UNESCO head backs Israel: Ignoring Jewish, Christian ties to Jerusalem harms its cultural status

Attempts by member states to erase Jewish and Christian ties to Jerusalem’s Old City harms its cultural status as a site that is sacred to the three monotheistic religions, warned UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova on Friday.

 

“To deny or conceal any of the Jewish, Christian or Muslim traditions undermines the integrity of the site, and runs counter to the reasons that justified its inscription in 1981,” Bokova wrote in a message she posted on the organization’s website.

 

She made the statement as Israel is in the midst of a pitched battle to prevent the World Heritage Committee’s 21-member states from passing a resolution on Jerusalem that references the Temple Mount solely by its Muslim name of Al-Haram/Al-Sharif.

 

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