Showing posts with label World Heritage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Heritage. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Walking Palestine & The Abraham Path... a creative space for stories that highlight the unique culture, heritage and hospitality of the region
Abraham Path
Check out the new online guidebook: www.abrahampath.org The Abraham Path is a long-distance walking trail across the Middle East.
Mission
The mission of the Abraham Path Initiative is to support local partners to develop the path as:• a catalyst for socio-economic development and sustainable tourism
• a place of meeting and connection between people from the Middle East and people around the world.
• a creative space for stories that highlight the unique culture, heritage and hospitality of the region
Description
The
Abraham Path Initiative is an international organization cultivating
the development of the path with local and international partner
organizations. The initiative is a non-profit, non-religious and
non-political organization.
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THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE: Walking Palestine is a simple website intended to be a virtual companion to a book by the same title. The book,
written by Stefan Szepesi, documents 25 walking journeys in Palestine
and serves as a guide, exposing the natural and cultural aspects of the
country. Walking Palestine is available in English with a brief
description in Arabic.
The site has background images from natural Palestinian scenery....
The site has background images from natural Palestinian scenery....
on flickr
Walking Palestine Public Pics
Walking Palestine
see www.walkingpalestine.org for more info
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All rights reserved by 
With
the images of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so dominant in our
minds, walking for leisure is the one activity probably least associated
with the West Bank region. But Walking Palestine wanders well
off the beaten track of Palestine as only a synonym for occupation and
strife, exploring its inspiring natural and cultural landscape, its
intriguing past and present, and the hospitality of its people.
The book takes first-time walkers
and experienced hikers, as well as armchair explorers, through
Palestine's steep desert gorges, along its tiny herders' trails and over
its quiet dirt roads running past silver green olive groves. With side
stories and anecdotes on heritage, history, culture and daily life in
the West Bank, the book ventures into the traits and character of
Palestine today. Beyond the 250 km of walking trails described and
mapped in detail throughout the book,Walking Palestine offers a wealth
of practical walking tips, including references to local guides, the
West Bank's best leisure spots and countryside restaurants, and the most
charming places to spend the night.
“...graceful
and evocative...Stefan Szepesi does us the great service of introducing
us to the art of walking in the surprisingly safe, beautiful, and
welcoming countryside of the West Bank.”
—William Ury, co-founder of Abraham’s Path, and Senior Fellow at the Harvard Negotiation Project
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Dr. Salam Fayyad, Palestinian Prime Minister: Inscribing Bethlehem on the World Heritage List... This Week in Palestine
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| Nativity Church, Bethlehem. Photo from Palestine Image Bank. |
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ALGORITHMS (and
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Inscribing Bethlehem on the World Heritage ListBy Dr. Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister
The thirty-sixth session of the World Heritage Convention, which was held in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, represented an important milestone in building the State of Palestine. On Friday, June 29, 2012, Bethlehem, Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route was the first site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List under Palestine.* It is a significant moment in our struggle to achieve freedom and independence; it represents a momentous step towards our right of self-determination.
The inscription of Bethlehem not only reflects the outstanding universal value of the place where Jesus Christ was born, the church that was built by Empress Helena in 339, and the Pilgrimage Route, but it also gives hope and confidence to our people for the inevitable victory of our just cause. It represents the growing international realisation of the urgency to retain our national cultural rights on our land.
The decision to include Bethlehem as an endangered site by UNESCO is the first outcome of the recognition of Palestine as a full member-state by UNESCO last October and our endorsement of the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It is also the first step towards inscribing on the list other natural and cultural sites of outstanding universal value in Palestine. The recognition of Bethlehem as a world heritage site is the most remarkable event on the path of Palestinian state building since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, and it is the most important since the inception of the Palestinian Authority.
Thirteen out of twenty-one members of the World Heritage Committee voted in favour of the decision to recognise the endangered status of Bethlehem during their meeting in Saint Petersburg; six members voted against and two abstained. It is time for UN agencies to uphold their political, legal, cultural, and ethical responsibilities, put an end to what the Palestinian people are suffering, and safeguard Palestine’s cultural and natural heritage from the aggression of Israeli occupation.
Throughout the millennia, Palestine has been a cradle for civilisations and a cultural bridge between East and West; it has played an important role in the evolution of human history. Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and all Palestinian lands are symbols of coexistence and tolerance. This is a call for the international community to fulfil its responsibility to help us end the Israeli Occupation of our land that was taken in 1967, and allow us to determine our future, live freely and in dignity in an independent state, retain our cultural status, and contribute to stability and international peace.
We extend our appreciation to the World Heritage Committee for its decision. In addition, the inscription of Bethlehem would not have been possible without the continuous efforts, follow-up, and support of all the ministries and institutions that worked tirelessly on this file, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Mission of Palestine to UNESCO, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Ministry of Culture, the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, the Bethlehem Municipality, and the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation in Bethlehem; and also to the experts, volunteers, and friends who helped make this a success. To all of you, we extend our gratitude.
* The Old City of Jerusalem and Its Walls was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1980 (and on the List of Sites in Danger in 1981), through a request submitted by the Kingdom of Jordan; and the site is inscribed under the Old City of Jerusalem.
See PDF www.thisweekinpalestine.com/i172/pdfs/article/inscribingbethlehem.pdf
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| Diyar Dancing Theater Group celebrating Bethlehem’s inscription on the list of World Heritage Sites. Photos by Elias Halabi. |
Friday, June 29, 2012
CSM: UNESCO designates Church of the Nativity as endangered site... "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads a self-rule government in charge of 38 percent of the West Bank, says negotiations with Israel remain his preferred choice, but wants global recognition to improve his leverage [for negotiations]."
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A
nun walks outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the
birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem June 28.
Ammar Awad/REUTERS
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Palestinian leaders consider the designation a political victory.
Bethlehem, West Bank
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.
IN PICTURES: Unsettled: Jewish settlements in the West Bank
The Palestinians had argued that the shrine faces imminent danger, both because of overdue repairs and Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank....READ MORE
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FULL: HELP SHAPE
ALGORITHMS (and
conversations) THAT EMPOWER
DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
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CNN: UNESCO grants Bethlehem church 'world heritage' status
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| Christian pilgrims visit the Church of Nativity in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem on June 28, 2012. |
"Palestinian Foreign
Minister Riyad Malki, in St. Petersburg for the vote, thanked all those
who voted in favor of including Bethlehem's holiest sites on the world
heritage list.
"The victory of Palestine
in international organizations is the beginning of the end of the
Israeli occupation," Malki said in a statement.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member
of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee who heads
the group's Department of Culture and Information, told CNN from
Ramallah that the vote affirms the Palestinian identity and is one step
toward Palestinian self-determination.
"Now we are responsible for our cultural and historical sites as part of human civilization as a whole," Ashrawi said.
"Politically it is
important, because it is the beginning of the loosening of the control
of the Israeli occupation on our land, on our lives, on our culture and
at all attempts of confiscation and distortion of our cultural heritage
and reality," Ashrawi said....READ MORE
[AS
ALWAYS
PLEASE GO TO THE LINK
TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN
FULL: HELP SHAPE
ALGORITHMS (and
conversations) THAT EMPOWER
DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
LATimes: Palestinians hail World Heritage listing of Bethlehem holy sites
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| RAMALLAH, West Bank -- A United Nations panel voted Friday to include holy sites in the biblical city of Bethlehem on the World Heritage list, to the applause of Palestinian officials and the anger of their Israeli counterparts |
Palestinians saw the World Heritage Committee's decision as international recognition of their jurisdiction over Bethlehem and its holy sites, in addition to making the church eligible for UNESCO funding for badly needed repairs and renovations.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad quickly praised the vote as "a victory for righteousness, justice and humanitarian principles."...READ MORE
[AS
ALWAYS
PLEASE GO TO THE LINK
TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN
FULL: HELP SHAPE
ALGORITHMS (and
conversations) THAT EMPOWER
DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
Friday, November 4, 2011
The UNESCO cuts: What’s next on the U.S. chopping block?
" The United States contributed more than $84 million dollars to UNESCO in 2010. Best known for its World Heritage program, which designates vital international sites from the Statue of Liberty to the Egyptian pyramids, UNESCO also supports a tsunami early warning system in the Caribbean and Pacific, literacy programs in Afghanistan, media training in Tunisia and Egypt, according to Irina Bokova, UNESCO's director general. Say goodbye to this -- U.S. officials have already said the forthcoming checks won't be mailed... "
Posted By Colum Lynch 
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
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