Ancient Palestinian site added to Unesco World Heritage list

A UNITED Nations committee recently voted to list pre-historic ruins near the ancient city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank as a World Heritage Site in Palestine.

The decision, which has been criticised by Israel, was made at a meeting of the UN World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17 under the auspices of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

The listing refers to the Tell es-sultan archaeological site nearby, which contains pre-historic ruins dating back to the ninth millennium BC and is outside the ancient city itself.

“A permanent settlement had emerged here by the 9th to 8th millennium BC due to the fertile soil of the oasis and easy access to water,” Unesco said on its website.

Tell es-sultan, an oval-shaped mound, contains evidence of one of humanity’s first-known villages and an important Bronze Age town dating back to 2 600BC.

It is around 2km from the remains of the first city of Jericho, which contains ruins of importance to Jewish history, including a synagogue dating back to the first century BC. Jericho is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities on Earth, and is in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank that is administered by the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority (PA).

“The natural resources and strategic location of Ancient Jericho/tell es-sultan made it . . . a major node of human development for millennia,” the Palestinian Tourism and Antiquities ministry wrote in an executive summary for the committee.

“Today’s residents drink water from the same springs and irrigate the same fields” as the dwellers of ancient Jericho.

However, Israel’s Foreign Affairs ministry released a statement immediately denouncing the decision, calling it a “cynical ploy”.

“The Foreign ministry considers today’s decision another sign of the cynical use the Palestinians are making of Unesco and the organisation’s politicisation,” the statement said.

“Israel will act with its many friends in the organisation to change the flawed decisions made.”

Israel, which has nine listed heritage sites, quit the UN organisation in 2019 over accusations that it fosters an anti-israel bias, but did send a delegation to this year’s meeting in Saudi Arabia.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state.

There have been no serious or substantive peace negotiations in over a decade, and Israel is currently led by one of the most farright, nationalist governments in its history, making any move towards Palestinian statehood appear extremely unlikely.

Historical heritage has long been among the many flashpoints in the Israeli-palestinian conflict, with both sides using archaeology and conservation to demonstrate what they say is their own unique connection to the Holy Land.

The PA, recognised a decade ago by the

United Nations as a non-member observer state, welcomed the designation of Tell es-sultan.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement that it “testifies to the authenticity and history of the Palestinian people”, adding that “the state of Palestine is committed to preserving this unique site for the benefit of mankind”.

In the Palestinian territories, Unesco had previously designated three other sites: the Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route in Bethlehem; the Battir hill landscape of grapevines and olive trees; and the Old Town in Hebron.

Meanwhile, the global heritage committee has wrapped up its deliberations related to sites that are in danger and began adding new sites to its prestigious World Heritage List.

Sites in Ukraine — the St Sophia Cathedral and the Kyiv-pechersklavra monastery complex, both located in the capital city of Kyiv, and the historical centre of Lviv in western Ukraine — were deemed to be “in danger” earlier this week.

Deliberations started last Saturday considering 50 sites nominated for the wellknown World Heritage List.

The Forest Massif of Odzala-kokoua in Congo and the volcanoes and forests of Mount Pelée and the Pitons on the French island of Martinique, were chosen to be inscribed to the World Heritage List on the first day. The World Heritage in Danger List includes heritage sites that are threatened by forces such as armed conflict, natural disasters, pollution and more.

Built in the 11th Century and decorated with eye-catching mosaics and frescoes, St Sophia cathedral and its related monastic buildings were added to the in danger list alongside the nearby monastic complex Kyiv-pechersklavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves.

Situated near the Polish border, the historic centre of the city of Lviv, which is made up of a fifth-century castle, a synagogue and various other religious buildings, also was added to the list. — Al Jazeera/ CNN.