Last week, UNESCO – the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization – issued a resolution regarding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. I doubt that anyone expected this report to be particularly friendly toward Israel, but I’m not sure that anyone expected quite the extent of the animosity expressed in this particular document. The resolution was proposed and supported by the nations of Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and Sudan (all Muslim nations) on behalf of the Palestinians. So, what did the resolution propose? Simply put, this resolution has more or less denied the Jewish (and by extension, Christian) connection to this site by referring to it by its Muslim name, though it does use scare quotes to reference Jewish terms for the locations (indicating a false attribution). In addition, the document refers to Israel as an “occupying power” on the Temple Mount, engaged in “aggressions and illegal measures” and guilty of inciting violence.
Of course, no respectable scholar this side of radical Islamic schools, mosques, or national governments deny the existence of the two Jewish temples on the site of the Temple Mount, though scholars do recognize the connection to the Christian faith (Jesus’ connection to the Temple is woven through the Gospel accounts) and to the Islamic faith (it is claimed that Mohammed ascended to heaven on this spot). Indeed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is quoted as saying, “The UNESCO theater of the absurd continues.” Yet this multinational organization revealed the anti-Semitic attitude of so many of the nations of this world by not only proposing this resolution, but preliminarily adopting it (there is another vote to be taken). Out of the fifty-sex nations that compose UNESCO, twenty-four nations voted for the resolution, six voted against (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Estonia. The remaining twenty-six nations abstained (in this case, effectively siding with the affirmative votes) – certainly not profiles in courage, to be sure.
As Christians we should not be surprised at the hatred towards the Jewish people that is expressed by so many around the world on one hand, and the refusal to stand up for the Jewish people on the other hand. The world has always sought to destroy the Jewish people from the very beginning, because striking out at them has been an earthly substitution for striking out at God Himself (just as attacks against the church have been). Some groups and nations have known that the these attacks are wrong, but for whatever reason – whether because they quietly harbor similar feelings or because they simply do not care what happens to the Jewish people – they have refused to say anything condemning these actions (such as the large number of abstentions in the case of this resolution). We as believers must be willing to stand beside Israel against those who are intent on her destruction, regardless of the cost. We must be willing to denounce and withhold our support for any organization that would seek to rewrite history to erase parts of God’s redemptive plan. The Halloween holiday is often a time when UNESCO raises funds through donation “trick or treat” boxes. Rather than dropping your change in them, stand firm for change within this anti-Semitic organization. Just something to think about…
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