UNESCO Claims 3000-yr -Old Tomb a Mosque

Rachel's Tomb September 8, 1932

UNESCO re-labeled as an Islamic mosque the tomb of Rachel, Israel's other matriarch, and demanded that Israel remove the site from its National Heritage list.

The Tomb of Rachel, Judaism's third holiest site, has been the scene of prayer and pilgrimage for more than three thousand years, and has an especially meaningful connection to and for Jewish women. Rachel, the matriarch who died in childbirth and was buried at that spot on the road to Hebron, has been a comfort and hope to Jews since biblical days. "Thus says the Lord, 'Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded...and they shall return from the enemy's land and there is hope for the future'... 'Your children shall return to their own country." Jeremiah 31:16-17. The tomb has since appeared in thousands of drawings, photographs, stamps, and works of art and has been depicted on the covers of Jewish holy books.

Centuries before Islam was founded, Jewish and Christian pilgrims visited Rachel's burial place and made note of it in their writings. Until 2000, the Palestinians also recognized the site as Rachel's Tomb. It was called "Rachel's Tomb" in Al-mawsu'ah al-filastiniyah, the Palestinian encyclopedia published after 1996 and in Palestine, the Holy Land, a Palestinian publication, with an introduction by Yasser Arafat. However, during the second intifada, Al-Hayat al-Jadida, a Palestinian daily, announced a new-found historical connection to Rachel's Tomb, declaring that is was "originally a Muslim mosque."

Arab Mob Destroys Joseph's Tomb

Joseph's Tomb desecrated by Palestinian mobs October 7, 2000

If UNESCO's decision prevails, the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel's tomb face the same tragedy that befell Joseph's Tomb on October 7th, 2000. Under the Oslo Agreement, the Palestinian Authority (PA) was to protect holy sites, Jewish and Christian, and ensure access by all. However, when Israeli forces pulled out of the area, Palestinians mobs overran the site, killed a soldier, and ransacked the place, burning Jewish prayer books, and reducing the sacred site to a smoldering heap of rubble. An Associated Press dispatch reported, "the dome of the tomb was painted green and bulldozers were seen clearing the surrounding area," as the Palestinian Arabs sought to transform the biblical resting place of Joseph into a Muslim conquest.

The destruction of Joseph's Tomb was one piece of a calculated campaign by Muslim Arabs to write everyone else out of the history of the land of Israel. The same fate waits for Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb if we do not vigilantly protect our sacred sites.
UNESCO Defying its Mission to Preserve Heritage
by Denying Jewish Heritage
The UNESCO mission states: "Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration."

There must be no exception in UNESCO's mission when it comes to Jewish heritage. Israel's Jewish legacy must be recognized and preserved and not swept away to conform with the pro-Palestinian narrative. In attempting to sever the Jewish cultural, religious and natural heritage bond with the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb, UNESCO denies the history it is mandated to preserve, engages in a political maneuver designed to weaken a member UN nation, and undermines its own principles. It aims to rob the Jewish people not only of two sacred sites, which are irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration, but also of their past and a legacy to pass on to future generations. We demand that UNESCO, whose purpose it is to protect heritage, also protect Jewish heritage, rather than deny it.

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