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New Palestinian Attempt at UNESCO to Claim Hebron and the Patriarch's Tomb as a Palestinian Site
(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker - Hebron, situated in the biblical region of Judea, is the site of the oldest Jewish community in the world, and since Bible times has been considered the second holiest city in Judaism after Jerusalem. The most famous historic site in Hebron is the Cave of the Patriarchs, which, as described in the book of Genesis, Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite for over 400 silver shekels to bury his wife, Sarah. Abraham insisted on purchasing the cave through a publicly witnessed, legal transaction in the presence of all residents of the town. The Palestinian attempt to mislead the international community regarding the Jewish history and heritage in the town of Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs runs contrary to the PLO commitment to foster a positive and supportive public atmosphere, mutual trust, and good faith in the relations between the two peoples as set out in Article XVI of the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Oslo II). Article VII of the Protocol annexed to the Oslo agreement, together with the 1997 Hebron Protocol, sets down agreed guidelines for Hebron within the context of joint governance of the holy places. It is high time that the international community wakes up to the blatant abuse and manipulation of bodies such as UNESCO by the Palestinian leadership. The damage caused by such abusive Palestinian political exercises - all with the aim of delegitimizing Israel and nullifying Jewish history and heritage - will be irreparable. The writer, former legal adviser and deputy director-general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, participated in the negotiation and drafting of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians.