BBC policy on display again with portrayal of UN anti-Israel bias - by Hadar Sela

...Bizarrely though, the BBC continues to put the phrase anti-Israel bias in scare quotes and to portray endemic UN bias to its audiences as “perceived”.

Hadar Sela..
BBC Watch..
15 October '17..

The October 12th announcement from the US State Department regarding withdrawal from UNESCO was the subject of an article that originally appeared on the BBC News website’s US & Canada and Middle East pages under the interestingly punctuated title “US quits Unesco over ‘anti-Israel bias'” and several hours later had its headline changed to “Israel to join US in quitting Unesco“.

The first five versions of the article carried the original headline with versions 2 and 3 telling BBC audiences that:

“…last year, Israel suspended cooperation with Unesco after the agency adopted a controversial resolution which made no reference to Jewish ties to a key holy site in Jerusalem.”

And:

“…earlier this year, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Unesco for declaring the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank a World Heritage site.”

The UNESCO resolution mentioned in that first paragraph was passed in October 2016 and the site warily described by the BBC as having “Jewish ties” is none other than the holiest place in Judaism – Temple Mount.

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

The price of UNESCO's historical vandalism - by Alex Ryvchin

...Symbolism matters. The statements of international bodies like UNESCO matter. When ‎UNESCO is used to tactically scrub out Jewish history in ‎the Middle East to undermine ‎Israel's legitimacy, this is not only an act of historical vandalism, it provides an approving nod ‎to the Palestinians that frequently ends in bloodshed.

Alex Ryvchin..
Israel Hayom..
28 July '17..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=19551

Veteran U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross observed that "the thing that plagues the Palestinian ‎national movement more than anything else has been a historic preoccupation with ‎symbols, ‎not substance. Instead of building a state, the Palestinians would like to get a flag at ‎the U.N. ‎The day after they get a flag at the U.N., nothing changes."‎

Recent Palestinian maneuvers in UNESCO, known for its listing of World Heritage Sites, have followed this very pattern ‎of ‎dogged pursuit of symbolic victories that fail to improve the life of a single Palestinian ‎or ‎build the institutions essential for statehood. ‎

In October 2016, the executive board of UNESCO passed a resolution that disregarded ‎the ‎connection between Judaism and the Temple Mount ‎and sought to deny the Jewish link to ‎the Western Wall.

The move drew swift condemnation from UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova, ‎who was ‎at pains to distance herself from the resolution, asserting that "to deny, conceal or ‎erase any of ‎the Jewish, Christian or Muslim traditions undermines the integrity of the site ‎and runs ‎counter to the reasons that justified its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage ‎list." ‎

But Bokova was powerless. Privately initiated by the Palestinians, the resolution passed ‎with ‎the support of predominantly nondemocratic states which are among the usual ‎automatic ‎majority that support every resolution favored by the Palestinian Authority, whose ‎government is now in ‎the 12th year of its elected four-year term.‎

In keeping with the strategy of pro-Palestinian activism in international forums, the ‎Palestinians ‎viewed the Jerusalem resolution not as the limit of what they sought to achieve, ‎but merely an ‎incremental gain in a broader project. ‎

BBC Middle East correspondent: Jewish history in Hebron is a ‘view’ - by Hadar Sela

...Like the rest of the BBC’s coverage of this story, Bateman’s equivocal ‘he said-she said’ account and his refusal to even provide historical facts without introducing false equivalence and ‘narratives’ obviously does not meet the corporation’s mission of providing “accurate and impartial news, current affairs and factual programming of the highest editorial standards so that all audiences can engage fully with issues across the UK and the world”.

Hadar Sela..
BBC Watch..
13 July '17..

BBC reporting on last week’s UNESCO resolution concerning the old city of Hebron – including the Tomb of the Patriarchs – has consistently failed to adequately clarify to audiences both the real reasons for Israel’s objections to the motion as well as the fact that the professional body assessing the proposal submitted by the Palestinian delegation did not recommend its adoption and criticised it for ignoring Jewish and Christian heritage in the city, “even though extensive remains testify to these links”.

