Disapproves of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee inscription of Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger.
Rejects any future resolution considered by the United Nations (U.N.) that is inherently anti-Israel or seeks to impose a solution on final status issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Urges members of the U.N. to refrain from further inflaming tensions in Israel and the Palestinian territories with historically revisionist and anti-Israel resolutions.
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 433 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 433
Disapproving of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee Inscription of Hebron as
a Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 11, 2017
Mr. Hastings submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Disapproving of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee Inscription of Hebron as
a Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger.
Whereas, on July 7, 2017, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at the request of the permanent
delegation of Palestine, designated the ancient city of Hebron as a
World Heritage Site in Danger;
Whereas UNESCO's online report of the resolution's passage refers to the
inscription of Hebron as ``Al Khalil Old town, Palestine'';
Whereas the Cave of the Patriarchs, a shrine in ancient Hebron holy to Jews,
Christians, and Muslims, is recognized as the burial place of the
Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Jewish people, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac,
Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah, and is the second most holy site in Judaism;
Whereas the Cave of the Patriarchs sits within a compound constructed by Herod,
an ancient King of Judea during the Second Temple Period over 2,000
years ago, to serve as a place for Jewish prayers at the grave sites of
the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of Judaism;
Whereas the city of Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs were conquered 700
years ago by the Mamluks, who converted the Judean compound into a
mosque and forbade Jews from entering;
Whereas Jews were prohibited from entering the Cave of the Patriarchs until
Hebron's liberation during the 1967 Six-Day War, after which it was re-
established as a place where all religions could worship under certain
restrictions;
Whereas UNESCO's minimization of Jewish connections to Hebron and the Cave of
the Patriarchs is a politicization of world heritage;
Whereas since ``Palestine'' was admitted to UNESCO in 2011, the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) has been successful in efforts to have
UNESCO designate the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the
Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir as Palestinian World
Heritage Sites in Danger;
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Security
Council, and other United Nations agencies have purposefully and
consistently pursued an anti-Israel agenda, and have adopted numerous
resolutions inherently biased against Israel, most recently including--
(1) United Nations World Health Assembly Agenda Item 19, adopted on May
26, 2017, which singled out only Israel as a violator of ``mental,
physical, and environmental health'', and asserted that Israeli occupation
was a ``major cause of the problems'';
(2) a decision adopted by the UNESCO Executive Board on May 2, 2017,
which significantly undermined Israel's sovereignty in Jerusalem and
rejected all legislative and administrative measures taken by Israel in the
city as ``null and void'', rejected Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, the
holiest place of the Jewish people, and condemned Israeli conduct in Gaza;
(3) language from the same May 2, 2017, decision, which expressed
``deep concern'' about the effects of attacks on schools and other
educational and cultural facilities in Gaza, while notably ignoring the
terrorist organization Hamas' use of United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools to store and fire
rockets at Israeli civilians;
(4) UNESCO Agenda Item 19, adopted during the 199th meeting of the
Executive Board on April 15, 2016, which notably omitted historic Jewish
ties to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall area in Jerusalem's Old City,
condemned Israeli actions taken in response to Palestinian violence, and
accused Israel of placing ``Jewish fake graves'' in the vicinity of the al-
Aqsa mosque;
(5) the resolution adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women on
March 24, 2017, which singled out only Israel and expressed ``grave concern
about the increased difficulties being faced by Palestinian women and
girls'' and ``[deplored] the dire economic and social conditions of
Palestinian women and girls''; and
(6) United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted on
December 23, 2016, which condemned Israeli settlement activity as a
flagrant violation of international law without distinguishing between
Jewish holy sites and remote settlements in the West Bank;
Whereas since its creation in June 2006, the United Nations Human Rights Council
has passed 67 resolutions condemning Israel, more than all other
countries combined;
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly adopted 20 resolutions at the end of
2016 singling out or condemning Israel; and
Whereas anti-Israel resolutions adopted by the United Nations and its agencies
undermine and cause significant damage to the Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Process: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) disapproves of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage
Committee inscription of Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage
Site in Danger;
(2) rejects any future resolution considered by the United
Nations General Assembly, United Nations Security Council, or
other United Nations agencies that is inherently anti-Israel or
seeks to impose a solution on final status issues related to
the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process; and
(3) strongly urges members of the United Nations and its
agencies to refrain from further inflaming tensions in Israel
and the Palestinian territories with historically revisionist
and anti-Israel resolutions.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E958)
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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