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Viewing cable 07PARIS779, JERUSALEM ISSUE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07PARIS779 2007-03-01 05:02 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Paris
null
Lucia A Keegan  03/01/2007 12:43:44 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

Cable 
Text:                                                                      
                                                                           
      
UNCLAS    SENSITIVE     PARIS 00779

SIPDIS
cxparis:
    ACTION: UNESCO
    INFO:   POL ECON AMBU AMB AMBO DCM SCI

DISSEMINATION: UNESCOX
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB:LVOLIVER
DRAFTED: POL:DROSTROFF
CLEARED: NONE

VZCZCFRI228
RR RUEHC RUEHTV
DE RUEHFR #0779/01 0600502
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010502Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5230
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 0610
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 000779 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNESCO SCUL IS
SUBJECT:  JERUSALEM ISSUE 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  The excavation work at the Temple Mount site in 
Jerusalem has prompted calls at UNESCO by six Arab states for a rare 
special session of the Executive Board.  Based on the its 
interpretation of a resolution negotiated between the Palestinian 
observer and the Israeli Ambassador in the 2006 Vilnius World 
Heritage Committee meeting that calls for Israel to provide the 
World Heritage Center with all relevant information on plans for 
reconstruction of the access leading to the al-Haram ash-Sharif, 
Israel has created a new opportunity for those member states seeking 
to spread anti-Israeli headlines in the world press.  While progress 
has been made with efforts to defuse the situation, it is still too 
early to determine how the current crisis will play out. 
 
2.  (SBU) BACKGROUND:  The first extraordinary meeting of the World 
Heritage Committee was held in Paris in September 1980 at the 
request of seventeen members of the World Heritage Committee to 
discuss two issues, one of which was the request by Jordan to 
inscribe "the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls" on the World 
Heritage list.  Although the United States recognized that the 
universal and cultural value of Jerusalem was important to all 
mankind, it opposed the inscription on the grounds that the 
Committee did not have the authority to inscribe this site because 
the World Heritage Convention contains articles that state that 
nominating state can only nominate those sites which are "situated 
in its territory", that there must be the consent of the state 
concerned, and that the nominating state provide an effective plan 
for the management and protection of the site. 
 
3. (SBU) When the World Heritage Committee decided to place the Old 
City of Jerusalem and its wall on the World Heritage List, the 
United States disassociated itself from the decision and made the 
following statement: "This Committee has taken an impermissible 
action and must now abide by the unfortunate consequences.  These 
consequences are the intrusion of an element of politicization to 
the World Heritage Committee... The introduction of Middle East 
politics into this Committee cannot but be to the detriment of the 
World Heritage Committee and its proud accomplishments to date." 
 
4.  (SBU) The site of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls was 
put on the World Heritage List of Sites in Danger in 1982.  Israel 
did not attend these meetings as it did not become a signatory to 
the World Heritage Convention until October 1999. 
 
5. (SBU) In July, 2006 in Vilnius, a resolution negotiated by the 
Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO and the Palestinian Observer to UNESCO, 
Decision 30 COM 7A 34 rev, was adopted by the World Heritage 
Committee.  Articles 5 states "Reiterates its concern as to the 
obstacles and practices, such as archeological excavations or new 
constructions, which could alter the outstanding universal value of 
the cultural value of the Old City of Jerusalem, including its urban 
and social fabric as well as its visual integrity." 
Article 6 states "Asks the Israeli authorities to provide to the 
World Heritage Centre all relevant information concerning new 
buildings planned in and around the Western Wall Plaza, including 
the plans for the reconstruction of the access leading to the 
al-Haram ash-Sharif." 
 
THE CURRENT CRISIS 
 
6. (SBU) The view of the Arab states, led by the Palestinian 
Observer who now serves as the head of the Arab Group at UNESCO, is 
that this decision, 30 COM 7A.34 Rev, refers to all work relating to 
the World Heritage site of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls, 
and that the World Heritage Center should have been consulted on all 
plans for both the proposed bridge and the archeological 
excavations.  Because this was not done before work began on 
February 6th, they believe that Israel has violated both the Vilnius 
decision and its obligations as a signatory of the World Heritage 
Convention to refrain from doing anything that might cause damage to 
the site. 
 
7. (SBU) The Israeli view is that the decision only refers to the 
plans for the construction of the new access ramp, and not to the 
archeological excavations, which they say are needed to determine 
how that ramp should be constructed.  The Israeli government also 
believes that UNESCO is interfering in Israeli internal matters.  It 
understands the need to work with the World Heritage Committee as 
much as possible, but believes that the appropriate role of the 
World Heritage Center is to give advice, not to instruct a sovereign 
state on how to maintain its World Heritage sites. 
 
8. (SBU) On February 7 the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, 
Ambassador Dan Gillerman, wrote a letter to the President of the 
Security Council, Ambassador Peter Burian, stating that the 
excavations are necessary in order to determine the location of the 
pillars for the new bridge (ramp) which must be build because of 
safety reasons, that the excavations are being done in a transparent 
manner by a team of archeologists and experts using internationally 
accepted methods, and that they are being done in an area which is 
under Israeli sovereignty and is the responsibility of the 
Municipality of Jerusalem and the Government of Israel.  The Israeli 
Ambassador to UNESCO, David Kornbluth, is using the same arguments 
at UNESCO, and is convinced that the public concerns that have been 
generated concerning this project are political in nature. 
 
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS AT UNESCO 
 
9. (SBU) Immediately after the excavations began on February 6th, 
the Palestinian Observer met with the Arab Group to discuss this 
matter and to ask the Arab Group to tell the Director-General that 
he must take appropriate action to make Israel to stop the 
excavations. 
 
10. (SBU) A letter drafted for the Director General by ADG Culture 
Francoise Riviere to send to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was rejected 
by the Israeli Ambassador, David Kornbluth, for being 
inappropriately inflammatory.  He said that there is no language in 
the World Heritage convention that permits the Director General to 
severely criticize a state for World Heritage violations, especially 
when there is no evidence that violations have actually occurred. 
 
11. (SBU) A revised letter was sent by the Director General to Prime 
Minister Olmert requesting assurances that the work being done does 
not in any way undermine the outstanding universal value of the 
site, that Israel fulfill the conditions of the Vilnius decision by 
providing all relevant information on the work being done to the 
World Heritage Center, and to "cease any action that could lead to 
tensions" in Jerusalem.  A UNESCO Press Release issued on February 
8th stated that the Director General was "alarmed" and "deeply 
concerned" by the situation 
 
12. (SBU) On February 13 the Director General issued a Press Release 
that congratulated the Major of Jerusalem for suspending the work on 
the ramp.  The Arab states were angry with this expression of 
congratulations as they wanted the work to be stopped, not just 
suspended. 
 
13. (SBU) On February 14 the six Arab members of the Executive 
Board, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Yemen, sent a 
letter invoking Rule 3, paragraph 1 and 2 of the Rules of procedure 
of the Executive Board that states that "The Executive Board may 
meet in special session if convoked by the Chairman on his own 
initiative or on the request of six members of the Board."  In 
response to a question by the Mission, the Legal Advisor has 
interpreted the work "may" as an imperative and that the Chairman 
must follow through on the request. 
 
14. (SBU) The request for a special meeting was supported by many 
Islamic countries at UNESCO as well as outside organizations such as 
the Arab League, ALECSO, and the OIC.  In addition to active 
lobbying done by the six Arab members of the Executive Board, 
intense lobbying was done, particularly by the Egyptians, in many 
capitals of countries on the Executive Board in order to gain 
broad-based support for a Special Executive Board meeting. 
 
15. (SBU) On February 17 the Ambassador of India to UNESCO, in her 
capacity as head of the ASPAC Group, sent a letter to the 
Director-General requesting that a technical mission be sent 
immediately to Jerusalem by the World Heritage Center. 
 
16. (SBU) In response to increasingly angry demands from the Arab 
and Islamic states for action by UNESCO, the Director-General issued 
a Press Release on February 20 stating that he was exploring the 
possibility of sending a technical assessment mission to Jerusalem. 
(Comment:  Although UNESCO wanted to send a technical mission, they 
had been asked by the Israeli Ambassador to wait until the GOI made 
a decision on whether it would accept such a mission, which in the 
past they had refused to do). 
 
17. (SBU) Also on February 20 the Chairman of the Executive Board 
sent a letter to the six members of the Bureau, which includes the 
U.S., asking them to consider the request made by the Arab states. 
He did not ask for a response to his letter. 
 
18. (SBU) On February 22 the GOI decided to invite a UNESCO 
technical mission to visit the site in Jerusalem, thereby avoiding 
the issue of whether UNESCO has the authority to send a technical 
mission against the wishes of a state in whose territory a site is 
located.  (Comment: In practical terms this would not be possible 
since a state can deny the necessary visas to the technical mission, 
but that would probably generate serious international pressure on 
that state to reverse its decision). 
 
19. (SBU) On February 23 the Director-General issued a Press Release 
stating that "following extensive consultations with all the parties 
concerned", he would send a technical mission to Jerusalem.  The 
terms of reference for the technical mission agreed to by the Deputy 
Director General Marcio Barbosa and Ambassador Kornbluth state that 
the findings of the technical mission will be given to the Director 
General who will inform the World Heritage Committee accordingly. 
 
MISSION RESPONSE 
 
20. (SBU) During the past few days Ambassador Oliver has met with 
the Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO, as well as with the Ambassadors of 
India, Yemen, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Lithuania, Spain, 
Germany, the UK, and the deputy from Norway.  The Arab states all 
said that the combination of inaction by the Secretariat, the great 
importance of the site, and the intense lobbying done in capitals 
made it almost impossible for them to back down from their demands. 
For example, the Indian Ambassador said that she had been getting 
daily cables from Delhi instructing her to show solidarity with 
Palestine and the Arab states. 
 
21. (SBU) Although they were all pleased by the decision to send a 
technical mission, they said that there would still have to be a 
special meeting of the Executive Board since Israel continued to 
conduct archeological excavations.  The Arab states also claimed 
that they did not want to politicize the issue, and rejected the 
idea that calling a special Executive Board meeting just before the 
regular Executive Board meeting would have that effect. 
 
22. (SBU) Ambassador Oliver disagreed and said that it would 
certainly be perceived as a political initiative, particularly since 
Israel is not even on the Executive Board.  She also said that the 
proper venue for discussion of this issue is the World Heritage 
Committee, which has responsibility for all issues relating to World 
Heritage sites.  Moreover, Israel is a member of the World Heritage 
Committee.  When Ambassador Oliver suggested that the Arab states 
call for a special meeting of the World Heritage Committee, the 
response was that there was not enough time to do that.  (Comment: 
Probably the real reason is that it takes two-thirds of the members 
of the World Heritage Committee to call for a special session) 
 
23. (SBU) The European countries said that almost no one wanted a 
special Executive Board meeting other than the Arab and Islamic 
states, and agreed that the World Heritage Committee was the 
appropriate venue for a discussion of this issue.  However, they 
added that they thought it would be very difficult to prevent a 
special Executive Board meeting if the Israelis did not suspend the 
archeological excavations, and that most of their own governments 
had already publicly called for a suspension of the excavations. 
 
 
24. (SBU) Ambassador Oliver also met with UNESCO's Deputy Director, 
Marcio Barbosa, who informed her that the UNESCO technical mission 
had left for Israel that morning, February 27.  It is expected to 
finish its work on Friday March 2. 
 
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS 
 
25. (SBU) On February 28 the GOI announced that it would suspend the 
archeological excavations until the UNESCO technical mission had 
completed its work.  Although the Arab and Islamic states may still 
push for a special Executive Board meeting, it is unlikely that they 
will be able to persuade other states that a special meeting is 
necessary since the work has now been suspended.  Many states are 
also concerned about the expense of a special meeting, as well as 
the precedent of six Executive Board members being able to force 
UNESCO to convene a special Executive Board meeting. 
 
26. (SBU) If the technical mission reports that there is no damage 
to the site as a result of the excavations, the Arab states will 
find it difficult to complain when the excavations are resumed.  If 
the technical mission reports that damage has or may occur, the GOI 
will have to decide what to do. 
 
27. (SBU) Even if there is no special meeting, the issue of 
Jerusalem will be discussed at the regular Executive Board meeting 
as there already is an item on Jerusalem on the agenda.  However, 
the debate will be influenced by the report of the technical mission 
and by the cooperative attitude of the GOI. 
 
28. (SBU) In a meeting with Ambassador Kornbluth on February 28, 
Ambassador Oliver was informed that at the moment the archaeological 
excavations will be suspended only during the time when the 
technical mission is actually onsite.  The Greek Ambassador 
(Chairman of Group I) also reported that as a result of numerous 
conversations, momentum for a special meeting seems to be slowing 
down.  In the European Union's coordination meeting all European 
countries, with the exception of Austria, were against the idea of a 
special meeting.  He added that it remains to be seen what the 
reaction will be next week when the technical mission returns to 
Paris. 
 
29. (SBU) Mission will continue to work closely with the Israeli 
Ambassador and will monitor the situation carefully. 
OLIVER