While Palestinians and the rest of the Muslim world have no doubt about their religious and historic relations with the holy sites in East Jerusalem, UNESCO’s draft is cementing a recognised right and shows Israel, once again, for the ruthless occupier that it is.