Women Gain Entry Rights at The Temple (And Need A Temple Be Destroyed?)

Wait.

This is not about the Temple Mount, or the egalitarian Western Wall pray area in Jerusalem.

But it is riveting.

A two-year old ruling is coming to a clash in India.  We learn that

Tensions mount after India’s top court revokes ban on women’s temple entry

NEW DELHI — Thousands of devotees joined street marches in southern India on Monday as tensions mounted over a recent Supreme Court verdict revoking a ban on women entering a famous Hindu temple.

The Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala — considered one of the holiest for Hindus — in Kerala state has traditionally barred all women of menstruating age, between 10 and 50.

But India’s top court revoked the ban on women entering the temple in September...Those protesting against the court’s decision on Monday, including hundreds of women, warned they would step up their protests before the temple reopens on Wednesday, when it will have to allow all women entry as per the court order.

...“We will meet each villager in Kerala and chalk out a massive agitation plan to protect the temple, its centuries-old traditions and sentiments of Lord Ayyappa devotees,” Kerala BJP president P.S Sreedharan Pillai told NDTV.

Millions of devotees visit the temple every year to seek the blessings of Ayyappa, the presiding deity who is believed to be celibate. According to the temple website, pilgrims have to observe celibacy for 41 days before entering the shrine. 

And on Tuesday

India deployed hundreds of police Tuesday in southern Kerala state where protesters have threatened to stop women from entering a Hindu temple, despite a court ruling they can pray there. India's Supreme Court in September overturned a prohibition on women of menstruating age, between 10 and 50, from entering a temple for the deity Ayyappa.
Activists have said the long-standing ban reflected an old but still prevalent belief that menstruating women were impure.

By the way, there is another Temple problem there:

Rajasthan BJP today condemned Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor's remarks that no good Hindu would want the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, by destroying somebody else's place of worship and asked the opposition party to clarify its stand on the issue....

...Mr Tharoor, who is Congress legislator from Thiruvananthapuram, made the controversial comments at an event in Chennai on Sunday.
"As a Hindu, obviously, I am conscious that a vast majority of my fellow Hindus believe that that (Ayodhya) was the specific birthplace of Ram," Mr Tharoor had said.
"For this reason, most good Hindus would want to see a Ram temple at the site where Ram was supposed to be (have been) born. But I also believe that no good Hindu would have wanted that a temple be built by demolishing somebody else's place (of worship)," he had said.
However, he later claimed that his remarks were distorted out of malice. 
"I condemn the malicious distortion of my words by some media in the service of political masters. I said: most Hindus would want a temple at what they believe to be Ram's birthplace. But no good Hindu would want it to be built by destroying another's place of worship," he tweeted.

Does UNESCO need to get involved? 

___________________________

UPDATE:

Crowds of agitated protesters in Kerala attacked female devotees, many of whom turned back as a result. Several people including an old woman were injured as crowds threw stones at vehicles and attacked police officers.The Sabarimala temple has historically been closed to women of "menstruating age".Hinduism regards menstruating women as unclean and bars them from participating in religious rituals.

2nd UPDATE

Suspected Hindu radicals attacked a spiritual retreat founded by a preacher who backed letting women enter a renowned Indian temple, police said. The incident heightened tensions in southern India where police have rounded up more than 2,000 people suspected of taking part in protests to stop women from worshipping at the Sabrimala shrine.

^

Foreign Ministry Haughtiness

These past three days I have been attending the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem.

It was impressive and ultimately important.  Although I caught two spelling errors in the titles on the opening evening's movie (its, not it's and hatred, not hatered), those were  minor things to what did, however, cause me to be critical of some other elements of the program.

Under the ministership of Binyamin Netanyahu and his deputy, Tzipi Hotovely, the first session had three persons: Dan Meridor, someone who fled the Likud, returned but is quite an opponent of Netanyahu, Shlomo Avineri, a veteran Mapainik who founded Chug 77 to oppose the Menachem Begin government that won the elections in 1977 as well as redirect Labour Party's political agenda and a relatively politically non-descript European Jewish establishment figure. And they brought in Israel's government's behavior towards Hungary in quite a critical fashion with no one to offer a different voice.

In another session on intersectionality on the campuses, again, the panel was imbalanced. Entitled "Antisemitism in the Far Left - Intersectionality as a Cover for Hate Speech in Current Progressive Activism", it was chaired by Jonathan Arkush, President, Board of Deputies of British Jews with David Bernstein, President and CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a Bill Clintonite, Dave Rich, Associate at the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, an organization that is quite problematic politically in England, 
Nadine Epstein, Editor-in-Chief, Moment Magazine, the periodical founded by Leonard Fein, a radical leftist and Sohrab Ahmari, Senior writer, Commentary Magazine, an Iranian Catholic who, oddly enough, was the staunchest defending Zionism, Israel and facing down forcefully anti-semitism.

The third day I was bestirred at a session entitled "The Denial of Jewish History in International Organizations: The case of Jerusalem in the United Nations and UNESCO" chaired by Dan Mariaschin, CEO and Executive Vice President, Bnai Brith. 

