UNESCO adopts two resolutions in support of Palestine

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Executive Board has adopted unanimously two resolutions concerning the State of Palestine: occupied Palestine and cultural and educational institutions. The decision was taken during UNESCO’s 221st session held on Wednesday in Paris.

Such resolutions are considered to be one of the most important tools for preserving the rights of the Palestinian people, especially in light of the crimes and violations committed by Israel, the unlawful occupying power, particularly in the Gaza Strip, and the occupation state’s complete disregard for international law and international humanitarian law.

The two resolutions call for stopping excavations, works and projects in occupied Jerusalem, in and around the Old City, and at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. They also call for ceasing all settlement activities, including the construction of the separation wall, the construction of roads for settlers, violations of freedom of movement and access to places of worship, and other measures aimed at altering the character and structure of the occupied Palestinian territory, including the social fabric of Palestinian society.

The two resolutions stressed that the World Heritage Sites in the occupied city of Jerusalem, its walls, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City of Hebron, including the Ibrahimi Mosque/Cave of the Patriarchs, are an integral part of the territory and cultural heritage of the State of Palestine, and require special protection from destruction, alteration or the deployment of military forces.

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