A return to 1930 - but no wailing this time

Yisrael Medad


There's a storm brewing and it seems to be 1930 all over again.

For years, we have been suffering from Islamic Temple Mount Denial (see here, too) which I thought had come to an end.

Then there was Rachel's Tomb which Arabs appropriated as a mosque, and which caused PM Netanyahu to get upset http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=193278 .

And now, it's all coming to a head:

West Bank religious sites first for world heritage request

Significant religious sites throughout the West Bank…will be among the first to be pushed forward for world heritage status now Palestine has been granted membership of UNESCO...The authority claims agreements such as the 1994 Paris Protocol severely restrict tourism and therefore economic development in the Palestinian territories. Joseph's Tomb in Nablus - a site important to Christians, Jews and Muslims - has been at the centre of deep sectarian conflict. With UNESCO membership, the Palestinian Authority would now be responsible for ensuring the site was protected, the official said. This reminds me of the dispute over to who the rights of the Western Wall back in 1930.

The Jewish case is contained in this memorandum. A review of the matter is here. And I have gone into this here where I write:

I mentioned the International Commission of Inquiry established by the British Mandatory authorities in 1930 which issued a report that resulted, in May 1931, in unjust restrictions on Jews by the Western Wall in addition to awarding to the Muslim Waqf the ownership of the Wall and the small courtyard which served as the worship site.

This is a matter of identity theft. See here for what appears to be an article translated from the Arabic to comprehend their thinking.

If this is the culture UNESCO will be promoting at the initiative of its new member, there will be two outcomes.

The first is a reframing of the Arab-Israel conflict in terms of religion and national ethos.

The second is the reorientation of Jewish concerns on our rights to Eretz-Yisrael.

It may be difficult at the outset but good will come out of it in the form of a strengthened Jewish national character.
^