Last week the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO passed a resolution that used only the Arabic names of holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, in essence ignoring any Jewish or Christian connection to them, causing the Israeli government to cease cooperating with UNESCO and some countries that voted in favor of the resolution to reconsider their vote. On Wednesday (26/10), the World Heritage Committee will vote again on a similar resolution.
Last week’s resolution referred to Israel as “the occupying Power” claiming that Israel “demolished” and removed Islamic-period remains. It contains a long list of allegations against the Israelis, and the authors say that Israeli actions are harming Muslim worshipers. Meanwhile, Israeli archaeologists and the official State Comptroller’s report accuse the Waqf (a trust that administers the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque) of engaging in illegal renovation and excavation work that is destroying the remains of Jewish buildings and artifacts in an attempt to deliberately erase any historic link between the Jews and the Temple Mount.
The tour included:
A meeting with Dr. Gabriel Barkay and a visit to the Sifting Project. Dr. Barkay is an archaeologist and member of the Public Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, who leads the “Temple Mount Sifting Project”. The project includes archaeologists who have been going through the debris dug up by the Waqf and have found numerous archaeological remains that are connected to the Second Temple. Video can be found here.
Meeting with Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites in Israel. Video can be found here.
Meeting with Ofer Zalzberg, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for Israel and the disputed territories, covering the Arab-Israeli conflict and Israel’s domestic and foreign policy. He co-wrote a report on the violation – by both sides – of the status quo on the Temple Mount. Video can be found below.