The keynoter was Irina Bokova, former UNESCO Secretary General and she was fine. Of the respondents, Peta Jones Pellach, Director of Educational Activities, The Elijah Interfaith Institute, Ivo Goldstein, former Croatian Ambassador to UNESCO, Shimon Samuels, Director for International Relations, Simon Wiesenthal Centre, it was David Roet, Former Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations who, for me, highlighted a background problem I discerned: biased planning.

Samuels had discussed how the Palestinians were, year-by-year, turning UNESCO into a forum for anti-semitism by the theft of national cultural locations, stripping them of their Jewishness. One was the Western Wall which was exclusively called Al-Buraq in UN documents with "western" simply being a direction rather than referring to the Temple. He was upset at such blatant identity theft and rearranging history.

At question time, and Josh Wander caught my question and the reply, I noted that Yasser Arafat, right after Oslo, had always referred to the Wall as Al-Buraq and he did so purposely based on the findings of the 1930 International Commission whose

aim and object...have been to inquire into and to pronounce a verdict upon the disputes that have arisen between Arabs and Jews in connection with the practice of the Jews to resort to the Western or Wailing Wall (by the Arabs called Al Buraq) for the purpose of devotion.

and which decided

To the Moslems belong the sole ownership of, and the sole proprietary right to, the Western Wall, seeing that it forms an integral part of the Haram-esh-Sherif area, which is a Waqf property.

To the Moslems there also belongs the ownership of the Pavement in front of the Wall and of the adjacent so-called Moghrabi (Moroccan) Quarter opposite the Wall, inasmuch as the last-mentioned property was made Waqf under Moslem Sharia Law, it being dedicated to charitable purposes.

I have blogged about it several times, for example see here from 2007.

My question was: why did the Foreign Ministry fail in seeing already 20 years ago where this was heading with Samuels now bemoaning the situation.

Roet, at the far left,

Credit: Yisrael Medad

first replies by making fun of the suggestion that was made to refer to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria.

Odd. That was the whole point of Samuels complaint: the Arabs are stealing our national legacy, our geography and our place names.  

Perhaps if 20 years ago or even 50 years ago the genuine and historically correct terminology had been used, the world today would not be voting for UNESCO resolutions that erase our past.  Roet displayed not only institutional failure but haughtiness. He was deriding both the truth and a political view that promotes standing up for rights.

If Roet can't stand up for the rights of Israel's national heritage sites, how can we trust him for other matters? A lousy Israeli diplomat, I'd say.

He then continues with hubris and suggests that it is I who am harming the situation of anti-Semitism as instead of targeting those who do Israel and Jews harm, I am attacking the Foreign Ministry.

But I had just proven then his policy was the harmful one.  

He ignored the Foreign Ministry failure and sought to blame me.

Is he not smart? Too "smart"? Coovering up decades of Foreign Ministry failure and wrongheadedness?

All this reminds me of something the prophet Tzefaniah composed in Chapter 3 of his book:

Woe to her [Jerusalem] that is filthy and polluted...Her prophets are wanton and treacherous persons; her priests have profaned that which is holy, they have done violence to the law...For then will I [God] turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one consent...In that day thou shall not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against Me; for then I will take away out of the midst of thee thy proudly exulting ones, and thou shalt no more be haughty in My holy mountain...The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth...

I hope Ambassador Danny Danon takes note.

P.S.  After a night's sleep, I improved on this.

And here is Israellycool.

And the JPost report leaves out the tiff, although she was there taking notes.

^ 

First They 'Took' Jerusalem, Then They 'Took' Hebron

With apologies to the great Cohen.

Leonard Cohen.

-     -     -    -    -

I fully understand my Hebron friends, from the Prime Minister to the Mayor of Hebron, the Jewish Mayor, that is.

But let us recall, last week's Hebron UNESCO resolution was enabled back in  when the previous Jerusalem-centered resolution passed and also United Nations Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), - thanks to Barack Obama* - and in fact, last Thursday's resolution included this reference before getting to Hebron.

And it detailed this regarding Jerusalem:

30.I Jerusalem

...5. Reminding that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and in particular the “basic law” on Jerusalem, are null and void and must be rescinded forthwith,

...7. Regrets the failure of the Israeli occupying authorities to cease the persistent excavations, tunneling, works and projects in East Jerusalem, particularly in and around the Old City of Jerusalem, which are illegal under international law and reiterates its request to Israel, the occupying Power, to prohibit all violations which are not in conformity with the provisions of the relevant UNESCO conventions, resolutions and decisions;

...9. Stresses again the urgent need to implement the UNESCO reactive monitoring mission to the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls, and invites the Director-General and the World Heritage Centre, to exert all possible efforts, in line with their mandates and in conformity with the provisions of the relevant UNESCO conventions, decisions and resolutions, to ensure the prompt implementation of the mission and, in case of non-implementation, to propose possible effective measures to ensure its implementation;

Letting UNESCO getting away with that, not consistently following up and demanding some sort of a recall process, led straight to Hebron.


