UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem holy sites draws criticism from U.S., Israel

UNESCO, the UN's World Heritage organization, is being criticized for a resolution approvedWednesday on the status of conservation in Old Jerusalem a document that Israel says denies Judaism's deep ties to the Temple Mount holy site.

In the secret ballot, the international body agreed to keep the site on its list of endangered locationsand criticized Israel for its continued refusal to letexperts access Jerusalem's holy sites to determine their conservation status.

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The document refers to the site Jews callTemple Mount only by its Arab name a significant semantic decision also adopted by UNESCO's executive board last week,triggeringcondemnation from Israel and its allies.

"This item should have been defeated These politicized and one-sided resolutions are damaging the credibility of UNESCO," U.S. Ambassador Crystal Nix Hines said in a statement to The Associated Press.

They arepoliticizingreligion, and this is very dangerous.- Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO, Elias Sanbar

"These resolutions are continuously one-sided and inflammatory."

The resolution was passed by the committee's 21 member countries. Ten countries voted for, two against, eightabstained and one was absent. Israel, the U.S. andPalestine are noton the World Heritage Committee.

Israel suspended ties with UNESCO earlier this month over a similar resolution.

Elias Sanbar, the Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO, fired back at those upset with the resolution, which was sponsored by his delegation.

"What Israel wants, in fact, is to put politics in religion. This is the most dangerous thing that is happening now in UNESCO," Sanbar told AP. "They are politicizing religion, and this is very dangerous."

The resolution is the latest of several UNESCOmeasuresthat Israelis seeas evidence of ingrained anti-Israel bias within the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

The site in Jerusalem has been on the endangered list since 1982.

UNESCO's World Heritage Site list is known throughout the world for its work on highlighting sites of historic and cultural significance, and endangered global heritage.