Judaic Heritage Celebrated

"Canadian diplomat and foreign ministry officials didn't take this very well, [that] in a place of culture they want to censor the Jewish right to tell their story and connection to the land of Israel."
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder, dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center

UNESCO's Director General Irina Bokova poses with the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Rabbi Marvin Hier and a poster for the exhibit on the Jewish people's 3,500-year connection to the land of Israel, which she subsequently cancelled. (photo credit: Courtesy Simon Wiesenthal Center)

If any nation has a heritage and history traceable back thousands of years in the Middle East, it is Israel, writ large and in detail in lyrical Biblical passages. Archaeological evidence is plentiful, and as time goes on, digs uncover new and impressive evidence in the catalogue of proof of the Jewish presence in what is often termed the Holy Land. Recognized as such as it is the crucible of three of the world's most prevalent religions hinging on monotheism, the recognition of one God.

In order of precedence Judaism was the first to pay homage to its vision of a life-and-universe-founding, omniscient, omnipresent and unknowable Spirit whose power was supreme and whose compassion for the creatures created through his will demanded full and unequivocal obeisance to his will. Christianity followed, introduced by the prophetic vision of a Jewish man of arresting presence whose charismatic emoting and devotion earned him unbridled loyalty as the son of God.

Last, and thousands of years following on Judaism, came the schismatic religion of Islam, imagined as a spiritual ideology that would appeal to the loyalty of warring tribal Bedouin. Its prophet felt that his religious inspirational vision represented the final expression of the one true god, of which its predecessors were merely trial runs, and all others as a result, should recognize the need to submit to God's new, refined and perfected presence, renamed from Yahweh to Allah.

As a proselytizing religion Islam was relentlessly implacable. The demand, emphasized by the tribal desert cult, was to disown the original religion and embrace in its stead the newest incarnation of the godhead. From its inception in the 7th Century the armies of Muslim conquest slaughtered incessantly in their religious fervor to increase the numbers of Islamic faithful. They turned their bloody ire on one another as well, in an argument over whether Islamic tradition rested on the Prophet Mohammed's heirs or his follower-successors.

At the present time sectarian hatred and violence in Islam takes second place status only to its hatred of Jews who in their stubborn ignorance refuse to surrender to Islam, and to infidels who worship other religions in their equally stubborn ignorance in refusing to recognize the divine imperative to surrender to Islam. The heritage and culture and loyalty of religious devotion of those not in the Muslim mold is a matter of utter contempt to Islamists, those for whom their religion has become a political ideology of conquest.

Discoveries made by archaeologists in the Middle East continuing to attest to the presence of Jews by evidence of the artefacts uncovered are loathed by jihadists and fundamentalist Islamists. Who see nothing whatever amiss in destroying the priceless heritage artefacts prized by other religious adherents. Part of the conquest is to determinedly efface any symbols of a religion other than Islam. And to deny the very idea that others share God, albeit in their own way unrecognizable to Islam.

UNESCO's Paris headquarters had been about to debut an exhibition entitled "People, Book, Land: The 3,500-year relationship of the Jewish People with the Holy Land." That intention, exploring, honouring and admiring the long, often perilous ascension throughout history of a people united in ethnicity, history, culture and religion was summarily halted with the intervention of UNESCO's 22 Arab members (including the Palestinian Authority) who urged the display be cancelled.

It would be inconvenient to hopes for the culmination of a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians, they contended; it would "harm the ongoing peace negotiations", and "the constant efforts of [U.S.] Secretary of State John Kerry", they insisted. "The very subject of the exhibition is eminently political, despite its seemingly harmless title", according to Abdulla Alneaimi, delegate of the United Arab Emirates, president of the Arab Group, in a January 14 letter.

"It's not a political statement about individuals or political parties, it's simply the collective narrative of the Jewish people, whether it's religious, secular, left and right, this is our history", bridled Mr. Hier, explaining further that it is evident, through this incident, as in so many others that the Arab states "did not want the world to know" about a Jewish connection of infinitely long and honourable standing to the holy land.

And last Friday when the cancellation of the display had been made public, Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs stated that there "is no appropriate rationale to delay the exhibition and [we are] deeply disappointed by the decision made to postpone it... Our ambassador to UNESCO has written to the secretary-general of that organization urging her to take all necessary action for this exhibition to go ahead as long planned."

  On January 17, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power disagreed emphatically with any such assertion, that the Paris event might have the effect of compromising John Kerry's peacemaking. "UNESCO's decision is wrong and should be reversed. The United States has engaged at senior levels to urge UNESCO to allow this exhibit to proceed as soon as possible."

Canada's intervention came about as a matter of it being involved in the exhibit. It, along with Israel and the Eastern European nation of Montenegro sponsored the exhibition. "The Canadian flag is on the panels of the exhibit", Mr. Hier said. Its honorary committee includes Liberal Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler, a former minister of justice under Prime Minister Paul Martin.

UNESCO did reverse its decision. It issued a statement that "the exhibition has not been cancelled, but postponed." It is now expected to make its debut on June 11.