UNESCO’s decision on Jerusalem yesterday is one of the best, most just and most long-awaited by the organization. On the other hand, it is a great success for Netanyahu whose diplomatic efforts led to the European countries (except Sweden), the United States and other countries to refrain from supporting it, hence weakening its validity.<\/p>\n
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UNESCO in effect said what it had<\/em> to say based on in its mandate to protect world heritage sites: Israel is working unilaterally in the Old City, digging and advancing its construction, regardless of Jerusalem’s historical character and of it being a world heritage site. UNESCO also stated a known fact: East Jerusalem is occupied territory.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We in Emek Shaveh also claim that the archaeological activity of tunnel digging and the promotion of building projects such as ‘Beit ha-Liba’ in the Western Wall plaza, or the Kedem compound in Silwan, are detrimental to the character of ancient Jerusalem.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We assume that Netanyahu’s political maneuver vis-a-vis the German Foreign Minister is part of an effective foreign policy that demands that Europe recognize Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. Anyone who opposes this demand is accused of anti-Semitism and of erasing the Jewish connection to the city. This policy is intended to prevent the possibility of a political compromise in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Europeans’ opposition and abstention to UNESCO’s decision yesterday shows that this policy is bearing fruit. The European representatives in the organization have yielded to Israeli pressure and renounced a balanced decision that is consistent with international law – Jerusalem is occupied territory and Israel cannot act in the Old City as it sees fit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the political struggle over Jerusalem, heritage plays a central role. In view of the European countries’ reluctance to support a just and good decision for Jerusalem, it seems that the Israeli nationalist discourse is also succeeding in casting fear upon Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UNESCO’s decision on Jerusalem yesterday is one of the best, most just and most long-awaited by the organization. On the other hand, it is a great success for Netanyahu whose diplomatic efforts led to the European countries (except Sweden), the United States and other countries to refrain from supporting it, hence weakening its validity. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"class_list":["post-1224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-holy-basin","tag-kedem-compound","tag-temple-mount","tag-the-old-city","tag-tunnels","tag-unesco","tag-western-wall-plaza"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n