BEVERLY HILLS—In a press release from the city of Beverly Hills the Beverly Hills City Council indicated issued press release on Monday, October 31 condemning a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) resolution passed on October 13, 2016 in Paris.
In the resolution, “Occupied Palestine,” UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee recognizes the importance of the Sites in Jerusalem, such as Temple Mount and Western Wall to Christianity, Judaism and Islam, but refers to those sites only under its Muslim name, Al –Aqsa or al –Haram alSharif.
The Beverly Hills City Council responded to UNESCO’s resolution at the Study Session on October 18. The City Council passed a resolution to condemn the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee for ignoring the significance of the sites to Jews.
Councilmembers consider the resolution as an act of denying the Jewish sentiment to the sites that are widely known as sacred to them. The Temple Mount and Western Wall are considered the holiest site in Judaism where the Jewish believers pray. John, Mirisch, Mayor of Beverly Hills expressed concern over the resolution and the city’s support to the Jewish and Christian residents in the community by opposing the UNESCO resolution.
“Beverly Hills has a strong Jewish heritage and unique bond with the State of Israel. However, the UNESCO resolution is offensive to our Christian as well as our Jewish residents and I believe that it is extremely important that we, as a City, speak up when we see an injustice being done,” said Mayor John Mirisch.
