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In Rare Sign of Solidarity, UN Envoy Tells Israel’s Side of the Story

UN Security Council meeting (illustrative)

Tuesday, 26 April 2022 | In an unusual turn of events, a Middle East envoy of the United Nations acknowledged the Israeli side of the story when recounting the violence atop the Temple Mount during the ongoing Ramadan celebrations.

As the UN Security Council held its monthly meeting devoted entirely to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, recounted the month’s events.

Ramadan is the month-long holiday which Muslims are to mark by fasting from sunrise to sunset, praying several times a day, reading the Quran and engaging in introspection and self-restraint. However, as it so often does, Ramadan in Israel has deteriorated to rioting, violence, terror attacks and clashes—particularly at the Temple Mount.

This site, where the first and second temples once stood, is the holiest site to the Jewish people. Now it is where the Al-Aqsa Mosque stands, making it the third holiest site for Muslims—and a flashpoint for religious tension in Israel.

Ramadan has seen many days of rioting, as many Muslims who are supposed to be praying at the site instead turn to throwing rocks, bottles, firecrackers and other makeshift weapons at Israeli security forces stationed at the site.

April 15 was a particularly volatile day at the Temple Mount.

“Some Palestinians threw stones, fireworks and other heavy objects toward Israeli Security Forces [ISF], and ISF used stun grenades, sponge-tipped bullets and batons…” Wennesland said in his address to the forum.

“In the midst of these clashes, several dozen Palestinians entered a mosque in the compound, with some continuing to throw stones and fireworks towards ISF,” Wennesland continued. “Following a standoff with those inside, Israeli police entered the mosque and arrested those barricaded inside.”

In his account, Wennesland did not mention the Palestinian claim that Israeli security forces simply barged onto the site swinging for no reason. He also noted that after the violent morning, “noon prayers subsequently took place that day without major incident.”

Though echoing the standard UN call for “all sides” to continue efforts to contribute to peace, Wennesland did acknowledge Israel’s efforts in maintaining peace in and around Jerusalem’s Old City, particularly the holy sites, during the overlap of Passover, Ramadan and Easter.

“Despite the tensions, overall, hundreds of thousands of Muslims, Jews and Christians have been able to celebrate the holy days in and around the Old City in relative peace and without further escalation,” Wennesland added.

He even mentioned the 14 people who were murdered in a two-week terror wave beginning last month and extending to the beginning of this month, the bloodiest spate of terror attacks in Israel in recent years.

The UN envoy also recounted the rocket attacks from terrorists in Gaza over the past week, acknowledging that they are “undermining the fragile stability that has prevailed since May,” the volatile 11-day war between Israel and Gaza in which terrorists in the Strip fired more than 4,300 rockets toward Israel.

“Let me be clear: there is no justification for acts of terrorism or violence against civilians,” he added.

The UN has said little in the way of condemning the rocket attacks from Gaza toward Israel over the last week.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday evening about the situation, according to a statement by the prime minister’s office with a partial readout of the conversation.

“The international community must not serve the agenda of the terrorist organizations,” Bennett told Guterres. “Israel is the stabilizing force; if we did not uphold order, tens of thousands of Muslims would not be able to pray. These are people who prepared rocks and Molotov cocktails in advance for use from inside the mosque.”

The prime minister added that he was disappointed in the UN for not condemning the recent rocket attacks on Israel emanating from the Gaza Strip, according to the statement.

Nonetheless, in the theater of the absurd, for the UN Security Council’s monthly meeting on Israel—the only country to which a standing monthly meeting is devoted—Wennesland’s updates seem a small step in the right direction.

Two of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, by the way, are Russia and China. This council is established to maintain “international peace and security,” according to the body’s website.

Source: (Bridges for Peace, April 26, 2022)

Photo Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe/flickr.com

Photo License: Flickr

Prayer Focus
Praise the Lord for UN Representative Wennesland’s willingness to acknowledge Israel’s side of the story, a rarity within the walls of the UN! Pray that truth will reign and that the Palestinian attempt to rewrite the story and the facts before the international body will be thwarted. Pray that only truth will be spoken about Israel before the nations.

Scripture
These are the things you shall do: Speak each man the truth to his neighbor; give judgment in your gates for truth, justice and peace.       (Zechariah 8:16)


26/04/2022 by BRIDGE FOR PEACE





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