(Continue to Full Link)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

What do Hamas and UNESCO have in common? - by Bassam Tawil

...The latest UNESCO resolutions are a catalyst for Palestinian terrorism against Israelis. Yet they are more than that: they also make the prospect of peace even more distant. UNESCO and other international agencies that deny Jewish history are sending a green light for violence and extremism to Palestinians and other Arabs and Muslims.

Bassam Tawil..
Gatestone Institute..
12 July '17..

What do Hamas and UNESCO have in common?

Both believe that Jews have no historical, religious or emotional attachment to the Holy Land.

The recent UNESCO resolutions concerning Jerusalem and Hebron are precisely what terror groups that deny Israel's right to exist, such as Hamas, have long been hoping to hear from the international community.

The first resolution denies that Israel is the sovereign power over Jerusalem, including the Western Wall, while the second one designates Hebron and the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs as an "Endangered Palestinian World Heritage Site."

The two UNESCO resolutions, in fact, back the position of Hamas and other Palestinians -- namely that Israel has no right to exist. These decisions provide Hamas and other terror groups with ammunition with which to destroy Israel, killing as many Jews as possible in the process.

Is it any wonder, then, that Hamas leaders were rubbing their hands with glee upon the announcement of the UNESCO resolutions?

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

Our history, our heritage, is the answer - by Michael Lobovikov

...The depth of our history, and the understanding of our national rights that stem from it, are a weapon no less powerful than an armored division or Iron Dome battery.

Michael Lobovikov..
Israel Hayom..
10 July '17..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=19397

UNESCO's outrageous decision last week to designate the Old City of Hebron, including the Cave of the Patriarchs, as a Palestinian world heritage site reminded me of something an Israeli archaeologist once told me on a tour of Samaria. Describing how he discovered the historical site we were visiting that day, he said: "I saw several chiseled stones in a field and rubbed one of them, to clean off the dust. All of a sudden I saw two words engraved in ancient Hebrew: 'High Cohen' ['priest']. Turns out I was standing in the middle of a Hebrew village abandoned after the destruction of the First Temple, during the Babylonian exile, and had been sitting there untouched for 2,600 years!"

The words he discovered were engraved in a stone situated above the entrance to the home of the high priest who had lived there. In an area of 5 square kilometers (1.9 square miles), the remnants of new fewer than six Jewish communities from that period were found. This incredible heritage site stands abandoned to this day. Aside from minimal excavations and documentation, it has not been comprehensively researched yet. The general public has no access to it because it is in a military zone and is opened up to visitors only on rare occasions.

The same is true of most historical sites in Israel. While we are all familiar with popular sites such as Masada, the City of David, the Cave of the Patriarchs, Herodium and Beit Shearim, the vast majority of Jewish heritage sites are still insufficiently accessible to the public. We all know about Caesarea, Beit Shean, Atlit and Crusader-era fortresses such as Montfort Castle and Belvoir Fortress -- but these are not Jewish heritage sites. Gamla, Beitar, Hippos-Sussita, Alexandrium (or Sartaba in Hebrew) and hundreds of other sites are still waiting for the Israeli public to visit them, and even just hear about them for the first time. The overwhelming majority of these sites have not been excavated and studied by archaeologists, and the few people who do "visit" them are antique robbers who plunder the depths of our national history with their destructive pirate excavations.

If a site has not been excavated, it has not been studied. And when it is not studied, it remains unknown to the general public, which consequently cannot connect with its heritage and roots. This creates a cycle of ignorance and contempt for our national history and for our link to the past and the land. We do not invest enough in preserving our heritage sites, and we open the door to the type of political opportunism exemplified by UNESCO's recent decision on Hebron.

Will UNESCO someday conclude that Jews' very existence "desecrates" the Muslim-ness of Palestine

...Maybe, thanks to UNESCO, school field trips to the Cave of the Patriarchs will be reinstated. Maybe because of this resolution, the government will finally agree to expand the most frozen Jewish community in Judea and Samaria and improve the very unwelcoming conditions that greet visitors to the Cave of the Patriarchs. Maybe now some of us will stop calling the story of Abraham's purchase of the cave and the field around it from Ephron the Hittite "religification."

