At Security Council meet, U.N. secretary condemns torching of Joseph’s Tomb

Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA) – At a Security Council discussion on Israeli-Palestinian violence, the United Nation’s secretary general Ban Ki-moon condemned the torching of the Tomb of Joseph by Palestinians near Nablus.

The secretary general’s aide read out the condemnations Friday, during the discussion convened at Jordan’s request at the UN headquarters in New York.

Ban Ki-moon’s aide said the “perpetrators should be brought to justice immediately,” the Daily Mail reported Friday. According to Haaretz, the aide’s announcement also said that Ban welcomes Abbas’ announcement on the establishment of an investigative committee following the incident and calls on both sided to refrain from targeting holy sites and to do everything in their power not to turn the national conflict into a religious one, as that would have serious consequence.

Speaking ahead of a Security Council meeting on Israel, Jerusalem’s ambassador to the United Nations said his country would spurn any international presence at the Temple Mount.

Speaking at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York a few minutes before the start of a Security Council meeting on the escalation of violence, Danny Danon said Israel “does not think international intervention [in] the Temple Mount would be helpful or contribute to stability,” The Times of Israel reported.

“An international presence on the Temple Mount would violate the status quo of the last several decades,” Danon added.

The UN Security Council meeting was convened at Jordan’s request, following the death of some 40 Palestinians and seven Israelis in clashes that began approximately two weeks ago amid claims by Palestinian leaders that Israel was violating the status quo at the Mount, which contains sites holy to Judaism and to Islam.

The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, called during the discussion at the Security Council for it to pass a resolution safeguarding Palestinians in Jerusalem.

His Jordanian counterpart, Dina Kawar, blamed Israel for the escalation in Jerusalem, adding that Israel must keep the status quo and desist from any actions to divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque. “The Al-Aqsa Mosque is a red line which mustn’t be crossed and cannot be defiled,” she said. “We reserve all the diplomatic and legal options to defend the holy sites in Jerusalem.”

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