U.S. Sens. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Thursday called for U.S. diplomats to condemn a planned United Nations draft decision entitled “Occupied Palestine” that could undermine Israel.
The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) listed Occupied Palestine as an agenda item for its upcoming executive board meeting.
In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Kirk and Rubio wrote that the agenda item seeks to “deny Jewish and Christian ties to Holy sites in Jerusalem,” and urged Kerry to “strongly condemn” the draft UNESCO measure.
“At a time when great uncertainty surrounds the Middle East and when radical Islamic terrorist groups, such as ISIS, continue to destroy historical heritage sites, UNESCO’s focus on Jerusalem is simply misplaced and senseless,” Kirk and Rubio wrote. “This is just another step in a disturbing trend of UNESCO member states denying the Jewish people have any connection with Jerusalem, their ancient and historical capital.”
Under U.S. laws passed in 1990 and 1994, the senators continued, the United States is required to withhold funding for any U.N. organization that grants membership to the Palestine Liberation Organization, as well as any group “that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood.”
“After UNESCO admitted ‘Palestine’ as a member in October 2011, the United States accordingly withheld funding from UNESCO,” the letter states. “UNESCO’s pending draft decision is anti-Jewish and anti-Christian, and only reinforces the necessity of withholding American funding from UNESCO pursuant to U.S. laws.
Kirk and Rubio concluded by urging Kerry to “strongly condemn” the draft decision and any further attempts to “re-write history and delegitimize the State of Israel.”