UNESCO to Vote Again, but New Version Still Omits Jewish Connection to Holy Sites

Although the familiar meme suggests that the “third time is the charm,” a third vote on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization resolution that triggered an angry but only slightly successful diplomatic campaign by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expected to be better than the previous versions only in that Israel is not identified as an “occupying force” and the Western Wall is not referred to in quotation marks. But the basic flaw of the resolution that so irritated Israel, its supporters world-wide and the international Christian community remains: its language fails to suggest any link between Judaism and Jerusalem’s Temple Mount – referred to by Muslims as “Haram Al-Sharif.” After an executive committee vote and a general agency vote, this week another vote will be taken on a version submitted by Lebanon and Tunisia on behalf of the Palestinians and Jordan.