KQED Public Radio

88.5 San Francisco

89.3 Sacramento

What's on KQED Radio now:

2:00am City Arts & Lectures Adam Savage and John Hodgman
3:00am Morning Edition Feathers and Forensic Investigations

Audio Archive | Full Schedule

Weather/Traffic

San Francisco, CA

News & Public Affairs Programs on KQED

More from KQED

World

A West Bank Bid For Heritage Claims Holy Land

by Daniel Estrin | July 8, 2012 — 4:43 AM

Listen

Members of the Samaritan community make a pilgrimage to Mount Gerizim in 2011 in Nablus, West Bank. Palestinians and Israelis want to claim sites like Mount Gerizim as part of their own heritage. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Enlarge

Getty Images

Members of the Samaritan community make a pilgrimage to Mount Gerizim in 2011 in Nablus, West Bank. Palestinians and Israelis want to claim sites like Mount Gerizim as part of their own heritage.

Palestinian officials are throwing a party in the West Bank this weekend to celebrate what they call a national victory. The United Nations' cultural body, UNESCO, accepted a Palestinian request to recognize an important Bethlehem church as an endangered World Heritage site.

But Israel says the Palestinians are exploiting a historical site for political gain, and this latest struggle over historical sites in the Holy Land is just beginning.

Making The List

For millions of believers around the world, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is the ultimate heritage site. It's one of world's oldest functioning churches and marks the spot where tradition says Jesus was born.

For Palestinian tour guides like Adel Dweib, having this sacred site in their own backyard is a badge of honor. For Palestinian leaders, it's also a political opportunity.

After the Palestinians won membership last fall in UNESCO, they submitted an emergency request to get the church on the UN's List of World Heritage in Danger. A UNESCO team of experts inspected the site, noting a leaky roof but concluding the site wasn't in danger. Still, the Palestinians stuck to their emergency request, and they won.

For the Palestinians, it's another symbolic step toward international acceptance as an independent state.

"We're not trying to portray it as political issue. But indeed it is an achievement on our long way to achieve our right to self-determination," Palestinian political adviser Xavier Abu Eid says.

Church clergy were against the move. They were afraid of letting politicians meddle on their turf. The U.S. and Israel also objected.

"This really was far more the Palestinians looking to score a few political points than the need to recognize heritage sites," says Paul Hirschson, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Claims To The Same Site

Preserving historic sites has long been a national priority for Israel. Biblical sites that point to a Jewish past aren't just good for tourism. For Israelis, they justify why their country deserves to exist in the first place.

Now that the Palestinians are trying to build a state, they're also seeking to claim sites as part of their own heritage. The problem is Israelis and Palestinians are fighting over many of the same sites, like Mount Gerizim.

It's an archaeological site with panoramic views of the surrounding West Bank hills. The biblical Samaritans built their temple on this site, where Samaritans still pray today. Half of the community lives in Israel. The rest are here. They speak Arabic and attend Palestinian schools.

Palestinians see the Samaritans as proof of their own deep roots in this land. Officials are asking UNESCO to deem this mountain — along with a list of 20 other West Bank sites — as belonging to Palestinian heritage.

But the crisp, new Israeli flags whipping in the wind make it abundantly clear who's the boss here. A few days ago, Israel declared this site a national park.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said the Palestinian Authority claims this site as its own in order to deny Israel's biblical rights to the Holy Land.

"Our response," he said, "is to develop and invest in this place."

Then, the high priest of the tiny Samaritan community — an old man in a red turban — got up to bless the crowd.

Samaritan elder Yefet Cohen said he hopes this place can serve as a bridge between Israelis and Palestinians. But Mount Gerizim, he said, shouldn't be a tourist trap; it's a holy site.

In the Israeli-Palestinian tug-of-war over heritage sites, it's often the custodians who've looked after these places for centuries who feel the uncomfortable pull.

