US Jewish group pans UN’s ‘one-sided’ Temple Mount critique

An American Jewish umbrella group on Friday lambasted the UN Security Council’s statement about violence on the Temple Mount issued the day before, saying it was “one sided,” and “unacceptable” in its denial of Jewish connection to the holy site.

The Security Council on Thursday expressed “grave concern” about ongoing violence on the contested holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, or Haram al-Sharif. The statement said Muslims at the site “must be allowed to worship in peace, free from violence, threats and provocations” and that “visitors should be without fear of violence or intimidation.”

The compound is the holiest site in Judaism, which venerates it as the site of the biblical temples, and the third-holiest site in Islam. Under long-standing regulations introduced by Israel when it captured Jerusalem’s Old City from Jordan in the 1967 war, Jews are allowed to visit but cannot pray there to avoid provoking tensions.

The UN, US and EU have urged restraint on both sides amid the latest clashes, while Jordan, which has custodianship rights over Muslim holy places in Jerusalem under its 1994 peace treaty with Israel, has warned that bilateral relations are at stake.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor also chastised the Security Council for omitting mention of Palestinian violence at the flashpoint site, for only using the Arabic name for the Temple Mount, and for neglecting to mention “the deep connection of the Jewish people to the Temple Mount, and the right of all to visit the site.”

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in turn, echoed Prosor’s statement by saying it was “unacceptable that the members of the United Nations Security Council continue to lend themselves to the denial and denigration of the Jewish connection to its holiest site as well as the historic associations of Christians to the Temple Mount.” It criticized the Security Council for neglecting to mention “that the violence was organized and initiated by Palestinians.”

This week’s clashes began Sunday morning, with security forces seizing pipe bombs at the site in an operation carried out hours before Jews prepared to celebrate the Jewish New Year. The Shin Bet security service alerted police to the cache, apparently an effort by Palestinians to stock up on bombs, flares and rocks ahead of an organized riot.

The police said its forces had entered the site after protesters began throwing stones and firecrackers at the Mughrabi Gate, the access point for non-Muslim visitors to the site. Police said that protesters had wedged open a door to the mosque, which officers had later closed, allowing visits to the Temple Mount to continue as scheduled.

Dozens of Palestinians and at least 14 police officers were injured in skirmishes over three consecutive days of violence near al-Aqsa Mosque from Sunday, the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and until Tuesday when the holiday ended.

The US Jewish group’s leaders Stephen Greenberg and Malcolm Hoenlein further laid blame on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying his “periodic resorting to bigoted and charged statements” fanned the flames of conflict.

“President Abbas’ declaration that ‘we cannot allow the filthy feet of the Jews to desecrate al-Aqsa,’ is outrageous and an invitation to further escalation of the assaults,” Greenberg and Hoenlein said in the statement, referring to comments by Abbas. “The Security Council did not find it worthwhile to mention, let alone condemn, these instigations by the head of the Palestinian Authority.”

“His periodic resorting to bigoted and charged statements, including fraudulent charges on the internet, that al-Aqsa is under siege, which arouses passions, not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Arab and Muslim world. Abbas knows full well that this is a baseless charge and can result in injuries and death. Yet he is never held to account by the same people who regularly condemn Israel on any pretext,” the Conference of Presidents said.

It called on the Security Council “to end its biased approach” and give more accurate accounts of events by “ascribing responsibility to the parties who initiate and exploit violence and hatred for political and extremist ends.”

AFP and AP contributed to this report.