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Thursday, October 18, 2018

FIGHTING UNESCO; The Jewish Past and the Jewish Present of Israel Will Not Be Buried: Our Documentation

What we see today of the ancient Jewish Temple Mount on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem,
a Muslim Mosque over the exact spot where Solomon's Temple stood,

built during Solomon's lifetime from 961-920 BCE, about 2,938 years ago. "UNESCO's big fight with ISRAEL is erasing the Jewish history of this site.  "UNESCO’s draft resolution, sponsored by several Arab countries, referred to the Temple Mount and Western Wall only by their Muslim names and condemned Israel as “the occupying power” for various actions taken in both places.  "
                                                                         
Israel is a country that has returned to its own special history.  Its religion of Judaism is tied to its land in that G-d had told their ancient fathers to live on this special land to do their work.  One can't turn over dirt with a shovel without finding some remnant of Jewish history.  What the eye can see is recorded in the Torah and following books that make up the Tanakh, what others call the Old Testament.  It's all documented and recorded, there to find if anyone has the interest to read.
                                                                           
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the spot that King Solomon had built their 1st Temple. He was our 3rd king, following King Saul (c1050-1010 BCE) , King David (1010-970 BCE) and David's son, King Solomon 961-920 BCE).  Solomon was said to be the wisest king.  Here he solved how to find the true birth mother of a baby two women fought over.
                                                                       
Judeans forced by Babylonian soldiers to march to Babylonia in their conquest by Nebuchadnezzar II from 597 and 586 BCE. They may have met up with the Lost 10 Tribal members there as they were taken by the Assyrians in 721 BCE and Nebuchadnezzar inherited land and people from there.  
                                                                           
  It was destroyed by the Babylonian invasion in 586 BCE when the Judeans were taken away to Babylonia.  They were able to finally return 70 years later and rebuild a 2nd Temple on the same spot called the Temple Mount.  Then the Romans invaded Jerusalem and took it over, finally burning down that Temple along with the city and killing thousands of people in 70 CE.
                                                                       
Returning from Babylon to Jerusalem after 50 years of exile and rebuilding their Temple.
King Cyrus permitted this return to  Jerusalem. 


                                                         
Rebuilding the 2nd Temple 

Renewing worship in the new 2nd Temple in 519 BCE.  
2nd Temple-from after 538 BCE to 70 CE it stood, over 600 years
               
2nd Temple rebuilt by Returning Judeans from Babylon 538 BCE
Ezra in Jerusalem giving the lessons from our holy books causing a spiritual
reform.  All nobles and 1/10th of the people were brought in to live
in Jerusalem.
                                                                           
                                                                                   
The Romans first occupied Jerusalem.   Their rule was unbearable and the people revolted in 66.
They had independence for 3 years, then were besieged by Titus.
The 2nd Temple burned down with Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE. Thousands
were starved to death as Josephus wrote all about it. In the siege of Jerusalem during the Roman War, the Temple served as a center of military activity but then was destroyed.  Romans built a temple on the site  with a mosque there afterward. 

 The Babylonian Jews rose up against the Roman Emperor Trajan in 116 CE.  when he ordered a massacre of Jews in Mesopotamia.  Judea was held down by his General Lucius Quietus. 

By 132 Judean General Bar Kochba revolted and held Jerusalem for 3 years before he
was killed in 135.  Emperor Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as a Roman Colony and renamed it Aelia Capitolina.  Jews were forbidden to approach it under pain of death.  Under Constantine it was Christianized.  Helena, his mother, visited in 335.  Now it had churches and monasteries; pilgrims and religious disputes.  

By 638, the city fell to the caliph OMAR who set up a place of prayer in the Temple esplanade, which was rebuilt in 691 as the DOME OF THE ROCK(also called the Mosque of Omar).   by the Umayyad caliph Abd-el Malik.   It was built in the center of the Temple area to replace the temporary structure set up by Caliph Omar 100 years earlier.  Omar was the 2nd caliph.  Under him, Jews were expelled from N. Arabia.  Now the city was under Arab rule and Jews were allowed to return. 

UNESCO The united NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION headquarters in Paris, France. (Image source: Fred Romero/Flickr)
This organization works at odds in preserving historic sites in Israel, which Israel does. 

"The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has been treating Israel with hostility in recent years. Time and again, the organization adopts anti-Israel resolutions denying the Jewish people’s connection to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem and defining Jewish sites as "Palestinian heritage sites."

The USA and Israel are on the verge of pulling out from UNESCO with the USA planning on doing so the end of the year.  One lady " reportedly told the premier she was making big efforts to change UNESCO’s treatment of Israel, and added she would like to meet him at the sidelines of the UN session to discuss a possible postponement of Israel’s exit from the agency. "

The outgoing Israeli ambassador to UNESCO,  Carmel Shama-Hacohen,  said he welcomed “the new personality and the new energy brought by the new Director,” adding that he was going to recommend his government reconsider its decision to withdrawal or “at least to postpone it for a year.” These remarks are all the more surprising as they come from someone who was always quick to denounce the organization’s resolutions which in the eyes of the Israeli’s authorities use heritage protection as an excuse to deny any link between Judaism and its historic sites including Jerusalem.
Shavuot in June, dancing in 1967, first day to see the wall.
                                                                                 
1967 IDF see wall for 1st time
The Western Wall at night in Jerusalem
From 1948 Jews were cut off from this wall which was under Jordanian control, despite a paragraph in the Israel-Jordanian control,  and despite a paragraph in the Israel-Jordan 1949 Armistice Agreement affirming Jewish right of access.
It wasn't until 1967 Jews could again visit the Wall now under Jewish sovereignty for the 1st time since the 2nd Temple Period.  
On Shavuot 1967, the 1st day the public could visit, 200,000 people went there, a focal point for all Jews who come from around the world.  
Our Wailing Wall (Western Wall) the only place allowing Jews to pray
since Jordan controls the rules on the Temple Mount which Moshe Dayan
allowed in order to keep peace after the 1967 War when ISRAEL won against the
onslaught of all the Arab nations. 
Instead, UNESCO denies any connection between Israel and its historic Temple Mount and Western Wall also located in Jerusalem.  The Wall is the remnant of the ancient retaining wall of the ancient Jewish 1st and 2nd Temples that were repaired by King Herod.  You'd think this would be high priority on their list, but then they favor the Palestinians politically who are trying to take over the Jewish land.  

Resource: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13123/unesco-israel-united-states
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.timesofisrael.com/unesco-said-pushing-for-israel-to-rethink-exit-citing-work-to-end-bias/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/10/12/u-s-withdraws-from-unesco-the-u-n-s-cultural-organization-citing-anti-israel-bias/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6f1925399b1e
https://www.worldcrunch.com/opinion-analysis/can-middle-east-diplomacy-help-unesco-preserve-itself
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5022375,00.html
https://www.ou.org/holidays/shavuot/capturing_the_wall_the_story_of_shavuot_1967/
http://www.templeinstitute.org/feedback.htm



2 comments:

  1. UNESCO is not a friendly organization.
    The United States should not be a part of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Max. We agree. I just saw that Jordan is pulling out from part of their peace agreement with Israel. I wonder if UNESCO has anything to do with that since Jordan was given control over the Temple Mount's Mosques by Dayan.

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