Israel/Palestine

Purveyor

(29,876 posts) Fri Jun 29, 2012, 04:20 PM Jun 2012

Palestinians Hail UN Nod For Nativity Church As Victory In Bid For Global Recognition

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, June 29, 3:08 PM

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — The Palestinians on Friday persuaded the U.N. cultural agency to list the Church of the Nativity — the place where Christians believe Jesus was born — as an endangered World Heritage site despite misgivings by churches in charge of the basilica.

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.

“We are ecstatic,” Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi said of Friday’s 13-6 by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinians-hail-un-nod-for-nativity-church-as-victory-in-bid-for-global-recognition/2012/06/29/gJQAosJzBW_story.html

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Palestinians Hail UN Nod For Nativity Church As Victory In Bid For Global Recognition (Original Post) Purveyor Jun 2012 OP

Whatever floats their boat... nt COLGATE4 Jun 2012 #1

K & R Scurrilous Jul 2012 #2

Latin church welcomes UNESCO decision on Bethlehem Scurrilous Jul 2012 #3

COLGATE4

(14,732 posts)

1. Whatever floats their boat... nt

Reply to Purveyor (Original post)

Fri Jun 29, 2012, 04:35 PM

Jun 2012

Scurrilous

(38,687 posts)

2. K & R

Reply to Purveyor (Original post)

Sun Jul 1, 2012, 07:11 AM

Jul 2012

Scurrilous

(38,687 posts)

3. Latin church welcomes UNESCO decision on Bethlehem

Reply to Purveyor (Original post)

Tue Jul 3, 2012, 08:42 PM

Jul 2012

<snip>

"The Roman Catholic church in the Holy Land on Monday hailed the granting by UNESCO of world heritage status to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem as a "diplomatic victory" for the Palestinians.

But it called on the Palestinian Authority to respect existing arrangements dividing care of the West Bank site between the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian churches.

"There is an internal regulation, the status quo, which regulates the relations between the various Christian communities and their rights and duties in relation to the operation and maintenance of the (Church of the) Nativity," a statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said.

"It is desirable that UNESCO and the Palestinian Authority respect this and intervene only in exceptional cases," it said.
UNESCO, the United Nations cultural body, overrode Israeli objections on Friday to urgently grant world heritage status to the church worshipped as the birthplace of Jesus."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hpr1IWrHuyLVbn4aaOfPPifQ4ckQ?docId=CNG.bf64ff99e0aecb7cdc040063fb95f637.51

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