West Bank religious sites first for world heritage request

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Ruth Pollard
November 2, 2011

JERUSALEM: Significant religious sites throughout the West Bank, including the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, will be among the first to be pushed forward for world heritage status now Palestine has been granted membership of UNESCO.

A Palestinian Authority spokesman there were many sites and shrines in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that until now had been unprotected because of a lack of recognition and funding.

''Now we will be able to protect them and make sure they are known around the world,'' he said. ''We believe that becoming a member of the UNESCO is an overdue right for a country that has such a significant amount of heritage sites.''

Tourism - particularly religious tourism - is a hotly contested issue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The authority claims agreements such as the 1994 Paris Protocol severely restrict tourism and therefore economic development in the Palestinian territories.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/west-bank-religious-sites-first-for-world-heritage-request-20111101-1mtza.html