-------------------
*

President Obama had to make that decision. And one of the factors in that decision was, if he vetoes it, does it somehow give his approval to this big party going on about annexation and legalization and widespread settlement construction and the death of the two-state solution? That was a factor. So it was a judgment call.”

What Else Wrong with that UNESCO Resolution

While everyone is upset with the issue of Jerusalem following the UNESCO resolution, I find something else to be problematic in the extreme.

In the Resolution, you'll read this:

The two Palestinian sites of Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Al- Khalil/Hebron and the Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque/Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem

Those two sites are definitely not "Palestinian".

They are, if anything, Jewish.

As I have written up previously, (here; here) Islam does a sort of reverse retro on history, especially Jewish history. What was ours becomes theirs.

And so, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb become 

sites...[which] are an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and shares the conviction affirmed by the international community that the two sites are of religious significance for Judaism, Christianity and Islam;

and Eretz-Yisrael, the historic homeland of the Jews, to be, as the League of Nations decided, the Jewish "reconstitut[ed]  national home", is purged out of memory and existence.

And in paragraph 3, you'll learn that

nothing in the current decision, which aims, inter alia, at the safeguarding of the cultural heritage of Palestine 

But when Jordan was occupying Jerusalem, the character of the city was very much changed and altered: dozens of synagogues destroyed, tens of thousands of graves desecrated, Jewish religious rights, including those in the signed Armistice Agreement, were violated.

UNESCO forgot about all that.

Let's forget about UNESCO.


^

UNESCO'S Reversion Result

If the proponents of that UNESCO policy of ignoring Judaism's links to Jerusalem would have their way, the Western Wall area would look as it did in 1967:

Empty of Jews.

^

The UN Develops and Supports Jordanian Lies

This Arab-language news report informs us that there was a two-day "religious diversity" conference, which was launched in Amman, Jordan on Tuesday, organized by the United Nations Development Programme and the Centre for King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz for Global Dialogue (KAICIID) and attended by Muslim and Christian religious experts and media professionals from 25 Middle Eastern countries, and with the participation of more than 100 persons.

No Jews?

Jordan's Waqf Minister Wael Arabiyat said there that

"UNESCO's recent decision on Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque confirmed the right of Arabs and Muslims to the entire Sanctuary of 144 dunams."

He added that "this compound is not only just a mosque but that it has no relation historically to the 'holy city' of the Jews," and stressed "the right of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, in the exercise of its control and the protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque."

Jordan's Minister of the Waqf explained that the UNESCO decision "confirms that Jordan has many options in this aspect can be practiced what he can from the protection and guardianship of Jerusalem and Islamic holy sites."

Oddly enough, he also said this in complete contradiction:

pluralism is a universal norm and that humans cannot live alone. To survive, humans need material wealth, spiritual welfare and security...these factors are the basis for positive dialogue...the civil state has existed since the beginning of Islam, citing Medina as an example of accepting the different components of society regardless of religion, race or colour.

Diversity?

Pluralism?

Spiritual welfare?

Positive dialogue?

Different components of society?

What BS. What lies.  And under the auspices of the United Nations.

^

No Wonder We Have a UNESCO Problem

Again, the Temple Mount is not to be.  

Only the Haram A-Sharif.

I finally figured it out.

With UNESCO, we're literally not at all on the 'map':-

There is no non-Arab state in the Middle East, or the Middle East doesn't exist.

^

On Both Sides of its Walls

For the record:

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE

Thirty-seventh session
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
16 - 27 June 2013
Item of the Agenda 7A
Draft Decision 37 COM 7A.26 Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls (site proposed by Jordan) (C 148 rev)
Submitted by Algeria, Iraq, Qatar, United Arab Emirates
Date  21 June 2013