Nadav Shragai..
Israel Hayom..
09 July '17..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=19389

With each new deluded resolution, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization makes itself look more and more ridiculous, and less and less relevant. Where will the ignorance, lies, and absurdity lead? Will UNESCO decide at some point that the Jews are descended from Islam? Perhaps they will adopt the Islamist definition of Jews as nothing but "monkeys and pigs"? Who knows? It may ultimately conclude what Muslim incitement says is the heart of the matter: that Jews' very existence "desecrates" the Muslim-ness of Palestine.

But every cloud has a silver lining. There is one advantage to the blatant ridiculousness of UNESCO's series of resolutions about Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, Rachel's Tomb, and now the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron: they hold a mirror up to our faces. They force us to return to our roots, to study them, to delve into them, and understand that we are not temporary guests in this country. We aren't here just because we were born here or made aliyah. The resolutions compel us to the vital acknowledgement that the Land of Israel is not just a haven, it's a destiny, whose holy sites and historical spots are the cradle of our people's birth, which still tie in to our present and our future here.

To date, Israel has ceded 97% of Hebron to the Palestinians. If it weren't for the Jewish community there that has been holding on to the city's historic core by the skin of its teeth despite what happened in the riots of 1929, when the city's Jewish residents were slaughtered, today, the Cave of the Patriarchs, Abraham Avinu Synagogue, Beit Hadassah, Shavei Hevron Yeshiva and other Jewish sites -- the 3% that remains in our hands -- would already belong to the Palestinians, too.

Unfortunately BBC’s erases the real story in report on UNESCO’s Hebron resolution - by Hadar Sela

...The real story behind this latest UNESCO resolution is of course the continuing politicisation of that body and the hijacking of its mission for the purpose of delegitimisation of Israel through erasure of Jewish history. BBC audiences, however, are serially deprived of that crucial background information under an editorial policy that fails to comply with the corporation’s public purposes.

Hadar Sela..
BBC Watch..
09 July '17..

As was expected, on July 7th UNESCO passed a resolution declaring the Cave of Machpelah (Tomb of the Patriarchs) an endangered ‘Palestinian’ world heritage site.

That story was the topic of a report titled “Unesco declares Hebron’s Old City Palestinian World Heritage site” that was published on the BBC News website’s Middle East page on the same day and is remarkable for what it does not tell BBC audiences.

The article fails to inform readers that the professional body – ICOMOS – that evaluated the Palestinian application did not support it and stated that “ICOMOS considers that the comparative analysis has not so far justified consideration of this property for the World Heritage List”.

“The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) — a professional body that investigates claims that historic sites are endangered on behalf of UNESCO — earlier rejected the Palestinian claim that the Tomb of the Patriarchs was an endangered site. Its assessment on Hebron, published on Sunday, criticized the Palestinian proposal for ignoring Jewish and Christian heritage in the city, “even though extensive remains testify to these links.””

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

Hebron's Jewish Legacy vs. UNESCO - by Ricki Hollander

Palestinian attempts to negate Judaism's legacy in its homeland have been increasingly used as a political tactic by the Palestinian leadership and its Muslim allies. Their latest salvo is for UNESCO to declare Hebron a Palestinian World Heritage site in danger, which is to be voted on this Friday at a meeting in Krakow.

Ricki Hollander..
CAMERA Middle East Issues..
02 July '17..

Palestinian historical revisionism and attempts to negate Judaism's legacy in its homeland have been increasingly used as a political tactic by the Palestinian leadership and its Muslim allies. (See “The Battle Over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount”) What began as the absurd denial of Judaism's historical and religious ties to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount by Palestinian and Muslim leaders soon advanced to the enlistment of international bodies to pass resolutions eradicating the Jewish people's connections to their holy sites and repudiating Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.

Buoyed by their successes at UNESCO, which passed several resolutions condemning Jewish visits to and policing of the Temple Mount while referring to Judaism's holiest site solely in Arabic terms, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is now using the same tactic to get the UN body to invalidate the Jewish legacy in Hebron, Judaism's second holiest site after the Temple Mount. Turning to UNESCO's World Heritage Center to declare the Old City of Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs a “Palestinian World Heritage Site” that is endangered by Israel, the PA sent a letter to the World Heritage Center Director Mechtild Rossler, alleging a long list of supposed Israeli violations, including the placement of security barriers near the Cave, and other Israeli security measures, as well as the purchase of property by Jewish residents of the city.

