UNESCO to Inspect Jerusalem’s Old City
For the first time in nine years, Israel has agreed to allow the UN organization to inspect the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, writes Dalia Hatuqa.
After routinely declining them access to the Holy City, Israel has agreed to allow UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) experts to assess the state of the “cultural heritage” of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls, which it lists as “endangered” World Heritage sites.
Israeli authorities have continuously refused to have an investigative committee from the UN body visit the holy sites in Jerusalem, citing fears of bias toward the Palestinians. But on Tuesday [April 23] Israelis approved the move after Palestinians agreed to postpone five resolutions they were due to present to UNESCO’s executive board in Paris. The resolutions would have condemned Israel for its ongoing occupation and for endangering the holy sites and Arab character of east Jerusalem.
The agreement among the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israel and Jordan (in its capacity as custodian of the Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem) allows — for the first time since 2004 — the UNESCO team to inspect preservation efforts in the Old City and it’s walls dating back to the Ottoman era.
Israel has previously been rebuked by the UN culture agency for its digs and excavations near the Mughrabi Gate (Bab Al Magharbeh in Arabic). In 2011, the UN body called for the immediate cessation of all work being done by Israeli authorities next to the Gate’s Ascent, which links the plaza by the Western Wall to Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City.
