The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) removed, at the request of the state of Palestine, Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity from UNESCO’s list of endangered world heritage sites following restorations.
The church was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2012 and placed on its endangered list the same year, due to its poor condition as a result of water leakage from the roof, threatening the structural integrity of the building.
The committee reached the decision to remove it from the endangered list during a meeting in Baku, which began on June 30 and continues until July 10, it said in a statement, PNN reports.
The restoration was carried out with donations received from all over the world towards the program.
Palestinian minister of tourism, Rula Maaya stressed the importance of this achievement, pointing out that Palestine succeeded in record time in registering three Palestinian sites on the World Heritage List within five years of gaining its full membership at UNESCO, in addition to the inscription of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls at the request of Jordan on the World Heritage List in 1981 and on the List of World Heritage in Danger In 1982 and remains until today.
Maaya said that these registrations are an important method to preserve the Palestinian heritage from the Judaization policies of the Israeli occupation authorities.
