Seth Udinski, FISM News

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In a baffling decision from earlier this week, the United Nations (UN) signed a new resolution which legally disallows a Jewish claim to the Temple Mount in Old City Jerusalem and recognizes it as an Islamic site. The UN passed the ruling with a 129-11 vote.

The United States was one of the 11 nations that voted against the move, understanding the concern behind an exclusively Islamic recognition of one of Judaism’s most sacred places in the world. 31 nations abstained from the vote.

A United States envoy, speaking in regards to the pro-Islamic ruling, said, “It is morally, historically, and politically wrong for members of this body to support language that denies” Christian and Jewish connections to the holy site.

Both Judaism and Islam, as well as Christianity, claim ownership of the Temple Mount. Jews understand that the Mount was once the location of Solomon’s Temple, where the Ark of the Covenant was housed. This is affirmed by both Jews and biblically faithful Christians as perhaps the most holy site in Judaism, where the Ten Commandments rested during Israel’s Golden Age. For Islam, the Dome of the Rock, built in the 7th century AD on the foundations of the Temple, is one of the oldest Islamic worship sites and houses the spot where Muslims claim their prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

The Israeli ambassador to the UN accurately summed up the baffling decision by the the General Assembly. He said,

One of the most absurd demands in these resolutions is the call to maintain the status quo in Jerusalem, when in essence, the resolution does the exact opposite. By referring to the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount, only by its Muslim name, the resolution itself is changing the status quo. The hypocrisy of these resolutions is truly outrageous.

According to the UN’s vote, the site will be legally referred to by its Islamic name of al-Haram al-Sharif.