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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anav-silverman/unesco-fueling-cultural-c_b_1104733.html
UNESCO Fueling Cultural Conflict over Hebron Holy Site
(Huffington Post) Anav Silverman - The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron is the world's most ancient Jewish site. Now that the Palestinians have been accepted as a UNESCO member, they can apply for World Heritage classification for cultural sites they deem exclusively theirs. They are seeking to persuade UNESCO to declare the Cave of the Patriarchs as a World Heritage Site belonging to Palestinians only. The cave houses the tombs of the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish people; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. According to the Book of Genesis, Chapter 23, Abraham purchased the cave and the adjoining field from Ephron the Hittite, to bury his wife Sarah there. This past weekend marked the anniversary of Sarah's death. Over 20,000 Jews from Israel and abroad visited Hebron to pay homage to the first matriarch of the Jewish people. In November 2010, UNESCO classified Rachel's Tomb, the third holiest site in Judaism, as a mosque. A study of Palestinian Authority school textbooks found that the site was known as the "Dome of Rachel" until 2001, when the term Bilal bin Rabah Mosque suddenly emerged.