Last week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization backed a motion that effectively invalidated a Jewish connection to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Instead, UNESCO, the branch of the U.N. responsible for protecting and enriching culture around the world, called this site in Jerusalem as exclusively holy to Muslims.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as quoted by the Independent, has argued that “to say that Israel has no connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall is like saying that China has no connection to the Great Wall of China and that Egypt has no connection to the Pyramids.”

This comparison is spot on, and I further believe that any separation of the Jewish faith from the Temple Mount is the epitome of irony in the conflict in the Middle East.

First of all, neither UNESCO nor any other U.N. organization should have the power to — either conclusively or indirectly — indicate whether a given religion has a connection to its holy sites. This editorial, therefore, does not indicate that aspects of the Temple Mount — such as the Al-Aqsa Mosque — are not holy to Muslims. It does, however, aim to address the absurdity of UNESCO’s resolution that disconnects Judaism from the Temple Mount.

The resolution, according to the *Independent*, refers to these holy sites using only their Muslim names. This action is unreasonable and simply wrong.

The Old City of Jerusalem is divided into four quarters: the Christian, the Armenian, the Muslim, and the Jewish Quarters. Both the Jewish and Muslim Quarters share one side with the Temple Mount. And both religions consider the area to be among the holiest places in their faiths. Beyond this, the area is one of the more-protected in all of Israel, and while numerous religions lay claim to the site, each is able to pray as they please, or rather, as dictated by their religious leaders, in their sections.

For decades, Israel has been under constant scrutiny for its handling of the settlements. Yet, in these discussions, little mention is given to the several-hundred-year-long history of wandering, oppression, and displacement enacted against the Jewish people.

There is a quotation by an unknown author that, paraphrased, explains, “There is not a Jewish state [of Israel] because there was a Holocaust. There was a Holocaust because there was no Jewish state [of Israel].”

The resettlement issues that are abound in the Israel-Palestinian conflict are but one piece of the story. For countless years, the Jewish people were wanderers. Without a nation to call their own, Jews were relegated to scapegoats, and the Holocaust occurred.

The world has seen before what happens when Jews (or any group of people, for that matter) are denied their existence or the importance of their culture. The most horrible moments in human history stem from these actions. And although UNESCO’s denial of a Jewish connection to the Temple Mount is not quite in line with these atrocities, it is a stark reminder of how fragile Israel’s existence unfortunately is.