TEXT

Draft Decision: 37 COM 7A.26

I

The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Document WHC-13/ 37.COM/7A.Add 2,
2. Recalling the relevant provisions on the protection of cultural heritage including the four Geneva Conventions (1949), the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols, the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972, the inscription of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls at the request of Jordan on the World Heritage List (1981) and on the List of World Heritage in Danger (1982), and the recommendations, resolutions and decisions of UNESCO, including Decision 36 COM 7A.23 (I), adopted at its 36th session (Saint Petersburg, 2012),
3. Reaffirming that nothing in the present decision, which aims at the safeguarding of the authenticity, integrity and cultural heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem on both sides of its Walls, shall in any way affect the relevant United Nations resolutions and decisions, in particular the relevant Security Council resolutions on the legal status of Jerusalem,
4. Deplores the continued Israeli failure to cooperate and facilitate the implementation of the World Heritage Committee Decision 34 COM 7A.20, which requests a joint World Heritage Centre/ICCROM/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission to the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls and despite its own letter to the Director General of UNESCO dated 23 April 2013 accepting the Mission as reflected in the agreement reached at the 191st session of the Executive Board and as stipulated in the Executive Board 191 EX/Decision 9, and asks Israel to refrain from any new preconditions in order not to obstruct the implementation of the above mentioned agreement;
5. Deeply deplores the persistence of Israeli archaeological excavations and works in the Old City of Jerusalem and on both sides of its Walls and the failure of Israel to cease such works, and requests the Israeli authorities to prohibit all such excavations and works, in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols, the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972, and as clearly stated in the Delhi UNESCO Recommendation of 1956 concerning excavations undertaken in occupied territories;
6. Reiterates the necessity of cooperation to facilitate access to the Old City of Jerusalem and both sides of its Walls, including religious heritage sites therein, in the context of the UNESCO Conventions for the protection of the cultural heritage, and expresses its concern regarding the restricting obstacles imposed by the Israeli authorities on the freedom of access provided to Jordanian and Waqf experts to safeguard such sites;
7. Also deplores, in this regard, the damaging effect of the Jerusalem Light rail (tram line), itinerant at few meters from the Walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, which severely affects the visual integrity and the authentic character of the site and urges Israel to restore the original character of the site in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972 as well as the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Historic Urban Landscape;
8. Regrets the Jerusalem Municipality plan to build a two-line cable car system to connect the Mughrabi Quarter with the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, and also urges Israel to prevent any damage to the integrity and authenticity of the property by abandoning the above mentioned project in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972;
9. Also regrets the decision of the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee, that approved the construction of a visitor centre on the Givati Parking lot in Silwan at a distance of twenty meters from the Walls of the Old City as well as its approval of the so called “Liba House” project, a huge structure of three storeys and approximately 3700 square meters in the Old City of Jerusalem, the extension of the Strauss Building and the Western Wall elevator, and further urges Israel to renounce to the above mentioned projects in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972;
10. Requests the World Heritage Centre to continue applying the Reinforced Monitoring Mechanism to the Old City of Jerusalem on both sides of its Walls, including the Mughrabi Ascent, and also requests it to report every four months on this matter;
11. Thanks the international donors for their generous contributions to UNESCO projects for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem on both sides of its Walls, and calls upon the international donor community to further support, through extra-budgetary funding, activities aimed at the safeguarding of the integrity and authenticity of the Old City of Jerusalem and both sides of its walls;
12. Also thanks the Director-General of UNESCO and the World Heritage Centre for their efforts aimed at the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem on both sides of its walls and invites them to report on this matter at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2014;

II

13. Recalling 176 EX/Special Plenary Meeting Decision, and Executive Board 189 EX/ Decision 5 (II) relating to the Ascent to the Mughrabi Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem,
14. Taking into consideration the 12th and all previous Reinforced Monitoring Reports and their addenda prepared by the World Heritage Centre, 
15. Expresses its concern about the decision by the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Commission on the town planning scheme for the Mughrabi Ascent, and the subsequent decision by Israel’s National Council for Planning and Construction to adopt “an alternative plan for the Mughrabi Ascent”, approved on 31 October 2010 by the above-mentioned Commission; 
16. Requests that, despite the decisions mentioned in paragraph 15, the design process of the Mughrabi Ascent be inclusive of, and accepted by, all parties concerned in accordance with obligations and duties of such parties as stipulated in the provisions of the relevant UNESCO Conventions on the protection of Cultural Heritage;
17. Reaffirms in this regard that no measures, unilateral or otherwise, shall be taken which will affect the authenticity, integrity and the distinctive character of the site, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972 and the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954;
18. Also notes in this regard reports of preliminary discussions reached by Jordan and Israel respectively regarding the Mughrabi Ascent which stipulate that no measures, unilateral or otherwise, shall be taken on the site in accordance with paragraph 17 above;
19. Acknowledges receipt of the Jordanian design for the restoration and preservation of the Mughrabi Ascent, submitted to the World Heritage Centre on 27 May 2011, and thanks Jordan for its cooperation in accordance with the provisions of the relevant UNESCO Conventions for the Protection of Cultural Heritage;
20. Expresses its concern regarding Israel’s submission and content of its plan for the Mughrabi Ascent, and requests that the World Heritage Centre be proactive in the evaluation of the design received in accordance with above paragraph 19;
21. Reiterates in this regard, the need for the parties concerned to cooperate on all related aspects of this issue and regrets Israel’s refusal to fulfil World Heritage Committee Decision 36 COM 7A.23.II, Executive Board 191 EX/Decision 5 (I)  and related UNESCO Resolutions and Decisions;
22. Expresses its concern regarding the continuous, intrusive archaeological demolitions and excavations in and around the Mughrabi Gate Ascent since 22 May 2012, and calls on the Israeli authorities to end such violations, respect the Status Quo, and cooperate with Jordanian and Waqf experts as the competent authorities to maintain and safeguard the site in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972 and the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954;
23. Further regrets Israeli religious-extremist groups' provocative incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound through the Mughrabi Gate, and urges the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to prevent such abuses that violate the sanctity and integrity of the Compound and inflame tension on the ground;
24. Affirms, in this regard, the necessity to respect and safeguard the integrity, authenticity and cultural heritage of Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, as reflected in the Status Quo as a holy place for Muslim worship and as an integral part of a World Cultural Heritage site;
25. Thanks the Director-General for her attention to the sensitive situation in the Ascent and calls upon her to consult with the concerned parties on the dispatch of the necessary expertise to assess possible damages incurred to the site through the conduct of recent Israeli demolitions as referenced in the 12th  Reinforced Monitoring Report prepared by the World Heritage Centre and above paragraph 22;

III

26. Decides to retain the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Do you think that maybe Israel and the world are in danger from this type of manipulation?

