Amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the ancient heritage site of St. Hilarion Monastery/Tell Umm Amer in Palestine on Friday received the UNESCO tag and was also placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger following an “emergency nomination”.
This announcement was made during the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) being held in Delhi. India is hosting this important UNESCO event for the first time.
The plenary meeting of the session announced that the Monastery of Saint Hilarion/Tell Umm Amer in Palestine was inscribed on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Israel is carrying out a massive military offensive in Gaza following unprecedented and multi-pronged attacks on Israeli cities by Hamas militants on October 7.
India in November had urged both sides to refrain from violence, de-escalate the situation and create conditions for early resumption of direct peace talks towards a two-State solution to the Palestine issue.
Friday’s inscription has raised hopes for the preservation of such heritage sites.
UNESCO later said in a statement that “this decision recognizes both the value of the site and the need to protect it from threats.”
It says, “Given the threats posed to this heritage site by the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, the World Heritage Committee has used the emergency inscription procedure provided for in the World Heritage Convention.”
The world body said that under the terms of the convention, “its 195 Member States commit themselves to refrain from taking any deliberate action that could directly or indirectly damage the site, now inscribed on the World Heritage List, and to assist in its conservation.”
UNESCO said inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger automatically “opens the door to enhanced international technical and financial support mechanisms to guarantee the property’s protection and, if necessary, to assist in its rehabilitation.”
One of the oldest sites in the Middle East, the Monastery of Saint Hilarion/Tell Umm Amer was founded by Saint Hilarion and was home to the first monastic community in the Holy Land.
Located at the crossroads of the main routes of trade and exchange between Asia and Africa, the city was a centre of religious, cultural and economic exchange, reflecting the prosperity of desert monastery sites in the Byzantine period, the statement said.
In December 2023, at its 18th session, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict had already decided to grant the monastery “provisional enhanced protection” under the 1954 Hague Convention and its Second Protocol.
The Palestinian delegation, which included Palestine’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to UNESCO Munir Anastas, thanked UNESCO for this double designation, which aims to provide protection to heritage sites located in conflict zones and draw world attention to them.
“I am proud that this inscription is taking place in the world’s greatest democracy. Thank you, India. I would like to express my deep gratitude to all members of the Committee for their valuable support for this inscription,” Anastas said in his statement in the session immediately after the inscription.
He also thanked ICOMOS, UNESCO’s advisory body, and the UNESCO Secretariat.
Various State Parties including Lebanon, Turkey and Kazakhstan welcomed the inclusion of the Palestine heritage site in UNESCO, some of them stressed the need to protect cultural heritage in times of armed conflict.
The nomination for the site of St. Hilarion Monastery/Tell Umm Amer was an “emergency nomination”.
The Paris-based International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) also gave a presentation on the site.
The nomination dossier is submitted in June 2024, followed by a “desk review”.
According to the UNESCO website, “Located on the coastal dunes in the Nuseirat Municipality, the ruins of the Monastery of St. Hilarion/Tell Umm Amer are one of the oldest monastic sites in the Middle East, with a history dating back to the 4th century.”
“Founded by Saint Hilarion, the monastery began with solitary hermits and developed into a lay community. It was the first monastic community in the Holy Land, laying the groundwork for the spread of monastic practices in the region. The monastery occupied a strategic location at the crossroads of major trade and communication routes between Asia and Africa,” it said.
This prominent location facilitated its role as a hub of religious, cultural and economic exchange, exemplified by the flourishing of monastic desert centres during the Byzantine period, the world body said.
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