UN in New York votes on ignoring Jewish ties to Temple Mount

Ten anti-Israel resolutions approved by member states.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: NOVEMBER 9, 2016 00:09
The Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem (photo credit: REUTERS)
The Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem
(photo credit: REUTERS)
United Nations General Assembly committees in New York voted Tuesday on at least nine anti-Israel resolutions, including two that ignore Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, and refer to the area solely by its Muslim name of al-Haram al-Sharif.
“We will continue to fight at all times and in all forums against those who deny the historical and religious ties that bind the Jewish people with Jerusalem,” said Danny Danon, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN.
“Even when the votes are stacked against us and resolutions that are completely divorced from reality succeed in passing UN bodies, it is important that moderate states stand up and make sure that their voices are heard to counter the lies disseminated by the Palestinians,” he said.
Danon added that, thanks to work done by his office, EU member states issued an “explanation of the vote” that clarifies that the site was significant to the world’s three monotheistic religions.
The votes come just one month after a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) board and committee passed two resolutions with similar language.
Four of the resolutions deal with the issue of Palestinian refugees, including extending the mandate of the UN Relief and Works Agency to June 2020.
Israeli Envoy to UNESCO throws UN Jerusalem Temple Mount resolution into the trash
The resolutions took Israel to task for violations against Palestinians; called on it to end settlement activity; and demanded withdrawal immediately to pre-1967 lines.
Also, Israel was told by way of the resolutions to accept the application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to territory over the pre-1967 lines.
One decision spoke of UN Human Rights Council resolutions against companies doing business in or with the settlements and another condemned Israel for not returning the Golan Heights to Syria.
UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer noted that only a small number of nations stood with Israel on the votes, citing as an example a vote to renew the mandate of a special committee to investigate Israeli practices, saying 86 voted yes, 71 abstained and seven opposed.
The US, Canada and Australia joined Israel, backed by the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. Those abstaining included EU members, as well as several from Africa and Latin America, including Argentina, Mexico and Costa Rica, UN Watch said.
“Even as Syrian President Bashar Assad is preparing for the final massacre of his own people in Aleppo, the UN is about to adopt a resolution – drafted and co-sponsored by Syria – which falsely condemns Israel for ‘repressive measures’ against Syrian citizens on the Golan Heights. It’s obscene,” said Neuer.
Separately, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to return Israel’s Ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-Hacohen, to Paris. Netanyahu had asked the envoy to return to Israel last month to protest the UNESCO Jerusalem votes.