Monday 14 October 2024 
qodsna.ir qodsna.ir

UNESCO votes to declare al-Khalil's Old City heritage site

UNESCO has declared the Old City of al-Khalil ('Hebron') a protected heritage site in a secret ballot despite Israeli attempts to thwart the vote.

 

UNESCO has declared the Old City of al-Khalil ('Hebron') a protected heritage site in a secret ballot despite Israeli attempts to thwart the vote.

 

On Friday, the UN’s cultural arm voted 12 to three -- with six abstentions -- to give heritage status to al-Khalil Hebron in the occupied West Bank, which is home to more than 200,000 Palestinians and a few hundred Israeli settlers.

 

On Thursday, a Palestinian official said Tel Aviv was seeking to thwart Palestinian efforts to include the Old City of al-Khalil on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger

 

Deputy Mayor of al-Khalil Yousef al Jabari made the remarks to a group of journalists visiting the Old City of al-Khalil on Thursday, one day prior to UNESCO’s vote on the matter.

 

The Old City of al-Khalil is also home to the Ibrahimi Mosque, one of the key holy sites in the Muslim world.  

 

Jabari described Ibrahimi Mosque as a “pure Muslim” site and said, “We will do everything we can [for] this place to remain a mosque, and a mosque for Muslim worshipers only.”

 

If the Palestinian Authority (PA) succeeds in its bid on Friday, the Old City of al-Khalil would become the third site registered under “Palestine” since the UNESCO recognized it as a member state in 2011.

 

Jabari argued that he did not recognize Jewish ties to the Old City.

 

“The real religious Jews do not come and pray in the cave (Ibrahimi Mosque). It is only settlers who come to pray. It is not the religious Jews. If Jews think they have a connection or ties to [Ibrahimi Mosque], why do only settlers go to this site?” he asked.

 

According to Palestine’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the old city of al-Khalil urgently needed protection from “assaults that harm the exceptional international value of the place.”




Users Comments

Videos

Qods News Agency


©2017 Qods News Agency. All Rights Reserved