Source: NPR [http://www.npr.org/2012/07/08/156440394/west-bank-site-preservation-is-struggle-for-heritage?ft=3&f=1003,1004,1007,1013,1014,1017,1019,1128]

View Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Palestinian officials are celebrating what they call a national victory this weekend in the West Bank. The United Nations' cultural body, UNESCO, accepted a Palestinian request to recognize an important Bethlehem church as an endangered World Heritage Site. Israel says the Palestinians are exploiting a historical venue for political gain. And as Daniel Estrin reports from the West Bank, this latest struggle over historical sites in the Holy Land is only beginning.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS RINGING)

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: For millions of believers around the world, this is the ultimate heritage site. It's the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, one of world's oldest functioning churches. It marks the spot where tradition says Jesus was born.

ADEL DWEIB: I want you to look at the mosaic on the wall, which from the 12th century. That mosaic...

ESTRIN: For Palestinian tour guides like Adel Dweib, having this sacred site in their own backyard is a badge of honor. For Palestinian leaders, it's also a political opportunity. After the Palestinians won membership last fall in UNESCO, they submitted an emergency request to get the church on the U.N.'s list of World Heritage Sites in danger. Xavier Abu Eid, a Palestinian political advisor, points out damaged spots high up on the church's pillars.

XAVIER ABU EID: It's coming because of the leakage we have on the roof of the church.

ESTRIN: A UNESCO team of experts inspected the site. They noted the leaky roof but concluded the site wasn't in danger. Still, the Palestinians stuck to their emergency request, and they won. For the Palestinians, it's another symbolic step towards international acceptance as an independent state.

EID: We are not trying to portray as political issue. But indeed, it is an achievement on our long way to achieve our right of self-determination.

ESTRIN: Church clergy were against the move. They were afraid of letting politicians meddle in their turf. The U.S. and Israel also objected. Paul Hirschson is with the Israeli foreign ministry.

PAUL HIRSCHSON: This was really far more the Palestinians looking to score a few political points than the need to recognize heritage sites.

ESTRIN: Preserving historic sites has long been a national priority for Israel. Biblical sites pointing to a Jewish past aren't just good for tourism; for Israelis they justify why their country deserves to exist in the first place. Now that the Palestinians are trying to build a state, they're also seeking to claim sites as part of their own heritage. The problem is Israelis and Palestinians are fighting over many of the same sites, like Mount Gerizim.

(SOUNDBITE OF FLAG FLAPPING IN WIND)

ESTRIN: It's an archaeological site with panoramic views of the surrounding West Bank hills. Palestinian officials are asking UNESCO to deem this mountain, along with a list of 20 other West Bank sites, as belonging to Palestinian heritage. But the crisp new Israeli flags whipping in the wind make it abundantly clear who's the boss here. A few days ago, Israel declared this a national park.

GILAD ERDAN: (Foreign language spoken)

ESTRIN: At the ribbon cutting ceremony, government minister Gilad Erdan said the Palestinian Authority claims this site as its own in order to deny Israel's biblical rights to the Holy Land. Our response, he said, is to develop and invest in this place.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Foreign language spoken)

ESTRIN: Then, an old man in a red turban got up to bless the crowd. He's the high priest of the tiny Samaritan community. This site is where the Biblical Samaritans built their temple and where today's Samaritans still pray. Half of the community lives in Israel. The rest are here. They speak Arabic and attend Palestinian schools. Palestinians see them as proof of their own deep roots in this land.

YEFET COHEN: (Foreign language spoken)

ESTRIN: Samaritan elder Yefet Cohen said he hopes this place can serve as a bridge between Israelis and Palestinians. But Mount Gerizim, he said, shouldn't be a tourist trap - it's a holy site. In the Israeli-Palestinian tug of war over heritage sites, it's often the custodians who've looked after these places for centuries who feel the uncomfortable pull. For NPR News, I'm Daniel Estrin, the West Bank. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Follow us:

Don't Miss: