Bishop ‘dismayed’ at UNESCO resolution
FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop has told the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) she is “dismayed and disappointed” at UNESCO’s draft decision.
FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop has told the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) she is “dismayed and disappointed” at UNESCO’s draft decision denying a Jewish connection to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.
Slamming the draft decision as “highly politicised, unbalanced and provocative”, Bishop said the text “reflects poorly on UNESCO as an institution”.
She also expressed concern over the use of only the Islamic names for the holy sites.
“This wording could be seen as an attempt to alter the status quo at these Jewish and Islamic holy sites,” Bishop noted.
Stating that Australia is not a member of the executive board and was not in a position to vote on the decision, the Foreign Minister said, “Nevertheless, we made strong representations to key executive board members, as well as the organisation’s Director-General Irina Bokova ahead of the decision’s adoption.
“We conveyed our serious concerns with the text and lobbied for the decision to be revised or reversed. Our efforts were unfortunately unsuccessful.”
Bishop said she was pleased to see reports of an apology by the head of the executive board to Israel over this matter.
“I am also pleased by the Director-General’s statement on October 14 calling for explicit recognition of each community’s history and relationship with Jerusalem.”
ECAJ president Robert Goot commended Bishop for her “timely action in seeking to revise or reverse this unjust resolution, before it was adopted by the UNESCO executive board”.
“Her strong criticisms of the resolution are entirely justified. We are also most gratified that the Foreign Minister was so prompt in keeping us informed of the actions she took,” Goot said.
Federal Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg told The AJN on Wednesday night he had a “positive meeting” with Director-General Bokova in Paris, where the pair discussed a range of environmental issues.
“In the course of the meeting I also raised Australia’s deep concerns with the recent resolutions of the executive board which ignored the important religious connections Jerusalem has to both Judaism and Christianity.
“Such provocative motions as these only increase tensions and are counterproductive.”
AJN STAFF
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