Following a controversial UNESCO vote that saw the adoption of a draft resolution that sharply criticized Israeli policies around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while supposedly rejecting Jewish ties to the holy site -- referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount -- was received warmly by the Palestinian Authority (PA)'s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

    The PA statement said that the decision to adopt the UNESCO resolution reflected the "continued commitment of the majority of member states to confront impunity and uphold the principles upon which UNESCO was founded."

    The statement continued to express the PA’s disappointment with several countries -- mainly European -- which had changed their votes that were initially in favor of the resolution, after what the statement referred to as Israel’s "PR bullying." "Rather than spending millions to spin its illegal colonization into normalcy and distort reality, Israel, the occupying power, must understand that the only way to be treated like a normal state is if it starts acting like one, by ending its occupation of Palestine and seizing its irresponsible and illegal actions in the occupied land of the State of Palestine, especially East Jerusalem," the statement read.

    The statement added that Palestinian activities at the UN and on the international level would not be "deterred by distortions and smear campaigns," and would continue pressuring the international community to take responsibility and act on Israel’s violations of international law "which have continued with impunity for half a century." The resolution was passed after 24 countries voted in its favor, six voted against, and 26 abstained from the vote, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Source: QNA