UNESCO, which is dominated by Muslim and Arab allies of the Palestinians, is voting on the matter at the 41st session of the World Heritage Committee, held on July 2-12, 2017 in Krakow, Poland.

It is noteworthy that while Hebron was in Muslim hands, Jews were often barred from their holy site and subject to pogroms by their Arab neighbors. But after coming under Israeli control in 1967, both Jews and Muslims share access to the shrine.

Those who seek to eradicate Jewish claims to their holiest sites bank on the credulity of those unfamiliar with Hebron's long history who willingly accept Palestinian and Muslim historical revisionism and fabrications.

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

Our job is to pick out the important stuff, the “signal,” and reject the “noise.” - by Vic Rosenthal

...The world is changing, getting less rational, more dangerous and more fragmented. Nobody will give artificial respiration to weak nations in a world dominated by Putins, Xi Jinpings and (maybe) Trumps. Israel won’t be protected by international organizations or laws, even if they were not subverted politically and turned against us. And it can’t depend on the US, which has its own problems that will only get worse. What will matter in the future, and already matter today, are facts on the ground and the ability to deter aggression. This is the real “signal.” The posturing of international diplomacy is just part of the noise that is intended to obscure it.

Vic Rosenthal..
Abu Yehuda..
05 May '17..

The latest UNESCO resolution on “Occupied Palestine” is both nothing and something.

It is nothing because it changes nothing. It cannot render “null and void” Israel’s possession of Jerusalem or its status as our capital city (echoing Hamas’ new document of principles, p.11). It cannot make Ma’arat HaMachpela or Kever Rachel “Palestinian” sites. And it cannot make UNESCO something rather than the nothing it has become, because its passage of a series of similar resolutions shows that it is a creature of anti-Israel politics rather than an organization to promote international cooperation.

On the other hand, the resolution adds to the massive accumulation of documents, maps, slogans, manifestos and resolutions in UN agencies, churches, and universities – none of which in themselves change anything – that declare that we, the Jewish people in their sovereign state, are nothing. A historian of the 30th century might come upon this pile of documents and believe that there is a country called “Palestine” that is “occupied,” although there would be a far smaller collection of sources testifying to the existence of a state called “Israel.” They might wonder how nothing can occupy something.

Although millions of Arabs, other Muslims, Europeans, Ha’aretz writers, and other enemies of Israel have been so far unable to dislodge the tenacious grip of the Jewish people from their land by force or the combination of force and guile called “diplomacy,” they have been able to produce thousands of tons of paper attesting to the proposition that we don’t exist, and to the extent that we do, we oughtn’t to.

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

Surprise! UNESCO’s Latest Resolution on Jerusalem: Much of the Same - by Amb. Alan Baker

...Sadly, UNESCO can no longer be regarded as an objective, universal, and professional specialized agency. As such, its special character as the educational and cultural organ of the UN has been gravely and irreparably polluted and prejudiced. For this reason, one might expect that serious and responsible states disassociate from and reject such resolutions and review their positions regarding continued membership of UNESCO. By the same token, one might expect the Palestinian leader to come to the President of the United States with clean hands.

Amb. Alan Baker..
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs..
03 May '17..

On May 2, 2017, the 58 member Executive Board of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – an organization ostensibly devoted to science, education, and culture, adopted a resolution entitled “Occupied Palestine.”

This politicized resolution, initiated by the Palestinian leadership and formally sponsored by such paragons of educational and cultural virtue as Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, was supported by 22 nations including such sidekicks as Sweden, South Africa, Russia, Iran, China, Brazil, Vietnam and even Mauritius!

Twenty-three nations abstained, and 10 opposed the resolution, including the United States, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Greece, Germany, Paraguay, Togo, and Ukraine.

Curiously, the adoption of this resolution coincided with Israel’s 69th Independence Day celebration.

