A new UNESCO resolution ignores Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, pictured. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a resolution on Friday that ignores Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and Western Wall in Jerusalem.

With 33 votes in favor, six against, and 17 abstentions, the resolution solely refers to the Temple Mount areas by their Muslim names — Al-Aqsa mosque/Haram al-Sharif — with the exception of two references to the Western Wall Plaza in parentheses, the Jerusalem Postreported. The resolution also referred to the Western Wall plaza by its Muslim name, Al-Buraq Plaza.

Last October, UNESCO dropped language from a resolution led by six Arab states that called the Western Wall an “integral part” of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount. But that language was removed from the resolution in order to garner more support for the measure.

The latest UNESCO resolution criticized a number of Israeli actions on the Temple Mount, such as plans to build an egalitarian prayer space near Robinson’s Arch, and called on Israel not to restrict Muslim worshippers from the Temple Mount. (In fact, the Israeli government enforces a ban on Jewish prayer at the site.) The measure also condemned ongoing violence on the Temple Mount, but solely focused on Israeli actions and not Muslim rioters.