Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity is at the center of a fight between Israelis and Palestinians.
UNESCO recently declared the church an endangered World Heritage Site in ‘Palestine’. Palestinians celebrated the move, delighted that the U.N. officially recognized ‘Palestine’ in its decision.
Israelis and evangelical Christians are upset by UNESCO's decision, saying the move isn't about protecting the landmark, but about de-legitimising their country.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor, said Palestinians arranged the situation to falsely blame Israel for endangering the church.
"We don't object to site being included on the World Heritage Site because the World Heritage sites list implies UNESCO funding for restoration, preservation works, and so on and so," he said.
Last year, the United States cut $60 million in funding to UNESCO after it admitted ‘Palestine’ as a full member - a status reserved for officially recognized countries.
Israeli news site 'Haaretz' says the move is seen by some nations as dangerously mixing politics and culture.
Haaretz says Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, said that the decision is of international importance for the future Palestinian state and that it places it in line with the nations and cultures of the world.
The church was built over the area of Jesus Christ's birth and some 2 million tourists visited last year.
Palestinian Tourism Minister, Rula Maiah, said the benefit will include more tourists visiting Bethlehem.
However David Parsons, with the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, disagreed. "This decision is not going to bring more or less tourists to Bethlehem," he said. "The main gauge of that is whether Christians, pilgrims in the land, feel safe and that is a matter of whether the Palestinians want to cease terrorism and violence against Israel."
According to Haaretz, the United States and Israel, neither of which is on the committee, were among nations opposed to the Palestinian proposal of an emergency candidacy for the iconic Christian site - short-cutting what usually involves an 18-month-long process to apply for World Heritage recognition.
Haaretz says the U.S. ambassador to UNESCO expressed profound disappointment at the World Heritage committee's decision. "This body should not be politicized," he said. He noted the candidacy was opposed by a UNESCO experts committee, whose conclusions are almost always heeded.
The three churches acting as custodians of the site had also been opposed.
The situation could get worse.
Palestinians have a poor record in taking care of Jewish and Christian holy sites. They have also claimed some Jewish sites as mosques.
According to Haartez, the Palestinians bid to place the Church of the Nativity on the list showed that they plan to put forward other sites for the prestigious World Heritage recognition, eventually linking various landmarks to the life of Jesus.
Meanwhile, Israel expressed its shock over another UNESCO move this week to establish a chair at the Islamic University of Gaza. Israel said the university is known as a "greenhouse and breeding ground for Hamas terrorists."
According to a statement, the Dean of Koranic Studies at the school called for the Islamic conquest of the predominantly Catholic nation of Spain, and the Vatican, last month.
- RBG News/Christian World News
