Abbas at UN (file)
Abbas at UN (file)Reuters

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Saturday said it was “appalled” by what it said was a one-sided statement by the UN Security Council regarding recent violence on and around the Temple Mount.

The ADL accused the UNSC of ignoring the holiness of the site to Jews, and said it had “turned a blind eye” to Muslim violence and the anti-Semitic incitement by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Friday's UNSC statement said that Muslim worshippers must “be allowed to worship in peace, free from violence, threats and provocation,” but according to the ADL, it ignored the violence and provocation being perpetrated by Arabs against Israeli security forces, as well as Jewish and other non-Muslim visitors, including the stockpiling of pipe bombs and stones inside the Al Aqsa mosque.

“We are greatly concerned by increasing tensions in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary site, holy to Jews and Muslims, and support the continued efforts of Israel’s political and religious leadership to appeal for calm and ensure that the ‘status quo’ - which accommodates both Jews and Muslims and has been in place since 1967 – be maintained,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL National Director.

“The U.N. Security Council had the opportunity to address the reality of this difficult and potentially explosive situation, including through directly appealing for an end to the blatant Palestinian incitement and violence, but instead, the Council turned a blind eye by disregarding the context and presented this complex issue as one directed only at Muslim worshippers at a Muslim holy site. We fear that unfortunately this will serve to encourage not just one-sided narratives, but also anti-Jewish and anti-Israel incitement and action on this most sensitive and holy space.

“We urge the United States and responsible voices in the international community to condemn the violence and call for an end to the incendiary statements by President Abbas and others which is tinged with anti-Semitism,” Greenblatt said.

“For years, the Palestinian leadership has exacerbated tensions regarding the site through statements which incite violence, alleging Israeli conspiracies, while diminishing or denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem,” said the ADL. “Earlier this week, President Abbas said, 'Al-Aksa is ours and so is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet. We won’t allow them to do so and we will do whatever we can to defend Jerusalem.'”