Palestinians make a play for Dead Sea Scrolls at UNESCO

[shira]

Un-fucking real.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinians-make-a-play-for-Dead-Sea-Scrolls-at-UNESCO-471781

The Palestinian Authority is preparing to lay a claim to the Dead Sea Scrolls at the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Israel Radio reported on Saturday night.

“This is another provocative and audacious attempt by the Palestinians to rewrite history and to erase our connection to our land,” Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen said. “The Dead Sea Scrolls are factual and weighty archeological evidence of the presence of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.”

The scrolls – a large cache of mostly Hebrew writings from the Second Temple period and its immediate aftermath – were discovered in Qumran between 1947 and 1956. They include many biblical texts and are believed to have been penned by members of a Jewish sect known as the Essenes.

Qumran, which is near the Dead Sea, was under British, and later Jordanian, rule at the time of the discoveries.

It is now located in Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli civil and military control.

The PA considers Area C to be part of its future state.