In the words of Dubose Heyward, George Gershwin's lyricist, "Summertime and the livin' is easy," — except if you're the Jewish State under attack by the U.N.
Once again, the U.N.’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) convened to discuss such issues of great educational, scientific and cultural importance — like the denial of Jewish history and the veracity of the Bible. The U.N.’s main cultural heritage body met in Krakow, Poland earlier this week, officially recognizing the Cave of the Patriarchs as a Palestinian World Heritage site — the Ibrahimi Mosque. The decision came about as a result of an unprecedented secret ballot following a proposal from Palestinian representatives.
This decision is "an affront to history" claimed America’s Nikki Haley and "delusional," according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — in both form and substance.
The fact that supposed world leader’s could gather in Poland, the largest Jewish graveyard just miles away from the Auschwitz Concentration Camp to reject 3,800 years of Judaism’s intimate relationship with its second holiest city has angered both Jews and Christians.
My good friend, Pastor David Swaggerty of Charisma Life Ministries in Columbus, Ohio used a Hebrew lesson to illustrate UNESCO’s absurdity, "The word 'Hebron' is derived from the Hebrew word for friend ('haver'), and it describes Abraham’s relationship with God. History reveals this was the first portion of land owned by God’s people in their Promised Land."
The Bible clearly states that the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are buried in Hebron (Genesis Chapter 23) and that King David established his capital there (II Samuel 2:21).
Laurie Cardoza-Moore, U.N. Special Envoy for the World Council of Independent Christian Churches (WCICC) representing over 45 million Evangelical Christians worldwide and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN) responded to this week’s decision by declaring, "UNESCO has once again proven that they are not interested in protecting historic sites globally, but instead, blatantly disregarding over 3,500 years of documented history, they are more interested in their outrageous attempts at revisionist history."
Rabbi Dan Rosenstein, executive director of the Hebron Fund said, "UNESCO is throwing the Bible into the garbage." Adding, "From Abraham's purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs there has been 3,800 continuous years of Jewish presence and it is clear that Hebron’s connection to the Jewish people cannot be denied."
The Hebron Fund quickly produced a video and circulated an online petition which in less than one week has generated over 10,000 signatures (to watch the video or sign the petition, click here).
So instead of heading to the beach this summer, Israelis are fighting for our great grandparents Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah.
Rabbi Weisz is the director of Israel365, which connects 2 million people to Israel every month. He founded the I365 newsletter, is publisher of Breaking Israel News, and editor of The Israel Bible. He lives with his family in Ramat Beit Shemesh. To read more of his reports, Click Here Now.