The language of a UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem describing “so-called” Jewish sites and putting the Western Wall Plaza in quotation marks has sparked outrage in Israel. The resolution, adopted by the UN cultural agency’s 58-nation executive board last week, condemns the Israeli government’s stewardship of Jerusalem and decries the renovation of “so-called Jewish ritual baths” and the alleged creation of “Jewish fake graves”.

Sites are either referred to by their Arabic or English names, or, in the case of the Western Wall Plaza, the holiest site where Jews can pray, are put in quotation marks. The Israeli government described the resolution, which was voted for by 33 countries, as “hideous” and penned letters to all countries that signed the resolution, which included France, Russia and China. FULL REPORT


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