The Palestinian Authority with the backing of six Arab countries plans to present a proposal to the United Nations cultural agency declaring the Western Wall – which once served as a retaining wall for the Jews’ ancient Second Temple – as an integral part of the Al-Aqsa mosque, a leading Israeli diplomat confirmed to Israel’s Ynet news.
Ynet
reported Friday that as part of its proposal Palestinians will ask UNESCO to rename the Western Wall the “Buraq Plaza”:
A new proposal to establish that the Western Wall is part of al-Aqsa Mosque is set to be submitted by the Palestinians to a vote at UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) next week, Ynet learned Thursday. […]
Since the Palestinians are not members of the committee, the six Arab states submitted the proposal on behalf of the Palestinians: Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. However, senior Israeli sources say that the Palestinians are simultaneously acting to move the proposal to the UNESCO plenum, in which they are recognized as a state.
Though Israeli diplomats said they were working to get the proposal quashed, given the abundance of Muslim and Arab countries at the U.N., Ynet assessed that it would likely pass.