And this:

on both sides of its Walls

lacks the answer of who put up those walls in the first place and how did they get there?  Not only post-1967 but during the 19-year period of Jordanian illegal occupation.

^

UNESCO Denied

Two weeks ago, I expressed reservations over Israel's government's decision to agree to having UNESCO involved in Jerusalem and specifically the Temple Mount.

And now:

On Monday 20th May, Hebrew-language sources reported that Israel decided to cancel a planned visit by a delegation from UNESCO, the United Nation's cultural organization, to the occupied Jerusalem.  Sources from the Israel's Foreign Ministry said that the decision came on claim that the Palestinians had "politicized" the delegation, who is planned to come to Jerusalem to inspect the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation in occupied Jerusalem and on its holy sites.

From Palestine News Network

The Arab-language version:

the Israeli occupation forces today prevented a delegation from "UNESCO" of the United Nations from entering the occupied city of Jerusalem to prove changes in the sightseeing of ancient Palestine, which is incumbent on the international community to work to ensure the protection of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.The UNESCO has sent a delegation to visit the city of Jerusalem to make sure there'll be no change Islamic landmarks in the city, and claimed that the Israeli occupation forces prevented the delegation came under the pretext that the Palestinian side contradicted promise not to "politicize" the visit and gave her a picture as if they form an international investigation committee.The center of the "protection" of human rights, that the actions of the occupation forces to prevent the mission from visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque as an attempt to hide their activities Judaization of the holy city, and this constitutes an obstacle important and essential against the requirements of justice advocated by human rights principles and norms of international law relevant.

Are we saved?

Haaretz thinks so:

 

Israel nixes UNESCO Jerusalem visit, alleging Palestinians tried to make it political

Foreign Ministry rescinded its offer to let a team from the UN cultural agency inspect historical sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, saying the Palestinians violated a prior agreement that the visit be apolitical.

JPost confirms:

Israel nixes UNESCO J'lem delegation at last minute 

Israel on Monday called off a planned visit by a delegation from UNESCO, the United Nation’s cultural organization, to inspect preservation work in Jerusalem’s Old City, saying that the Palestinians had "politicized" the delegation.

"The delegation as a delegation has been postponed," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

"The Palestinians violated all the agreements we had with UNESCO: that this was to be a purely professional, not a political visit," he said.  The official said the Palestinians asked to introduce a "slew" of political elements into the visit, with PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki characterizing it as a fact-finding commission to investigate Israeli steps in Jerusalem.

The spokesman said that contrary to an agreement brokered in April at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, the PA was now insisting on taking the delegation to the Temple Mount, and meeting with Palestinian political  personalities, not just "engineers, architects and professional people".

"We have said this was unacceptable" the spokesman said. "Hopefully the delegation is postponed, and not cancelled."

...The Foreign Ministry was to host the delegation, a ministry official said, since Israel is “the responsible party for maintaining and preserving” the site.

^

Background on that UNESCO Visit

I had previously posted on the UNESCO involvement now in Jerusalem.

Emek Shaveh provides us with insight:

UNESCO Delegation to Visit Jerusalem
 
...a delegation from UNESCO is to arrive in Jerusalem in the mid-May...experts [are] to visit the city to investigate the implementation of the program Action Plan for Safeguarding the Cultural Heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem. Launched in 2003, this program includes the conservation of selected ancient sites...[this is acceptance of] international involvement to protect and conserve Jerusalem’s antiquities.

In Emek HaShaveh’s publication Between Holiness and Propaganda, we published our conclusions about the need for international intervention to protect the city's heritage and to prevent settler NGOs from conducting archaeological excavations and, in general, involving themselves with the city’s antiquities as if they belonged to them...these projects are counter to the conservation of the city's heritage, undermine the life of the local residents, and altogether constitute political activities being orchestrated by the Israeli government and settler NGOs to unilaterally create an Old City for which there is no consensus.

Is UNESCO really committed to Jerusalem?

Can Israel trust it?

Or is Israel being undermined? 

^

PM Netanyahu: What's Up at the Temple Mount?

First, we were informed of a new agreement between the PA and Jordan awarding King Abdullah II a special custodianship for the Temple Mount (based on something from 1924).

In the past, in 2009, we had this:-

The Jordanian government on Sunday summoned Israel's envoy to Amman for rebuke over the recent tensions at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  Ambassador Jacob Rosen was called in to Jordan's Foreign Ministry...the second time in a week that Jordan has called in an Israeli diplomat regarding the Temple Mount tensions. In its rebuke, Jordan called Israeli activities in East Jerusalem "illegal and illegitimate," adding that it represented a violation of Israel's commitments to peace.

