UNESCO’s Executive Board unanimously adopted two resolutions on Monday concerning the protection of Palestine’s historic heritage and educational and cultural institutions.
One of the resolutions addresses the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, while the other concerns the implementation of UNESCO resolutions on educational and cultural institutions in the occupied Arab territories.
Protection of historic sites highlighted
The UNESCO resolutions call for the protection of Palestinian cultural heritage and the safeguarding of historic sites in Jerusalem, Hebron and Bethlehem. They also call for monitoring the implementation of UNESCO resolutions concerning the protection of educational and cultural institutions.
Rohi Fattouh, president of the Palestinian National Council, said the resolutions reaffirmed the rights and heritage of the Palestinian people. Fattouh said the resolutions represented a victory for historical truth and the Palestinian narrative.
Fattouh accused the Israeli government of distorting historical facts through illegal practices, appropriating Palestinian heritage and imposing a narrative aimed at erasing Palestinian national identity. He said protecting historic sites and educational and cultural institutions in Palestine was an obligation under international law.
Fattouh called for the UNESCO resolutions to be turned into binding and enforceable measures to protect Palestinian heritage. He also called for Israel to be held accountable for its violations and for efforts to distort history and appropriate the national memory to end.
Palestinian call for implementation of resolutions
Palestinian Ambassador to UNESCO Adil Atiye also welcomed the unanimous adoption of the two resolutions. Atiye thanked the member states and the UNESCO Secretariat for contributing to the resolution process.
Atiye said targeting schools, universities, cultural heritage sites and journalists harmed not only the Palestinian people but also UNESCO’s mandate and the values it was established to defend. Atiye said attacks on Palestine’s cultural heritage and violations targeting educational institutions had increased, stressing that UNESCO resolutions needed to produce concrete results on the ground.
Four resolutions adopted on July 22
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee adopted four resolutions concerning Palestine on July 22. The resolutions covered the state of conservation of heritage sites on the World Heritage List that are under threat.
The sites included the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls, the Old City of Hebron in the southern West Bank, the Monastery of Saint Hilarion or Tell Umm Amer in the Gaza Strip, and the cultural landscape of Battir south of Jerusalem.
