IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 433 

Disapproving of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee Inscription of Hebron 

as a Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2017 

Mr. HASTINGS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Disapproving of the United Nations Educational, Scientific 

and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage 

Committee Inscription of Hebron as a Palestinian World 

Heritage Site in Danger. 

Whereas, on July 7, 2017, the United Nations Educational, 

Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at the 

request of the permanent delegation of Palestine, designated the ancient city of Hebron as a World Heritage 

Site in Danger; 

Whereas UNESCO’s online report of the resolution’s passage 

refers to the inscription of Hebron as ‘‘Al Khalil Old 

town, Palestine’’; 

Whereas the Cave of the Patriarchs, a shrine in ancient Hebron holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, is recognized 


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•HRES 433 IH 

as the burial place of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of 

the Jewish people, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, 

Jacob, and Leah, and is the second most holy site in Judaism; 

Whereas the Cave of the Patriarchs sits within a compound 

constructed by Herod, an ancient King of Judea during 

the Second Temple Period over 2,000 years ago, to serve 

as a place for Jewish prayers at the grave sites of the 

Patriarchs and Matriarchs of Judaism; 

Whereas the city of Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs 

were conquered 700 years ago by the Mamluks, who converted the Judean compound into a mosque and forbade 

Jews from entering; 

Whereas Jews were prohibited from entering the Cave of the 

Patriarchs until Hebron’s liberation during the 1967 SixDay War, after which it was re-established as a place 

where all religions could worship under certain restrictions; 

Whereas UNESCO’s minimization of Jewish connections to 

Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs is a politicization 

of world heritage; 

Whereas since ‘‘Palestine’’ was admitted to UNESCO in 

2011, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has 

been successful in efforts to have UNESCO designate the 

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Cultural 

Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir as Palestinian 

World Heritage Sites in Danger; 

Whereas the United Nations General Assembly, the United 

Nations Security Council, and other United Nations 

agencies have purposefully and consistently pursued an 

anti-Israel agenda, and have adopted numerous resoluVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jul 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR433.IH HR433

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•HRES 433 IH 

tions inherently biased against Israel, most recently including— 

(1) United Nations World Health Assembly Agenda 

Item 19, adopted on May 26, 2017, which singled out 

only Israel as a violator of ‘‘mental, physical, and environmental health’’, and asserted that Israeli occupation 

was a ‘‘major cause of the problems’’; 

(2) a decision adopted by the UNESCO Executive 

Board on May 2, 2017, which significantly undermined 

Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem and rejected all legislative and administrative measures taken by Israel in the 

city as ‘‘null and void’’, rejected Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, the holiest place of the Jewish people, and 

condemned Israeli conduct in Gaza; 

(3) language from the same May 2, 2017, decision, 

which expressed ‘‘deep concern’’ about the effects of attacks on schools and other educational and cultural facilities in Gaza, while notably ignoring the terrorist organization Hamas’ use of United Nations Relief and Works 

Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East 

(UNRWA) schools to store and fire rockets at Israeli civilians; 

(4) UNESCO Agenda Item 19, adopted during the 

199th meeting of the Executive Board on April 15, 2016, 

which notably omitted historic Jewish ties to the Temple 

Mount and the Western Wall area in Jerusalem’s Old 

City, condemned Israeli actions taken in response to Palestinian violence, and accused Israel of placing ‘‘Jewish 

fake graves’’ in the vicinity of the al-Aqsa mosque; 

(5) the resolution adopted by the Commission on the 

Status of Women on March 24, 2017, which singled out 

only Israel and expressed ‘‘grave concern about the increased difficulties being faced by Palestinian women and 


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•HRES 433 IH 

girls’’ and ‘‘[deplored] the dire economic and social conditions of Palestinian women and girls’’; and 

(6) United Nations Security Council Resolution 

2334, adopted on December 23, 2016, which condemned 

Israeli settlement activity as a flagrant violation of international law without distinguishing between Jewish holy 

sites and remote settlements in the West Bank; 

Whereas since its creation in June 2006, the United Nations 

Human Rights Council has passed 67 resolutions condemning Israel, more than all other countries combined; 

Whereas the United Nations General Assembly adopted 20 

resolutions at the end of 2016 singling out or condemning Israel; and 

Whereas anti-Israel resolutions adopted by the United Nations and its agencies undermine and cause significant 

damage to the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) disapproves of the United Nations Edu3 cational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 

4 (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee inscription 

5 of Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage Site in 

6 Danger; 

7 (2) rejects any future resolution considered by 

8 the United Nations General Assembly, United Na9 tions Security Council, or other United Nations 

10 agencies that is inherently anti-Israel or seeks to imVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jul 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR433.IH HR433

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•HRES 433 IH 

1 pose a solution on final status issues related to the 

2 Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process; and 

3 (3) strongly urges members of the United Na4 tions and its agencies to refrain from further inflam5 ing tensions in Israel and the Palestinian territories 

6 with historically revisionist and anti-Israel resolu7 tions. 

Æ 


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