Then, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally intervenes to assure MK Moshe Feiglin cannot ascend to the Temple Mount.

In the meantime, Israel has no official comment on that agreement.  Odd, since it seems to contradict the 1994 Peace Treaty.

Furthermore, Israel agrees to UNESCO interference in Jerusalem:

Israel has agreed to allow a mission from UNESCO to visit the Old City of Jerusalem next month...Israel announced Tuesday that it also has agreed to take part in a meeting in Paris of experts from the UN’s cultural body next month focused on the Mughrabi Bridge, a wooden walkway that leads to the Temple Mount.

In turn, the Palestinians are to drop, for now, a debate on five resolutions condemning Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

This is the same UNESCO that

... has accepted the Palestinian Authority as a state, claims Rachel’s Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs [Me'arat Hamachpela, the Patriarch's Cave] are not exclusively Jewish sites and also belong to Christians and Muslims.

which caused Netanyahu to slam:

...world culture organization UNESCO's decision to characterize the site of Rachel's Tomb as a Muslim mosque.  "The attempt to separate the nation of Israel from its cultural heritage is absurd," said the prime minister.

At this point, I seem to agree with her:-

What is going on here?  What is developing behind-the-scenes?  What secret diplomatic activity is happening?

Will there be a new "holy basin" plan?

Let's recall Netanyahu in January 2009:

Netanyahu: Obama Will Try to Internationalize Jerusalem Sites

Likud chairman MK Binyamin Netanyahu warns incoming US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will try to internationalize holy sites in Jerusalem.

Likud party chairman and Knesset Opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu warned at the Jerusalem Conference Wednesday that the Obama administration and leftist Israeli politicians will try to internationalize holy sites in Jerusalem -- and he vowed to fight the move.

Netanyahu told the audience, “Some politicians are trying to blur the importance of the Temple Mount to the Jewish People by referring to it as the ‘Holy Basin.’ We, as Jews, know who built the Temple Mount.”

The term “Holy Basin” refers to the area of the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives, Mount Zion and a variety of Christian holy sites which the administration of former U.S. President Bill Clinton recommended be administered under a “special regime.”

This raises the issue of who would administer the Temple Mount, since at present the Wakf Islamic Authority controls the site, albeit under Israeli sovereignty. Moreover, the Arab neighborhoods surrounding the Temple Mount, home to tens of thousands of Israeli Arab residents, are also a part of greater Jerusalem, and thereby fall into the same discussion.

So, who now is being, perhaps, lax in the guardianship of united Jerusalem and the Temple Mount?

______________



P.S.


Orly pointed me to the Peel Commission of 1937:

2. The Holy Places

The Partition of Palestine is subject to the overriding necessity of keeping the sanctity of Jerusalem and Bethlehem inviolate and of ensuring free and safe access to them for all the world. That, in the fullest sense of the mandatory phrase, is "a sacred trust of civilization"--a trust on behalf not merely of the peoples of Palestine but of multitudes in other lands to whom those places, one or both, are Holy Places.

A new Mandate, therefore, should be framed with the execution of this trust as its primary purpose. An enclave should be demarcated extending from a point north of Jerusalem to a point south of Bethlehem...

The protection of the Holy Places is a permanent trust, unique in its character and purpose, and not contemplated by Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations...it is not intended that in course of time they should stand by themselves as a wholly self-governing community.

Guarantees as to the rights of the Holy Places and free access thereto (as provided in Article 13 of the existing Mandate), as to transit across the mandated area, and as to non-discrimination in fiscal, economic and other matters should be maintained in accordance with the principles of the Mandate System. But the policy of the Balfour Declaration would not apply; and no question would arise of balancing Arab against Jewish claims or vice versa. All the inhabitants of the territory would stand on an equal footing...The Mandatory should similarly be charged with the protection of religious endowments and of such buildings, monuments and places in the Arab and Jewish States as are sacred to the Jews and the Arabs respectively.

And I found this:

The [International] Court [of Justice] said [in 2004] that specific guarantees regarding freedom of movement and access to the Holy Sites contained in the Treaty of Berlin (1878) had been preserved under the terms of the Palestine Mandate and a chapter of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.

And that applies to Jews as well as Arabs.


P.P.S.



From the Prime Minister's words today at a ceremony naming a Jerusalem intersection after his father:

"I miss him very, very much. He taught me that our state is a deposit for the generations of Jews who dreamt and prayed and fought and sacrificed so that we might return to our land and renew in it our independence. He taught me about the enormous responsibility that we have to ensure the security of the State of Israel and build up its future. This heritage needs to unite us all every day and so it does."

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Battir's NYTimes's 'Sprightly elderly woman'

The New York Times (finally) has reported on the Battir/Betar water story and it's petition to UNESCO as a world heritage site deserving of protection (I blogged previously here).  They want an ecomuseum. The claim is that village's

ecological and environmental equilibrium will continue to be threatened and its residents denied the chance to enjoy their natural heritage and sustain the land.

