joe daniel price/Getty Images The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution on December 1 omitting any Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.
The Jerusalem Post and CNS News reported resolution, which passed by a vote of 129 in favor, 11 against and 31 abstentions, referred to the Temple Mount solely by its Islamic name, Haram al-Sharif. The Temple Mount, which is located in Jerusalem’s Old City and houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is the third holiest site in Islam.
Richard Erdman, the United States representative, said that “it is morally, historically, and politically wrong for the members of this body to support language that denies both the Jewish and Muslim connections to the Temple Mount and Haram al-Sharif.”
Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan also criticized the resolution’s passage. “A resolution about Jerusalem that does not refer to its ancient Jewish roots is not an ignorant mistake but an attempt to distort and rewrite history,” Erdan said. “The eternal bond between the Jewish people and our capital will never be erased.”
By contrast, Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour lauded the resolution’s passage as providing “hope and support to our people” and that it challenges the narrative that the conflict is based on religion. “We will never accept to continue living under occupation in an apartheid system, we deserve freedom and dignity in our homeland,” he said.
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) denounced the resolution as a “joke” in a tweet. “The United States firmly stands with our great ally Israel & the Jewish people & against this false rhetoric that delegitimizes ties to the land of Israel,” he wrote.
This is a joke & shows where the @UN’s loyalty lies. The United States firmly stands with our great ally Israel & the Jewish people & against this false rhetoric that delegitimizes ties to the land of Israel. https://t.co/PEIkFuw0Sh
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) December 2, 2021
UN Watch Executive Hillel Neuer said in a statement, “The UN shows contempt for both Judaism and Christianity by adopting a resolution that makes no mention of the name Temple Mount, which is Judaism’s holiest site, and which is sacred to all who venerate the Bible, in which the ancient Temple was of central importance.” UN Watch did note that the number of abstentions increased from 14 for a similar resolution in 2018 to 31 in the 2021 resolution, which UN Watch argued was “modest yet notable progress.”
Jewish groups also criticized the resolution.
“UN degrades its historic mission/violates its mediation role in conflicts by parroting those who deny 3,500 year love affair between Jewish people [and the] Land of Israel highlighted powerfully by the bravery + victory of the #Maccabees —in those days, in our time,” the Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted.
UN degrades its historic mission/violates its mediation role in conflicts by parroting those who deny 3,500 year love affair between Jewish people+Land of Israel highlighted powerfully by the bravery + victory of the #Maccabees —in those days, in our time.https://t.co/rEsPDl5Rxy
— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) December 1, 2021
AIPAC similarly tweeted that the resolution was the U.N.’s “latest attack on Israel.” “Attempting to erase 3,000 years of continuous Jewish connection to Jerusalem does nothing to advance peace.”
The latest attack on Israel at the UN:
Yesterday the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution ignoring the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount—Judaism's holiest site.
Attempting to erase 3,000 years of continuous Jewish connection to Jerusalem does nothing to advance peace. https://t.co/hd5Scv6Viq
— AIPAC (@AIPAC) December 2, 2021
B’nai Brith International criticized France for voting yes on the resolution in a tweet as well as Germany for abstaining. They applauded the U.S., Canada, Hungary and other countries that voted against it.
The @UN General Assembly resolution on #Jerusalem again obscenely refers to the holiest site in Judaism – the Temple Mount – only by its later Arabic name.
Shame on a democracy like #France for voting yes.
Shame on a country like #Germany for abstaining! pic.twitter.com/dVkGEQOY2a
— B'nai B'rith Intl. (@BnaiBrith) December 1, 2021
We salute Australia 🇦🇺, Canada 🇨🇦, the Czech Republic 🇨🇿, Guatemala 🇬🇹, Hungary 🇭🇺, the Marshall Islands 🇲🇭, Micronesia 🇫🇲, Nauru 🇳🇷, Palau 🇵🇼 and the United States 🇺🇸 for voting no, and all those that opposed other rote, defamatory anti-Israel U.N. resolutions.
— B'nai B'rith Intl. (@BnaiBrith) December 1, 2021
Lawfare Project Executive Director Brooke Goldstein, who also is the founder of End Jew Hatred, said in a statement that the resolution “is the definition of cultural appropriation – and during Chanukah, the holiday that marks liberation centered around the temple. They are trying to make us feel disconnected so we don’t feel powerful. The Jewish people have faced corrupt politicians in the past. We know who survives. No one knows the name of the Greek generals. Everyone knows the names of the Maccabees.”
My statement on the latest UN vote, 129-11 that the Temple Mount has no Jewish ties. https://t.co/pjQkZBKYTi pic.twitter.com/WOB3erB8jv
— Brooke Goldstein (@GoldsteinBrooke) December 2, 2021
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.