World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer said the resolution is “a document which is full of false accusations against Israel, and of aggressive language that will only serve to stoke unrest and exacerbate tensions.”
Susan Michael, U.S. director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, told JNS that UNESCO’s efforts to deny the Jewish connection to Jerusalem also denies the Christian history as well.
“The Jewish history of Jerusalem is also Christian history, and the Jewish Temple was the scene of numerous New Testament stories,” she said. “Jesus visited the Temple in Jerusalem and the Christian scriptures record His teachings and miracles that occurred there. If the Christian world does not stand up for the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, then one day we will discover that our own historical and spiritual connection to the Holy Sites there has also been erased.”
UNESCO ratified the resolution earlier this week. The move by the UNESCO executive board is expected to be followed by a similar resolution to be voted on by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO later this month.
(JNS)
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Mexico Fires Jewish Envoy Over Objection To UNESCO Resolution
The Mexican government Wednesday dismissed its envoy to UNESCO, Andres Roemer, over his objection to the Jerusalem resolution.
Roemer, who is Jewish, walked out of last week’s vote on the resolution in a personal protest against his country’s support for it. Then, on Tuesday, Roemer attempted a last ditch effort to force a revote and change Mexico’s position. However, Mexico eventually withdrew its motion and instead issued a statement that it wished to change its vote from “support” to “abstain.” As such, the resolution was formally ratified by UNESCO.
According to a statement from the Mexican government, Roemer was dismissed “for not having informed diligently and with meticulousness of the context in which the voting process occurred, for reporting to representatives of countries other than Mexico about the sense of his vote, and for making public documents and official correspondence subject to secrecy.”
“Given what’s happened, I’m simply no longer the envoy,” Roemer told Israel’s Channel 2. “This resolution was a combination of ignorance or anti-Semitism and anti-Israel policy. It’s considered politically correct to vote against Israel over the situation [the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process], and it’s like that all over the world. Anti-Semitism is based on great ignorance…. We need education to fight it.”