It's

water flows through a Roman-era irrigation system

And I just loved this portrayal of a

sprightly elderly woman, a distant relative, skipped down to a nearby plot across the railway track

Skipping?  Exactly how elderly is she?

But let's return to what is supposed to be fact rather than literary fiction.

First, let's identify the site more historically correct:

Tel Betar (Khirbet el-Yahud) is situated southwest of Jerusalem near the Arab village of Bittir, its northern side flanking the Rephaim Valley...Khirbet el-Yahud is unanimously identified with Betar, the last stronghold of the Second Revolt against the Romans, where its leader, Bar-Kochba, found his death in 135 CE. The ancient name was (p)reserved in the name of the Arab village Bittir, and the Arab name of the site - Khirbet el-Yahud, that is "The ruin of the Jews", keeps the memory of the Second Revolt. The identification is supported by the results of the surveys and the excavations. The Roman siege of Betar in 135 CE, the conquest of the settlement and the slaughter of the besieged, including Bar-Kochba, which put an end to the Second Revolt, is mentioned in both Jewish and Roman Sources - The Talmud and the Midrash, and Eusebius (3rd-4th centuries CE) in his book on the history of the church.

Now, let's get factual on Battir's irriagtion situation:

Battir has 12,000 Dunums [dunam is 1,000 square metres (10,764 sq ft)] of arable land. 4,000 Dunums are cultivated. Of the cultivated land, 50 Dunham are near the spring and cultivated with the water of the spring. From the remaining 8,000 Dunham of arable land that are not cultivated, 5,000 Dunham are not cultivated due to lack of water. The majority of the agriculture land relies solely on rain...

In other words, the system irrigates .0125% of the total.  Just over 1%.  (See this: "Correction: Palestinians-Troubled Terraces story - In a May 11 article, The Associated Press incorrectly reported that the agricultural terraces in the West Bank village of Battir cover 2,000 hectares, or about 800 acres. The correct figure is 800 hectares, or nearly 2,000 acres.] C'est toute.  And

Battir households are all connected to the water supply managed by the municipality of Battir. This water is supplied by by The Israeli water company ‐ Mekorot

And it has been since 1973 that

 the village of Battir did most of its growth (p. 14)

Yes, there is a water problem at Battir.  But it is a waste-water disposal problem:

Battir, like most of the villages in West Bank, has no sewerage network. Most families therefore depend on boreholes (cesspits) for their black wastewater. These boreholes [see below] are the main contamination source of the spring water as many of them are not pumped and none of them are sealed against leaks. According to the same survey, 80% of households have separated pipes systems for black and grey water3. While the black‐wastewater is directed to the boreholes the gray water is used for irrigation in the proximity of the house without any treatment. More than 50% of households never pump out their borehole. Only about a quarter of the households pump out their boreholes in a monthly basis, the rest pump out their boreholes on a time range from 2 months to 5 years. The pumped out solid waste is conducted by a truck owned and operated by the municipality. This truck pumps‐out only or mostly the solid waste. In most cases the solid waste is taken to a treatment facility at some cost. Yet, many cases were reported about the drivers disposing the solid waste in the Wadi (dry streambed) near Battir.

According to that NYTimes' report:

...the villagers and conservation experts fight to save what they say is a unique living cultural and historical landscape. 

With all that sewerage, what exactly at the villagers conserving?

And then there's the Israeli, Gidon Bromberg, director of Friends of the Earth Middle East, described as "an organization that works to promote cooperation on environmental issues in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories". He was quoted as saying

“there are alternative ways to bring about security without destroying 4,000 years of cultural heritage for the Israelis, the Palestinians and all of humanity.”

Wait.  4000 years heritage?  What happened to the Romans?  They are from 2000 years ago [Roman rule began in 63 BCE]

But to return to conservation:-

The Battir spring has discharge rate of about 40 cubic meters per day according to my measurement. While visiting the site, I measured 1 liter discharged every 2 seconds (times 43,200 seconds – half of the days seconds). Yet, the secretary of the municipality estimated the springs yield at 150m3/day in the summer and 250m3/day in the winter...Some residents take water from the spring in buckets for domestic use and a common yet unlawful practice is the use of the wells waters for washing personal cars.

And hygiene:

... The use of these boreholes has already caused pollution of water springs in the village, according to the results of regular pathogen tests carried out by the Palestinian Ministry of Health from 2006 the Battir Spring has a concentration of fecal coliform bacteria 230 colonies/100ml. I also obtained a report (annex 1) from 2009 that shows, the fecal coli‐form bacteria at the spring were TMC (to many to count) and for E. Coli in the range from 20‐40 colonies for 100mL. Correspondingly, reports of recurring incidents of water borne diseases amongst children are reported by the local clinic. In the past years cases of amoeba have been registered with the village clinic due to drinking spring water. In May 2010, 50 cases ameba were reported in the boy’s school. The affected groups were student’s ages 6‐14 years old were affected. In the same month in the girl’s school, 3 students as well as some mothers reported cases of Ameba...it should be mandatory to inform clients of the necessity to wash the vegetables harvested with this water. Also, the grey water used in proximity of the house might also contain pathogens that may have a negative effect on human health. This contamination might occur as a result of washing parts of our bodies after being exposed to pathogens in a way were the pathogens are transferred into the water.

