Palestinians slam UN head’s support of Jewish ties to Temple Mount
Guterres tells Israel Radio that city is holy to all three religions
Palestinian officials criticized United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday for acknowledging that the Jewish Temples existed atop the Temple Mount.
“[Guterres] ignored UNESCO’s decision that considered Al-Aksa Mosque of pure Islamic heritage,” Adnan al-Husseini, Palestinian Authority Jerusalem Affairs minister, told Xinhua, a Chinese news outlet. He asserted that the secretary-general had “violated all legal, diplomatic and humanitarian customs and overstepped his role as secretary-general and...must issue an apology to the Palestinian people.”
Speaking to Israel Radio on Friday, Guterres said that it is “completely clear that the Temple that the Romans destroyed in Jerusalem was the Jewish temple.”
The new UN leader added that there is “no doubt” that Jerusalem is holy to all three religions. He also told the radio that he has no intention of pushing the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, though he believes in the two-state solution and would assist in that goal if asked.
Ahmad Majdalani, a Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee member, said that the statements undermine the trustworthiness of the UN as a body that should support occupied peoples.”
“It appears that the secretary-general of the United Nations lacks culture and knowledge in his specialization,” Majdalani, who also serves as an adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, told Xinhua. He called on Guterres to clarify his position “that gives a green light to the occupation to undertake more measures against Jerusalem.”
Fayez Abu Eitah, the secretary-general of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, said that the UN secretary-general’s statements are unacceptable politically and morally.
“[The statements] are a direct attack on the Palestinian people’s right in the holy city, biased in favor of the state of occupation, and akin to granting legitimacy to Israel’s illegal presence in Jerusalem,” Abu Eitah told official PA television.
Moreover, the Palestinian representative to UNESCO, Mounir Anastasia, rejected Guterres’s statements, which he argued hold no legal significance, while saying that the Temple Mount is holy for all three Semitic religions, according to official PA radio.
In October, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee approved a resolution that ignored Jewish ties to the Temple Mount.
Tovah Lazaroff and Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.