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Israel fumes over UNESCO decision disregarding Jewish ties to al-Aqsa compound

Xinhua, October 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Israel slammed a resolution from the United Nations cultural body disregarding Jewish link to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, said government statements released Thursday.

The resolution of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was put forward by the Palestinians and Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and Sudan.

It "strongly condemns the Israeli escalating aggressions and illegal measures" against Muslims at the site, which is revered by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (or "the Noble Sanctuary") and by Jews as the Temple Mount.

Israeli officials reacted with anger to the resolution, charging it made no reference to the Jewish history of the site, which Jews revere as the place of their historic temples.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the decision as a "theater of the absurd," adding the Jews have been revering the compound as their "holiest site for over three thousand years."

"What's next? A UNESCO decision denying the connection between peanut butter and jelly? Batman and Robin? Rock and roll?" The prime minister wrote on his Facebook page, vowing that Israel "will continue to fight the lies, hatred and double standards at the UN."

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Mideast War and later annexed it, claiming it part of its "indivisible" capital, in an act not recognized by the international community.

The site has been at the center of a yearlong bloody violence wave, which claimed the lives of at least 230 Palestinians and 36 Israelis.

Israel has been saying that most Palestinians were killed while trying to carry out a knife, car-ramming, and shooting attacks, while the Palestinians and human rights organizations say that Israel is using excessive force to quell the unrest, and sometimes mistook innocent Palestinians for attackers.

Israeli leaders have accused the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" the unrest.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians say the unrest is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, home to more than 5 million Palestinians, where they wish to establish their state. Endit