New front in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict opens at the UNESCO Executive Board

As violence ratchets up once again in the Occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, new fronts continue to open in the seemingly endless spiral of conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. As reported by the New York Times, the latest battlefield UNESCO's Executive Board which met this week to discuss a resolution brought forward by six Arab states to reclassify the Western Wall as part of the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's old city.

While in the end the Executive Board agreed only to a resolution condemning “Israeli aggressions and illegal measures against the freedom of worship and Muslims’ access to their holy site", the episode starkly demonstrates how political forces - on all sides - harness exploit cultural and religious heritage in pursuit of their particular interests and objectives.