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ISRAELIS
AND PALESTINIANS UNITE TO PROTECT JERUSALEM'S OLD CITY – UNESCO
(MaximsNews.com, U.N.)
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The
decision adopted by consensus by
UNESCO’s Executive Board also called
for the safeguarding of the area, which
is protected by the UN Convention the
Protection of the World Cultural and
Natural Heritage (1972), and is
inscribed on the UN World Heritage List
and the List of World Heritage in
Danger.
This
decision also is the first taken by
Israelis and Palestinians to “work
together constructively towards
achieving consensus on this important
and highly complex matter,” said Zhang
Xinsheng, the Board’s Chairman.
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In
February, Israel initiated a construction project in the Old City, prompting
UNESCO to call for a halt to any action that could exacerbate tensions.
The
Islamic Waqf (religious authorities) of Jerusalem has called the work illegal
since under international law no action should be undertaken in an occupied
city. Israel captured the Old City in the 1967 war. The Waqf asked UNESCO to
intervene, saying it also feared the excavations would destroy the last vestiges
of an old Muslim quarter demolished after 1967.
In
late February, the agency dispatched a technical team to the site, which found
after a four-day investigation that although Israeli archaeological work for an
access pathway in the Old City does not threaten the Al-Aqsa Mosque and complies
with professional standards, Israel should at once stop excavations and consult
on a final plan with Muslim religious authorities and other parties.
Of
today’s decision, Mr. Zhang noted that “the ability of the parties involved
to achieve what, at the outset seemed unachievable, demonstrates UNESCO’s
unique ability… to build bridges, generate solidarity, and, most especially,
to help in our own way towards building a harmonized world, thus creating
greater peace and relieving tensions in the Middle East.”
The
Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, hailed the decision, since
“our determination to safeguard all cultural heritage properties –
especially those in danger, wherever they may be, and in whatever circumstances
– is an integral part of our mandate,” he said.
In
addition, the decision announced today recommends that the Bureau of the World
Heritage Committee hold an urgent and informal meeting in early May to follow up
on the findings of the technical mission, and also requests that the World
Heritage Committee make certain that its decisions are properly implemented.
~~~~~
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