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UNESCO joins Palestinians in rewriting Jewish history in Judea and Samaria - opinion

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Opinion Sources not specified Context piece
  • The Palestinian Authority has submitted a list of Jewish historical sites in Judea and Samaria to UNESCO, rebranding them as "Palestinian" or "Islamic" heritage locations.
  • UNESCO is accused of enabling this "political looting" and "cultural genocide" by accepting these rebrandings, erasing Jewish connections to the land.
  • This action is compared to ISIS's destruction of heritage sites and follows previous UNESCO resolutions that denied Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and recognized sites like Hebron and Sebastia as Palestinian heritage.

The Palestinian Authority is accused of systematically attempting to erase Jewish history by submitting a list of Jewish national heritage sites in Judea and Samaria to UNESCO. The article argues these sites represent the biblical heartland and provide incontrovertible evidence of the Jewish people's connection to the Land of Israel. The Palestinian Authority's actions are described as purposeful plundering of Jewish antiquities and razing of historical Jewish sites.

The physical record of the biblical narrative lies in the ground with thousands of known archaeological sites (and perhaps thousands more undocumented sites), providing incontrovertible evidence that connects the Jewish people to the Land of Israel.

— David M. WeinbergThe author emphasizes the historical and archaeological evidence of Jewish connection to the land.

UNESCO is criticized for allegedly "slap-happy" acceptance of these rebrandings, which the article claims amounts to "cultural genocide." The author compares the PA's actions to the sledgehammer destruction carried out by ISIS on world heritage sites. This is framed as a continuation of UNESCO's alleged pattern of denying Jewish history, citing past resolutions that declared Jerusalem an exclusively Muslim heritage city and criminalized Israel's custodianship.

This is precisely why ever since the start of the Oslo process, the Palestinian Authority has acted to destroy archaeological sites in Judea and Samaria – purposefully plundering Jewish antiquities, razing historical Jewish sites, and working in international institutions to erase the Jewish/Israeli identity of such places.

— David M. WeinbergThe author details the alleged actions of the Palestinian Authority regarding historical sites.

Further examples of this alleged pattern include resolutions that disavowed Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, calling it solely by its Muslim name, al-Haram al-Sharif. UNESCO has also, at Palestinian urging, declared Hebron, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, and Tel Jericho as "State of Palestine" heritage sites. Most recently, Sebastia/Samaria, the ancient capital of the biblical kingdom of Israel, was declared a Palestinian-associated World Heritage site, despite ongoing alleged looting and construction over ancient relics at the site.

UNESCO appears to be slap-happily going along with this political looting of Jewish/Israeli history.

— David M. WeinbergThe author criticizes UNESCO's role in accepting the redefinition of heritage sites.
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Originally published by Jerusalem Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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