(Continue to Full Post)

Amb. Alan Baker is Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center and the head of the Global Law Forum. He participated in the negotiation and drafting of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, as well as agreements and peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. He served as legal adviser and deputy director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Israel’s ambassador to Canada.

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

(Video) From Time Immemorial – The Everlasting Jewish Tie to the Land of Israel

On Israel's Independence Day, UNESCO passed a resolution demanding that Israel disavow Jerusalem as its capital.

TheJerusalemCenter..
03 May '17..
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsvw4NS1MnI&feature=youtu.be



This resolution is part of the ongoing Palestinian campaign to delegitimize Israel in the international arena and disseminate false history and libel against the State of Israel. It ignores the continuous Jewish presence in the Land of Israel throughout the past 2,000 years - as documented in this new Jerusalem Center video.



The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs is a leading independent research institute specializing in public diplomacy and foreign policy.

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

IBT takes a page from UNESCO's book on the Temple Mount - by Tamar Sternthal

...CAMERA urges The International Business Tribune to amend its headline and first paragraph to reflect the fact that some Israeli lawmakers are seeking Jewish prayer rights at the Temple Mount because it is Judaism's holiest site, and not because it is a "Muslim mosque."

Tamar Sternthal..
CAMERA Snapshots..
13 November '16..
Link: http://blog.camera.org/archives/2016/11/international_business_times_p.html

In a headline and accompanying first paragraph, The International Business Times takes a page from UNESCO's book on the Temple Mount, casting Judaism's holiest site as Islamic only. "Israel Wants Jews To Pray at Muslim Mosque in Jerusalem: Temple Mount Tensions Grow in Middle East" is the grossly misleading headline about some Israeli lawmakers (not "Israel") who seek Jewish prayer rights at Judaism's holiest site.

Likewise, the article's first sentence depicts the site as Muslim only, ignoring the reason why Jews would want to pray there:

Russia, China and Lessons of the UNESCO Vote - by Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror

...Israelis who cultivate the pipe dream of substituting Israel's long-term bond with the US for an alliance with China and Russia should take a long, hard look at the votes of Moscow and Beijing at UNESCO, where they joined in denial of Jewish links to Jerusalem. Russian and Chinese policies lack the ethical basis that is so prevalent in US policy, and the chances of forging a similar long-term bond with either are slim.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror..
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 375..
02 November '16..
Link: http://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/375-amidror-lessons-unesco-vote/

The recent resolution by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) denying the Jewish link to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in Jerusalem is so absurd and detached from reality that it is hard to believe it was passed by what is supposed to be one of the world's most respected international bodies.

It does, however, clarify certain realities: that the Arab claims are devoid of logic, and that the international community readily capitulates to Palestinian whims because of its own cowardice.

The Arab-Muslim bloc was prominent among the states that voted in favor of the resolution, unfortunately proving, yet again, the "no partner" assertion by Israelis who are wary of negotiations with the Palestinians. After all, if this is what the Palestinians and Arabs believe, what point is there in talking?

If Israel and the Jewish people have no historic or religious link to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, the Palestinians could move to debunk Israel's claim to any of its historic homeland. This would make any negotiations into which they subsequently entered an act of deceit meant to eliminate the Jewish state. Of course, if the Palestinians can secure international achievements such as UNESCO resolutions, they have no need for peace talks in the first place.

Of the nations that voted in favor of the resolution, China's and Russia's voting patterns stand out. Beijing is a rising global economic power that is trying to rival the US, while Moscow is trying to extricate itself from the international corner it finds itself in following the collapse of the Soviet Union's communist empire.

They are each pursuing a dynamic foreign policy that is putting pressure on the US. China is pushing the US in the South China Sea, and Russia is pushing the US in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

In the case of the UNESCO resolution, however, the Chinese and Russian votes, in opposition to that of the US, were a sign of weakness, not strength.

Perpetrating the most ludicrous falsehoods to write the Jews out of their own history - by Melanie Phillips

...The Palestinians think their big historical lie will finish Israel off. In fact it could rebound on them badly and finish off their own cause – but only if Israel recognizes the opportunity it should now seize.