According to BBC,

A simple system of manually diverting water via sluice gates means that fruit and vegetables from the small plots on the lower slopes are renowned for their freshness and quality.

It's not UNESCO that Battir's residents require but the World Health Organization .

____________

P.S.  I overlooked this in Isabel Kershner's story:

 Until the late 1940s, Battir was the last stop before Jerusalem on the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway.

Well, if we recall Mandate history, can't we add this from August 18, 1939

and this from October 19, 1937

and this

The railroad suffered numerous terrorist attacks during the 1960s prior to the Six-Day War, especially due to its proximity to the Green Line and the Arab village Battir. On October 27, 1966, one person was injured from a bomb that was placed along the route.

History can become, er, complicated.

____________________

Following the suggestion of a commentator, I went to this book, The World of Ancient Israel Sociological, Anthropological and Political Perspectives by Ronald E. Clements and I found this information about terracing:

In short, Romans-Shmomans.  It was the Hebrews.  Especially important in light of how the "reality" is propagated as in AP:

Terraces are a common Palestinian farming technique in the hilly West Bank terrain.

See:
Edelstein, G., and Gat, Y. (1980-81). ‘Terraces around Jerusalem’, Israel – Land and Nature, 6 (2).
Ron, Z. (1966). ‘Agricultural Terraces in the Judean Mountains’, Israel Exploration Journal, 16.

After the destruction of the First Temple.

The impoverished Jews and the foreigners who settled in abandoned Jewish territory could not, however, maintain the terraced hill farms and orchards. When the exiles returned, they found the land forsaken and desolate. They proceeded to repair the terraces, to restore the agricultural installations and to plant vines and fruit trees.

The Pals. disagree:

Ghattas Sayeg presents irrefutable evidence in his "The Origin of Terraces in the Central Hills of Palestine" that the use of terraces in Palestine were not a function of the Israelite invasion and settlement in Palestine under Joshua. The Israelites were nomads, while terraced agriculture required extensive experience and studied familiarity with the Palestinian landscape.

And this, too:

Palestine’s cultural heritage embodies several components, such as archaeological and historical sites, traditional buildings, unique places of aesthetic value, sacred places, ancient roads, natural and artificial caves, cisterns, agricultural terraces and watchtowers, ancient rock-cut tombs and cemeteries, olive and wine presses, as well as a large number of artifacts and other movable objects of historic, scientific or aesthetic value.

So what happened to the Romans?  They only dealt with the water?

P.S.  Friends and I in Battir in late June 1967:

______________

CAMERA mentions me.

As does On the Contrary.

And also Jonathan Tobin at Commentary.

And also here.

And Caroline Glick, who mentions me:

...a central goal of Palestinian propaganda, and advanced by all relevant sectors of Palestinian society, is to rewrite history and erase the Jews from the history of the Land of Israel.

And rather than call them on this intellectual crime of literally biblical proportions, the Western media collaborates with them. For instance, on Tuesday, the New York Times published an article about the efforts of the Palestinians from Battir, an Arab village southwest of Jerusalem, to have their ancient terraced irrigation system recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They claim the designation is necessary and urgent because if they don’t get it, Israel may build a portion of the security barrier through the village and harm the irrigation system.

Isabel Kershner, the Times’ reporter, referred to the irrigation system as “a Roman-era irrigation system.”

But as the bloggers Yisrael Medad and Elli Fischer pointed out, it is a Jewish irrigation system from the Second Temple period. And while Battir is a reasonable candidate for World Heritage Site status, it is first and foremost a Jewish heritage site. Battir is the Arab name for the ancient Jewish village Betar, the site of Bar- Kochba’s last stand against the Roman Empire.

It is the last place where Jews were sovereign until the establishment of the State of Israel.

But Kershner didn’t mention any of that.

Doing so would lead to too many inconvenient truths – about the nature of Palestinian nationalism, about UNESCO, about Jewish rights to the land. So the historical significance of Battir was left unreported, and the nature of the irrigation system was reported incorrectly.

On the face of it, it can be argued that the Western media’s willful blindness towards Islamic Jew-hatred and its influence on world affairs are part and parcel of the Western elite’s collective refusal to recognize and contend with the implications of the phenomenon.

But this is too forgiving.

Policy-makers who ignore Islamic Jew-hatred are doing so because they are trying to sell their policies. What’s the New York Times’ excuse? The media are supposed to report facts, not shape perceptions. The facts, not the perceptions are supposed to inform policy.

That is, they are not supposed to collaborate with policy-makers, they are supposed to inform policy-makers and the general public.

^