ISRAEL: "Palestinian" Islamist Refugees To Make Play For Dead Sea Scrolls At UNESCO. 😦

Palestinians to make play for Dead Sea scrolls at UNESCO https://t.co/va681VOUw1 #Palestinians #UNESCO #DeadSeaScrolls #Qumran pic.twitter.com/3pjqrEAMVd

— Israel Hayom English (@IsraelHayomEng) December 9, 2017

This is sick. The Dead Sea scrolls are written in Hebrew and are scrolls of the Hebrew Bible, life in a Jewish community, Judaism & Jews https://t.co/LczLR9vftJ

— (((Kay Wilson))) (@kishkushkay) December 9, 2017

Israel Hayom

Palestinians to make play for Dead Sea scrolls at UNESCO

written by Staff

Friday December 8, 2017

In response to U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, PA is planning to ask UNESCO to recognize Qumran caves, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, as Palestinian heritage site • Ancient scrolls attest to Jewish presence in Land of Israel.

In response to U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital Wednesday, the Palestinians are planning to ask UNESCO to recognize the Dead Sea Scrolls as part of Palestinian heritage.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization determines which sites to include in its World Heritage List based on proposals from member states showing that sites have "outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of 10 selection criteria."

The Palestinian Authority, which has state status in the U.N. cultural agency, submits a tentative list each year that includes "Qumran: Caves and Monastery of the Dead Sea Scrolls."

Qumran refers to the area on the western shores of the Dead Sea where the ancient Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible were found in the 1940s and later. The scrolls offer some of the earliest proof of Jewish presence in the Land of Israel.

According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, "Scroll dates range from the fifth century BCE (mid-Second Temple period) to the first century of the Common Era, before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E." The scrolls include "partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the Book of Esther)."

Last week, the Frankfurt Bible Museum canceled a planned 2019 exhibition of the Dead Sea scrolls after German authorities refused to guarantee their return to Israel if the Palestinians challenge their ownership in local courts.

The museum's director, Jurgen Schefzyk, said the decision was a result of "political developments" and would not comment on whether the Palestinian Authority had already threatened to take legal action. But a source privy to events at UNESCO told Israel Hayom that the German authorities' refusal was a consequence of the expected bid to include the scrolls in the World Heritage List.

In 2016, UNESCO passed a resolution that said the Temple Mount and the Western Wall should be called primarily by their Arabic names and accused Israel of being an occupying power, essentially denying any Jewish links to the Old City. Earlier this year, the organization said that the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron was a World Heritage Site in "Palestine."