Melanie Phillips..
As I See It/JPost..
27 October '16..
Link: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/As-I-see-it-Palestinians-step-up-the-jihad-of-the-lie-471067

This week UNESCO doubled down on its shameful resolution erasing the historic connection of Judaism and Christianity to the Temple Mount, the holy of holies of the Jewish people, defining it instead as a “Muslim holy site of worship.”

For good measure, the original resolution also condemned the “escalating Israeli aggressions and illegal measures” against the department in charge of Jerusalem’s Muslim holy places and deplored “the continuous storming of Al-Aksa mosque/ Al-Haram al-Sharif by Israeli right-wing extremists and uniformed forces.”

This rewriting of Jewish history and religious belief amounts to a jihad of the lie. The false claims of Israeli aggression, projecting the Arabs’ own unceasing violence, cultural vandalism and terrorism over Temple Mount onto their Jewish victims, are incendiary lies which fuel murderous attacks on Jews and in which UNESCO has now made itself complicit.

Of all the disturbing issues of our time, the most fundamental is the collapse of the distinction between truth and lies.

When post-modern society decided that the notion of objective truth was bunk and so everything was relative, it also destroyed the idea of a lie. If there’s no such thing as truth, there can be no such thing as a lie. Everything becomes merely a matter of opinion.

Palestinian leaders lie reflexively and unremittingly about Israel and the Jews. Inflammatory libels that Israelis deliberately kill Arab children or perpetrate ethnic cleansing and apartheid incite Arab mobs to murderous rage.

These lies are also believed by many in the West. For while only some Westerners are consumed by anti-Jewish bigotry, most are no longer educated to distinguish lies from factual evidence. They are taught instead to afford equal respect to “competing narratives.”

The Papyrus Speaks Louder Than UNESCO - by Jonathan Tobin

...the papyrus, like the many other proofs of Jewish history, stands as a rebuke to those who are, whether they understand it or not, seeking to go back to the pre-June 1967 status quo whereby Jews were banned from the Old City or praying at the Western Wall. It is also a reminder to Israelis and their friends that, although the Middle East conflict remains a complex and often-perplexing puzzle, the cause of Israel is fundamentally just. Justice may be an alien concept in the upside down moral universe of the United Nations. But it is not something that can be erased by a UNESCO vote.

Jonathan S. Tobin..
Commentary Magazine..
28 October '16..
Link: https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/israel/papyrus-speaks-louder-than-unesco-jerusalem/

This week the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization—UNESCO—voted yet again to validate Palestinians claims that deny Jewish ties to the holiest places in Judaism. But an unexpected announcement that some of Israel’s critics consider suspiciously fortuitous made clear the ignorant and vicious nature of the Palestinian campaign. On the day of the latest UNESCO vote, the Israel Antiquities Authority unveiled the discovery of an ancient papyrus fragment that has been scientifically dated to the 7th century B.C.E. that mentions Jerusalem in Hebrew. The artifact, which predates the birth of Islam by 1,400 years, is the most effective response imaginable to a UNESCO stand that treats the Temple Mount and the Western Wall as exclusively Muslim shrines.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu made a point of triumphantly mentioning the archeological find this week in his denunciation of the UNESCO vote. But while the timing of the two events ought to be particularly embarrassing for the Palestinians and their European and Third World enablers, it’s not likely that this will cause any of those nations that have stuck to their absurd position to change their votes.

After all, does anyone at the United Nations really doubt that Jerusalem was the capital of a Jewish nation many centuries before the Muslim conquest of the country? Or that Hebrew was the language of the ancient Jewish kingdoms? Do even many Palestinians think the site of the Temple Mount mosques isn’t where the Jews built both of their ancient shrines or that the Western Wall is not the last remnant of that structure? Not likely.

Third time no better for BBC audiences trying to understand UNESCO charades - by Hadar Sela

...With this being the third report concerning Palestinian and Arab abuse of the UNESCO forum for political ends that the BBC News website has produced in twelve days, it is by now very obvious that the corporation has no intention whatsoever of providing its funding public with the information which would enhance their understanding of this particular “international issue” – as its remit obliges.

Hadar Sela..
BBC Watch..
28 October '16..

