Opuscula Through the Looking Glass

According to Paris-based UNESCO, the organization strives to build networks among nations that enable this kind of solidarity, by:

• Mobilizing for education: so that every child, boy or girl, has access to quality education as a fundamental human right and as a prerequisite for human development.
• Building intercultural understanding: through protection of heritage and support for cultural diversity. UNESCO created the idea of World Heritage to protect sites of outstanding universal value.
• Pursuing scientific cooperation: such as early warning systems for tsunamis or trans-boundary water management agreements, to strengthen ties between nations and societies.
• Protecting freedom of expression: an essential condition for democracy, development and human dignity.

"UNESCO is known as the "intellectual" agency of the United Nations. At a time when the world is looking for new ways to build peace and sustainable development, people must rely on the power of intelligence to innovate, expand their horizons and sustain the hope of a new humanism. UNESCO exists to bring this creative intelligence to life; for it is in the minds of men and women that the defences of peace and the conditions for sustainable development must be built." http://en.unesco.org/about-us/introducing-unesco

Based on its recent Jerusalem Israel decisions, if anyone believes the UNESCO statement, I have a bridge to sell them.

TWO ARTICLES from the Times of Israel web site on Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016 prompted the look at the United Nations Education, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mandate.

The first, headlined

Oldest Hebrew mention of Jerusalem found on rare papyrus from 7th century BCE
belies every recent UNESCO vote on the Jewish connection to Israel’s capital, Jerusalem.

A “drop head” adds

Reference to consignment of wineskins ‘to Jerusalem’ appears on 2,700-year-old First Temple-era scrap believed plundered from Judean Desert cave

The article leads off claiming A RARE, ancient papyrus dating to the First Temple Period — 2,700 years ago — has been found to bear the oldest known mention of Jerusalem in Hebrew.
The fragile text, believed plundered from a cave in the Judean Desert cave, was apparently acquired by the Israel Antiquities Authority during a sting in 2012 when thieves attempted to sell it to a dealer. Radiocarbon dating has determined it is from the 7th century BCE, making it one of just three extant Hebrew papyri from that period, and predating the Dead Sea Scrolls by centuries.

Note five critical words: mention of Jerusalem in Hebrew.

Not Aramaic.

Not Arabic.

Not even Greek or Latin.

Hebrew.

Since the founder of Islam, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abdul-Muttalib ibn Hashim, was not born until – according to most scholars – the year 570 of the Current Era (a/k/a AD), it is chronologically impossible to link Jerusalem solely with Islam. Only fools – which apparently populate UNESCO – would close their eyes to historical and archeological facts of which the latest discovery is included.

UNESCO most assuredly will contend that the fragment is a fake; that the radiocarbon dating is tainted and, in the end, that it all is a Judeo-Christian conspiracy against Islam.

Israel’s prime minister, in a “glass half full,” Pollyanna stance, kowtowing to the so called “Palestinian Authority” told reporters

Despite defeat, Netanyahu hails progress for Israel at UNESCO

noting a second United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) vote ignoring Jewish ties to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was actually a diplomatic achievement for the Jewish state.

Prime minister’s statement notes that fewer countries supported resolution ignoring Jewish ties to Jerusalem than in previous years, more abstained.

Apparently Netanyahu is as politically blind as the UNESCO members who deny Jerusalem’s Jewish history and who automatically vote against Israel on every issue.

Opuscula UNESCO: Blind In one Eye Can’t see from other

IS IT STUPIDITY OR FEAR that caused 31 nations to deny any historical Jewish presence in Israel’s capital.

The 31 nations passed a resolution acknowledging only Islamic history of the Temple Mount – referring to the site only as “Al-Ḥaram Al-Sharif” and ignoring any Jewish history at the sacred site.

In all, there were five Israel-related items on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) agenda: Muslims prevailed in all five.

This DESPITE archeological proof that Jews were on the mount centuries before Muhammad arrived on the scene. This despite literary evidence that the Temple was on the mount centuries before Muhammad arrived on the scene.

Don’t take the Jews’ word for it – check it out in Rome where Titus’ arch still depicts Roman soldiers carrying off the Temple menorah.

Discount if you will all the writings as “sepur savta” – grandmother’s stories – disregard the unchallenged life in Babylon where Jews wrote “if I forget thee o’Jerusalem.” If the Jews never were in Jerusalem, why cry over the loss of the city? (Even then, some Jews remained in Jerusalem. It NEVER has been completely free of Jews; not when the Babylonians ruled, not when the Romans ruled, not even when the Moslems ruled. Even under Jordanian control – when Jews had few freedoms – Jews still lived in their holy city.)

In July 2011, USA Today headlined Ancient bell found in Jerusalem Old City sewer and reported that A tiny golden bell pulled after 2,000 years from an ancient sewer beneath the Old City of Jerusalem was unveiled Sunday by Israeli archaeologists, who hailed it as a rare find.

The orb half an inch in diameter has a small loop that appears to have been used to sew it as an ornament onto the clothes of a wealthy resident of the city two millennia ago, archaeologists said.

HaAretz, an Israeli newspaper and propagandist for the Palestinian Authority, headlined on Oct. 21, 2015 Were There Jewish Temples on Temple Mount? Yes has as its lead paragraph The preponderance of archaeological and historical evidence is overwhelming and the argument that there is 'no proof' of the Temples is a modern political artifact.

The Wall Street Journal reported under the headline A Boy’s Discovery Rebuts Temple Mount Revisionism that while "Palestinians deny Jewish roots at the holy site, a newly unearthed artifact confirms historical truths."

