BETHLEHEM, June 21, 2014 (WAFA)
- The State of Palestine listed Battir as World Heritage Cultural Landscape
during the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in Doha, Qatar, said a
statement by Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities on Friday.
The state of Palestine had
submitted the site of Battir as an 'Emergency Nomination' based on current
plans by the Israeli government to expand the illegal Annexation Wall through
the heart of Battir putting the integrity of the site in jeopardy
Rula Ma’ayah, Minister of Tourism
and Antiquities, stated the importance of this third UNESCO recognition of a
site in the State of Palestine, after East Jerusalem and the Nativity and
Pilgrims Way in Bethlehem, as it is in the line of the Ministry of Tourism and
Antiquities strategy to preserve Palestinian cultural and natural heritage
sites and grow tourism development into those areas.
Ma’ayah described Battir as a
symbol of Palestinian’s attachment to the land and the Olive Tree.
She stressed the uniqueness
of Battir, a town that was on the Roman route from Gaza to Jerusalem, with
terraces bearing witness to thousands of years of human activity with a
continuous human presence around the springs from at least the Bronze Age (over
4,000 years). The terraces, irrigation system, and pools were an important
milestone in agricultural activity of the area and have been in continuous use
since Roman times.
The statement said, 'the
UNESCO vote confirms the Outstanding Universal Significance of the site, the
terrace system, and its globally unique traditional water-sharing system that
is still preserved today.'
It is among the very best
examples of this type of terraced landscape, and rich with archaeological
remains from throughout the historical record, said the statement.
Battir is part of a long list of
Palestinian Heritage Sites threatened by Israeli colonization policies in need
of urgent international intervention, the statement concluded.
T.R.