The BBC News website’s reporting on the latest ignominious resolution concerning Jerusalem that was adopted by UNESCO on October 26th was to be found tagged onto the end of a report concerning an archeological discovery titled “Jerusalem reference found on ancient wine ledger“. Readers were told that:

“The discovery was announced on Wednesday shortly after the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (Unesco) adopted a second resolution in a week that Israel said denied Judaism’s ties to Jerusalem.

The resolution, according to copies seen by news agencies, mentions only the Islamic name for a key holy site in the city known to Jews as the Temple Mount and al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) to Muslims.” [emphasis added]

According to the Times of Israel:

“A draft of the resolution obtained by The Times of Israel on Sunday once again referred to the Temple Mount compound solely by its Muslim names, “Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif,” and defined it only as “a Muslim holy site of worship.”

As the site of the biblical temples, the mount is the holiest place in Judaism. Unlike last week’s resolution, the draft likely to be adopted Wednesday will not mention the importance of Jerusalem’s Old City for “the three monotheistic religions.””

The BBC, however, was apparently incapable of informing audiences in its own words that such language does indeed deny the ties of Judaism (and Christianity) to Jerusalem, preferring instead to employ its jaded – and redundant – “Israel says” formula.

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

Once again, another deficient BBC News report on UNESCO denial of Jewish heritage - by Hadar Sela

...Despite the fact that the BBC’s public purposes commit it to building “understanding of international issues”, its audiences have not been provided with the information essential for comprehension of the belligerent aims behind the serial abuse of UNESCO for anti-Israel campaigning.

Hadar Sela..
BBC Watch..
25 October '16..

On October 18th – four days after the appearance of a previous report on the same topic – the BBC News website’s Middle East page published an article which, after amendment, is now titled “Unesco passes contentious Jerusalem resolution“.

Like the previous article, this one too failed to provide BBC audiences with any of the relevant context concerning prior UNESCO motions and resolutions which have similarly erased Jewish history.

Readers were again not told of the repeated episodes of pre-planned Palestinian rioting on Temple Mount which have necessitated measures mentioned in the BBC’s report:

“It [the resolution] criticises Israel’s activities at holy places in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. […]

The resolution repeatedly denounced Israeli actions, including the use of force, imposition of restrictions on Muslim worshippers and archaeological work.”

No factual information was provided to enable audiences to put the allegations made in the resolution’s wording into their correct context.

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

“Palestinian diplomacy” in a nutshell: a protection racket that excels in intimidation

...“Palestine” demands that history be rewritten, that mathematics, chronology and logic all be redefined, or the EU and UN will pay an even higher price. If you on the other hand appreciate the value of history, mathematics, chronology and logic, make your voice heard. Get in touch with your MP or senator and demand that all financial and diplomatic aid to the Palestinian Authority be stopped.

Ilya Meyer..
Ilyameyer.com..
25 October '16..
Link: http://ilyameyer.com/english/2016/10/25/palestine-a-protection-racket-that-excels-in-intimidation/


Intimidation, extortion, blackmail, protection rackets.

That’s “Palestinian diplomacy” in a nutshell.

Amazing, isn’t it? The “Palestinians” are so supremely self-confident, they are threatening the EU and UN.

Just remember that the “Palestinians” are the people whose entire economy is dependent on welfare payments taken away from hard-working EU and UN citizens and pensioners, and instead diverted to the Palestinians. Who in turn return the favour by giving the world anti-Semitism, terrorism, extremism, indoctrination. and ethnic cleansing.

But instead of the EU and UN threatening the Palestinian recipients with harsh consequences if they don’t stop their anti-Semitism, terrorism, extremism, indoctrination and policy of ethnic cleansing, it is instead the recipients who are threatening the donors with harsh consequences if they don’t get even more.

It’s a protection racket, with the EU and UN paying for the privilege of being bullied even as they empty their wallets.

How sick are you of this, of seeing your hard-earned tax revenues being diverted to these ingrates? Because right now, they are using your tax revenues to rewrite history at no less a body than UNESCO.

