UNESCO designates Church of the Nativity as endangered site

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

UNESCO designates Church of the Nativity as endangered site

By Dalia Nammari and Karin Laub, Associated Press / June 29, 2012

BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK

The Palestinians on Friday persuaded the U.N. cultural agency to list the Church of the Nativity — the place where Christians believe Jesus was born — as an endangered World Heritage site despite misgivings by churches in charge of the basilica.

The Palestinians hailed the nod by UNESCO as a step forward in their quest for global recognition of an independent Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967.

The centuries-old basilica is located in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank where the Palestinians have self-rule. UNESCO's decision was seen by them as validation of their rights to the territory.

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The Palestinians had argued that the shrine faces imminent danger, both because of overdue repairs and Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank.

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Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0629/UNESCO-designates-Church-of-the-Nativity-as-endangered-site

[Scurrilous]

1. J'lem seeks to stop 'Palestine' attending UN parley

Israel working to prevent Palestinians from participating in UN arms treaty conference as full fledged state rather than observer.

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"Israel is actively working in key capitals around the world to prevent the Palestinians from participating in a UN arms trade treaty conference taking place in New York as a full-fledged state, and not merely as an observer, western diplomatic officials said Tuesday.

According to officials, Israel has lodged demarches in various capitals urging they work against seating the Palestinians as a state at the meeting, which aims to hammer out a binding treaty to regulate the global weapons market. The officials said Israel has let it be known that it would block the results of the treaty if the Palestinians were granted state status.

The treaty must be approved unanimously, so any one country can effectively override the deal. However, such a veto could eventually be bypassed by a two-thirds majority vote in the UN General Assembly.

“What this move shows is that the Palestinians have not given up on pursuing UN membership or on the unilateral UN track,” one Western official said.

The maneuvering at the arms trade treaty conference comes just days after UNESCO listed the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem as a World Heritage Site under the name “Palestine.” So far it is the only UN agency that has accepted the Palestinian delegation as representatives of a state."

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=276149