New York, NY, September 19, 2015 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today said it was appalled by a blatantly one-sided statement by the United Nations Security Council regarding recent tensions around the Temple Mount (Har Habayit)/Noble Sanctuary (Haram Al-Sharif) compound, which ignored the holiness of the site to Jews and “turned a blind eye” to Muslim violence and the anti-Semitic invective from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The September 18 statement refers to the site only by its Muslim name, the Haram Al-Sharif, and says that Muslim worshippers “be allowed to worship in peace, free from violence, threats and provocations.” The statement fails to mention the religious significance of the site to Jews and completely ignores the violence and provocation being perpetrated by Palestinians toward Israeli security forces and Jewish and other non-Muslim visitors, including the stockpiling of pipe bombs and stones inside the Muslim compound.
“We are greatly concerned by increasing tensions in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary site, holy to Jews and Muslims, and support the continued efforts of Israel’s political and religious leadership to appeal for calm and ensure that the ‘status quo’ - which accommodates both Jews and Muslims and has been in place since 1967 - be maintained,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL National Director. “The U.N. Security Council had the opportunity to address the reality of this difficult and potentially explosive situation, including through directly appealing for an end to the blatant Palestinian incitement and violence, but instead, the Council turned a blind eye by disregarding the context and presented this complex issue as one directed only at Muslim worshippers at a Muslim holy site. We fear that unfortunately this will serve to encourage not just one-sided narratives, but also anti-Jewish and anti-Israel incitement and action on this most sensitive and holy space.
“We urge the United States and responsible voices in the international community to condemn the violence and call for an end to the incendiary statements by President Abbas and others which is tinged with anti-Semitism,” Mr. Greenblatt said.
For years, the Palestinian leadership has exacerbated tensions regarding the site through statements which incite violence, alleging Israeli conspiracies, while diminishing or denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem. Earlier this week, President Abbas said, “Al-Aksa is ours and so is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet. We won’t allow them to do so and we will do whatever we can to defend Jerusalem.”