Israeli Foreign Ministry Protests Countries That Voted for UNESCO Resolution

"More than a week after UNESCO's executive board voted in favor of a resolution ignoring Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and Western Wall area, Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold wrote a letter to the 33 countries that voted for the resolution 'registering Israel's protest in the strongest terms.'...

Among the 33 countries that voted for the resolution were a number of countries with whom Israel has close ties, such as China, Egypt, France, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Spain and Vietnam.

Two other EU countries, Slovenia and Sweden also voted for the resolution, as did Argentina, with whom Israel expected there to be dramatic improvement of ties following last year's elections...

In the letter sent to his colleagues, Gold called the resolution 'outrageous' and said it is 'part of a disturbing trend that seeks to deny the deep-rooted links between the Jewish people and the State of Israel, with their historic capital.'...

'Even the Western Wall, the Jewish people's most sacred site after the Temple Mount, is referred to by UNESCO in quotation marks, as though it is not commonly accepted language, while clear preference is given to call it instead al-Buraq, recalling the Islamic tradition alone,' Gold wrote.

Gold noted that every aspect of Jewish tradition was presented in the resolution as fiction, referring to 'Jewish fake graves,' and 'so called Jewish ritual baths.'...

'Far from recognizing and supporting this vital principle of mutual respect between faiths and peoples, this resolution only serves to undermine it.'..."