US slams UNESCO Hebron decision as 'divisive, confusing, and impossible to justify'
The United States condemned a resolution passed by UNESCO on Friday declaring Hebron's Old City—and with it the Cave of the Patriarchs—as a Palestinian World Heritage site in danger, saying it was "divisive, confusing, and impossible to justify."
"The site is not under any real or immediate threat. Indeed, the only urgency here is an urgency to express political anger," a statement by the US delegation to UNESCO said.
"Had the Committee shown patience, this inscription might have represented, at some time in the future, an example of the World Heritage Convention acting as the international community’s best and most important tool for cultural dialogue, mutual understanding and peace," the American statement went on to say.
"Instead, the politically-motivated decision today to inscribe only further stains UNESCO’s reputation and further divides this house."
