UNESCO. Israel remains the punching bag
Photo: AP
Elyakim Haetzni
Photo: GNET
Giving up national dignity in favor of regional flirtations
Op-ed: As Jordan and Egypt keep slapping Israel in the face with diplomatic initiatives, the Jewish state keeps holding back for the sake of a real or imaginary affair, which is occurring – as always – solely under the table.
One “small detail” was left out of the criticism
against the hostile UN Security Council session and the outrageous participation of a B’Tselem representative:
That Egypt was one of the initiators of the discussion.
That’s quite unpleasant. After all, we are talking about a member of the “regional club,” the new hope for peace in the absence of a Palestinian partner. Yet as we whisper signs of intimate intelligence- security-related experiences, the new partner hits us with a huge gob of spit - in the world’s town square of all places. Officially, Israel reacted as if it had rained, and so even now, Israel remains the region's punching bag.
Temple Mount. The main proof that Jews have no rights in Jerusalem is Israel’s conduct (Photo: Reuters)
Israel also held back when it received a slap in the face from Jordan, another important member of the “regional club.” Jordan is one of the countries which suggested that UNESCO adopt the resolution denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, and its spokesman, Mohammad al-Momani, stated that “if Israel fails to obey international law, Jordan will make a diplomatic effort to prove Jerusalem’s historical status.” In other words, it will “prove” that the Jews have no historical past in the city. Israel did not respond to this grotesque threat either, maintaining the illusion of the “regional” idyll.
Israel’s entire conduct in Jerusalem allegedly confirms the Arab historical fraud. Otherwise, how can an Arab explain to himself the special status that the state has given Jordan on the Temple Mount? Why has it granted the Jordanian Waqf sovereign powers, and why do its police turn a blind eye when the waqf people degrade and humiliate Jews visiting the Mount? And why did it let them destroy every antiquity preceding the Muslim occupation on the Mount? Would any other government do that if its ancient temples were really buried there? And how did Israel allow the construction of one of the world’s biggest mosques under the Mount, while Jews holding holy books or mumbling a prayer are banished from the place or arrested? Is that the conduct of a state which really has national treasures there? And the veto right it gave the Jordanians to prevent the reconstruction of the Mughrabi Gate and any construction in the Western Wall plaza in general – would Israel, the military power, have agreed to all of this had it believed that it really had historical rights there?
We can see for ourselves that Jordan has a basis for al-Momani’s threat to “prove” that the Jews have no rights in Jerusalem, and the main proof is Israel’s conduct.
The Israeli self-deprecation vis-à-vis Jordan is as old as the state. When Jordan’s leaders, from the late Hussein onwards, allowed themselves to reprimand Israel over alleged violations of international law, our state failed to remind them, for example, of the bombing and destruction of all the synagogues in the Old City, of the displacement of gravestones on the Mount of Olives in favor of building toilets and paving roads, and of the ban on Jewish access to any place that is holy to them, including the Western Wall, in violation of their international commitment. Official Israel has never responded with the question: Who are you to preach us?
Even worse, for Jordan’s sake we waived the justice claim, keeping only the lame “security” excuse, although the large majority in Jordan sees itself as “Palestinian” and its state as part of “Palestine.” The Brits already divided “Palestine” and allotted three-quarters of the land of the Jewish national home in favor of the new Arab nationalism – in other words, the Palestinian state. Nonetheless, we are silencing the injustice argument against the intention to trim the one-quarter left for the Jews in favor of a second “Palestine,” for the sake of a real or imaginary affair, which is being held – as always – solely under the table.
Furthermore, due to his attempt to nurture a good relationship with China and Russia, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t even dare submit a polite diplomatic protest following their disgraceful vote in favor of a despicable UNESCO resolution, both historically and culturally. We have yet to learn that a ghetto-like acceptance of insults does not appease, but rather undermines our national existence.
