I was shocked when I read about your vote to say that Jerusalem and Temple Mount have no connection to the Jewish people. At first, I thought it was a joke article, a satire exaggerating the reality. But no, this vote really did happen, you really did vote for this declaration. When I did realize that this was serious article, my head spun. Having grown up learning about Jewish history, there has never been a doubt in my mind that this ancient city was connected to me, a Jewish American girl.

You, the officials who sat there and voted, must have no idea how this can affect the average person in the world. I don’t speak for all the Jewish people, but I do speak for me, a member of this religion, this people, this world-wide family. I speak for myself when I say that seeing this headline hurt me. It is painful to see such a prominent international organization invalided the connection I felt when I stood at the Western Wall and felt the history that I had learned about. When I went there for the first time, it amazed me that millions of Jewish people from hundreds of different places all came here for the same reason. They come not only because of the very real historic connection that they have, but also because of the spiritual connection they feel. You have no right to tell them, to tell the whole world, that this does not exist.

When I saw the article, I went through the comments and one idea kept coming up. This declaration is as ridiculous as saying that Mecca has no connection to Muslims. There is no doubt that Mecca is holy to the Islamic religion. However, this mentality did not seem to extend to Jerusalem for the Jewish people in your mind. Jerusalem is uniquely holy to the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions. Yet, you declared that it only has no connection to us, the Jews. The Bible and the Quran both contain most, if not all, of the old testament as the base to their beliefs. The old testament is known to us as the Torah. It is the Jewish book of prayer. If the two religions who believe in our prophets and our holy stories in addition to their own may have a connection to this city why can’t we?

As taken from the UNESCO website “UNESCO exists to bring this creative intelligence to life; for it is in the minds of men and women that the defenses of peace and the conditions for sustainable development must be built.” This organization says that it stands for the defense of peace, for creativity, and for intelligence. However, you, the rep who voted to support the declaration that the Jewish people have no connection to Jerusalem and to Temple Mount clearly have no idea what this means. There is nothing creative, nothing intelligent, ad nothing peaceful about publicly denying the history of an entire religion.