An unidentified writer for Palestine Facts notes that In 715 AD, Prophet Muhammad SAW made a journey to Heaven from the Dome of Rock, the site built by Caliph Abd al-Malik in 687 AD. Muslims all over the world could now associate with the place even more and al-Aqsa Mosque was built on the same site. Based on this, Jerusalem became the third most sacred city for Muslims after Makkah and Medina. Dropping the Roman name, it was given a Muslim name ‘Bait al-Muqaddas’ in line with al-Bait al-Haram in Makkah.

No one denies the Muslim presence in Jerusalem. The Temple was allowed – rightly or wrongly - by the Israeli government to remain under Muslim control after the city was returned to the Jewish state. Allowing the Muslims to control the Temple mount never denied that the first and second Temples were Jewish or suggested anything other than the Muslims were late arriving, even after non-Jews had control of the city.

But UNESCO, blind to reality, denies the history of the site, proving that the organization belies its name: the United Nations Educational (no), Scientific (no) and Cultural (no) Organization.

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THE RESOLUTIONS

According to Middle East Resolutions: Detailed Voting Results on UNESCO’s web site were as follows:

The first item that came up for a vote was Item 5, Implementation of 35 C/Resolution 49 and 184 EX/Decision 5 (IV) relating to the Ascent to the Mughrabi Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. The roll call vote was 31 voting for the resolution (against Israel), 5 against (in support of Israel), and 17 abstentions. The five votes supporting Israel on this item were from Germany, Denmark, USA, Italy, and Slovakia.

The second item was item 14, Jerusalem and the Implementation of 35 C/Resolution 49 and 184 EX/Decision 12. The roll call vote was 34 voting for the resolution (against Israel); 1 against (USA), and 19 abstentions.

The third item was item 15, Implementation of 184 EX/Decision 37 on “the two Palestinian sites of al- Haram al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs in al-Khalil/Hebron and the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem”. The roll call vote was 44 voting for the resolution (against Israel), 1 against (USA), and 12 abstentions.

The fourth item was item 36, Implementation of 35 C/Resolution 75 and 184 EX/Decision 30 concerning educational and cultural institutions in the occupied Arab territories. The roll call vote was 41 voting for the resolution (against Israel), 1 against (USA), and 15 abstentions.

The final item was item 37, Report by the Director-General on the reconstruction and development of Gaza; Implementation of 184 EX/Decision 31. The roll call vote was 41 voting for the resolution (against Israel), 1 against (USA), with 15 abstentions.

Opuscula Ladies seats Hot topic For airport

THE NY/NJ PORT AUTHORITY banned an advertisement a Reform organization wanted to post in the El Al section of the Newark terminal.

The ad’s rejection was due to the Port Authority rule banning most ads. The details were written in an Israel National News article headlined Ad against modesty 'seats switching' barred from NJ airport.

I consider myself an observant Jew. I don’t label other Jews as conservative, orthodox, reform, or any other yoni-come-lately qualifier. To me, a Jew either is (a) more observant that me, (b) observant at my level, or (c) less observant than me. (Yes, in this case, it IS “all about me.”) A Jew is a Jew is a Jew.

In this case, I agree with the advertisers.

I also agree that passengers’ preferences should be honored whenever possible.

That means haridi men traveling alone should be clear when making a reservation that they want to sit next to a man. The airlines should make an effort to honor that request. It won’t always be possible, but an honest effort by all concerned will go a long way to keeping everyone in their place.

AT THE SAME TIME, I blame the haridi men for failing to control themselves.

They can’t hear a woman’s singing voice for fear it will arouse their sexual desires. They can’t sit next to a woman on a public conveyance for the same reason.

A guy who sat next to me where I used to make minyan turned around to the women’s section – separated by a 1/2 –height opaque curtain topped by a ½-height gauze curtain so the women, when standing, could see the Torah being carried to/from the Ark and watch as their husbands, brothers, and sons had aliyot – and said to me the barrier should be opaque top-to-bottom.

My reply: Don’t turn around.

This particular person, an obvious ba’al t’shuva, was doing what he thought was expected of him by his equally “noveau frum” peers, blaming someone else for HIS lack of self-control. A pendulum swinging from one end of the arc to the other.

I don’t object to black hats wanting to sit with other black hats; they will have something in common to discuss/debate over long flights. But if they are “stuck” with a female passenger beside them – assuming the woman was dressed for travel rather than a nudist beach – let them read tehillim for understanding rather than speed reading. Let them read (or write) commentaries on a Torah portion. In other words, let them busy themselves with things other than the woman next to them.

It would be nice if flights to/from Israel – on which most of the problems arise – could set aside “n” seats for haridim traveling alone. Maybe a row behind the bulkhead separating upper class from peon class. Children could be seated near the back of the bus, closer to restrooms and the galley (for snacks and warming bottles, etc.)

The airline reservations could include a line in the seat preference section:

   Aisle or Window
   Will accept opposite sex passenger in adjacent seat (Yes/No)

I don’t know what to do about “in progress” transsexuals or cross-dressers.

Alternatively, in the pre-flight waiting area, single haridim could seek out others of their ilk, check seat assignments, then approach an airline representative to try and arrange seating before boarding the plane. That might be acceptable to even the most extreme feminist.

Perhaps there needs to be a well-advertised haridi travel agency that could book blocks of seats for single men. (Funny, I’ve never heard of a haridi woman asking a male to change seats so another female could sit beside her. Likewise, I’ve never heard that haridi women should not hear a man singing; I guess hairs women can control themselves better than their men.)