ARZA Statement Criticizes UNESCO Declaration that Rachel’s Tomb is a Mosque and PA Study Denying Jewish History of the Temple Mount

 

UNESCO has called Rachel’s tomb a mosque. The Palestinian Authority is denying that the Western Wall is part of our Temple Mount. ARZA has issued the following statement on these subjects:

"If there is ever to be true peace in the Middle East, the shrines of each of the three Abrahamic religions must be respected by the political bodies in the region and by the United Nations. Referring to Rachel's tomb as a "mosque" is both factually and historically inaccurate. Similarly statements by the Palestinian Authority that the Western Wall in Jerusalem is not the retaining wall of our Temple Mount ignores established historical fact. Both of these references are disrespectful of Judaism and of the generations of Jews who have consistently venerated these sites; one from the time of Genesis and the second from before the Christian era to the present. Accordingly, we call upon UNESCO, the Palestinian Authority and upon all people and all nations of good will to cease referring to Rachel's tomb as a mosque or the Western Wall as anything other than a treasure of the Jewish people.”

There is an excellent article in The New York Jewish Week titled "Rachel’s Tomb Is Now A Mosque — Who Cares?"