The “Palestinians” demand UNESCO unanimously acknowledge that Islam, just 1438 years old, is nonetheless older than Christianity, which is 2016 years old, and even older than Judaism, which is more than 3000 years old. This despite the archaeological and written evidence that puts the Jewish First Temple at the site of the Temple Mount 3000 years ago, 1600 years before Islam was even born on another continent, in the sands of Arabia. That is to say 1600 years before Islam invaded the Jewish provinces of Judea, Samaria and what we today know as the modern State of Israel.

“Palestine” demands that history be rewritten, that mathematics, chronology and logic all be redefined, or the EU and UN will pay an even higher price.

Judean glass, Palestinian Arab propaganda and the Jewish connection to Jerusalem - by Stephen S. Flatow

...Despite that devastation, the Jews were so attached to the Land of Israel that they rebuilt their society, to the point of serving as a glass-production center that exported its wares throughout the Roman Empire. One of the most famous discoveries in this field is an edict by the Roman emperor Diocletian, carved on a stone tablet, setting the prices for what he called "Judean glass." Not "Palestinian glass," but “Judean glass.” Because everyone knew that Judea was the name of the region. That's what the Bible called it. That's what historians have called it for more than 2,000 years. That is, until UNESCO and the Palestinian Arab propaganda machine came along.

Stephen S. Flatow..
JNS.org..
21 October '16..

Archaeologists have uncovered yet more evidence of the ancient Jewish connection to Jerusalem--the very same week that UNESCO and the Palestinian Authority (PA) were declaring that Jews have no ties to Jerusalem. Talk about irony.

The latest discovery of a site where the Roman army assaulted Jewish forces guarding the outer walls of Jerusalem, during the Second Temple period, explodes the lies of the U.N. and the PA.

Consider this. The Romans were attacking Jewish forces. No evidence was found of any Palestinian forces in the area. The assault took place during the Second Temple period - the temple which the PA says never existed.

The newest findings confirm an account in the book, The Wars of the Jews, by the ancient historian Josephus Flavius in the first century C.E., which some historians previously doubted. Problem for the PA: Josephus never mentions Palestine or Palestinians.

Every time archaeologists dig in Israel, another piece of the Palestinian propaganda line crumbles. Earlier this year, scientists unearthed two ancient document seals in Jerusalem, dating to the late eighth century or early seventh century B.C.E. The script on the seals is Hebrew, not Arabic or any other language connected to Arabs or Muslims.

One of the seals bears the name of a man, "Sa'adyahu ben Shebnayahu." The other is the name of a woman, "Elihanah bat Goel" (or Gael). Jewish names. Not Arab or Muslim or Palestinian. The archaeologists noted the construction of the names were "in typical Judean fashion for this time period." Judean, not Palestinian. This is more vivid, indisputable evidence of a Jewish presence in the Land of Israel--more than 1,400 years before Mohammed founded Islam.

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

The rewarding of almost a century of Palestinian intransigence and deadly incitement - by Petra Marquardt-Bigman

...And while UNESCO denounces “continuous Israeli aggressions,” the supposedly “moderate” Grand Mufti Abbas appointed ten years ago has not only denied the existence of Jewish temples and repeatedly threatened war in order to assert exclusive Muslim control of the Temple Mount, but he has also endorsed suicide bombings and approvingly quoted the infamous Islamic prophecy that features prominently in the Hamas charter, because it envisages a divinely ordained apocalyptical battle in which Muslims kill almost all Jews.

Petra Marquardt-Bigman..
Tower Magazine..
17 October '16..




“Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.”

That observation can be found at the beginning of the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). What was true when UNESCO was established shortly after the end of a devastating world war remains true seven decades later, when UNESCO is busy fanning the flames of religious passions that could set all of the Middle East ablaze. With its recently-passed resolution that deliberately ignores the Jewish—and therefore also the Christian—connection to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, UNESCO has effectively endorsed the views of Mohammed Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who threatened a few years ago: “If the Israelis come here [to the Temple Mount] it will be more than an intifada…The whole region will be engulfed by war.” A year ago, the Grand Mufti repeated this threat, adding ominously that violence could “reach the entire world” if Jews, or any non-Muslims, were ever allowed to pray anywhere at “the al-Aqsa Mosque compound,” i.e. the entire Temple Mount esplanade.

(Continue to Full Article)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.