Israel gives UNESCO head Arch of Titus replica in critique of Jerusalem resolutions

Israel gives a replica of Rome’s Arch of Titus to the head of UNESCO, in a subtle critique of the organization’s recent resolutions that have ignored Jewish links to Jerusalem.

Israel’s ambassador to the agency, Carmel Shama-Hacohen, hands the replica to UNESCO’s director-general Irina Bokova, on Tuesday.

“In this replica we can see how the Menorah, the symbol of Israel, is being taken out of Jerusalem by Roman soldiers after the second destruction of the Temple on the year 70 AD,” he says.

“When the executive board of UNESCO adopts every six months a resolution that denies the connection between the Jewish people and the Temple Mount, they are not only adopting a political resolution, they are adopting a resolution that negates the right of the state of Israel to exist and of the Jewish people’s right of self determination.”

Bokovo accepts the gift — handcrafted by experts from the Art Conservation Department at the Israel Antiquities Authority — and offers her own critique of the anti-Israel resolutions the member states of her organization routinely pass.

“Jerusalem is the sacred city of the three religions, and nowhere in the world more than in Jerusalem do Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions share space and interweave to the point that they support each other,” she says.

“We need to help everyone understand these interactions, these multiple layers of cultures which are impossible to ignore or isolate, and make this shared heritage a force for peace and dialogue. Too often we see the rise of exclusive discourses, trying to distort and cut our heritage in pieces, in endless disputes about what belongs to who, to this culture or another, about whose heritage is the greatest, the oldest, the holiest.”

— Raphael Ahren