Tag Archive for UNESCO

| June 30, 2012
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UNESCO Approves PA ‘Emergency’ Bid for Church of Nativity

UNESCO approves the PA’s bid to place the Church of the Nativity on its list of sites of World Heritage in Danger.

By Elad Benari, Canada 

 

 

UNESCO’s World Heritage committee on Friday approved a Palestinian Authority bid to place the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on its list of sites of World Heritage in Danger.

A report in The Associated Press quoted PA spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi as having said the vote was an affirmation of “Palestinian sovereignty” over the site that marks the place where Christians believe Jesus was born.

Church of the Nativity

Church of the Nativity - Reuters

Israel angrily denounced the vote. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 23, 2012
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Palestinians push UNESCO to make Bethlehem’s Nativity church a World Heritage site

 The effort by the Palestinian Authority is drawing resistance; World Heritage Committee meeting starts on Sunday.

 

 

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is becoming the church of contention, with a bid by the Palestinians to use their position as the newest members of the UN’s cultural arm to obtain World Heritage status for the iconic Christian site – and perhaps boost their own campaign for legitimacy.

The effort by the Palestinian Authority, like its overall efforts for global recognition for an independent Palestinian state, is drawing resistance. And it may fail at the World Heritage Committee meeting that starts Sunday. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 12, 2012
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UN-Backed PA NGO to Children: Replace Cigarettes with Guns

PA-based NGO supported by UN branches puts on a puppet show, tells kids to see Jews as “enemies” who kill Arab youth.

By Elad Benari

 

A Palestinian Authority-based NGO, the Burj Luq-Luq Social Center Society organization, recently performed a puppet show for children in east Jerusalem to promote non-smoking.

The educational message delivered by the puppets, however, instructed children to replace cigarettes with machine guns. A video of the puppet show was uploaded to the NGO’s website. It was accessed by the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) research organization, which monitors and translates the PA-based media. The organization translated the video and presented it on its website. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| March 26, 2012
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‘Israel to cut off UN Human Rights Council contact’

Senior official says Israel to try to convince other countries to follow suit; no decision punitive measures against PA.

 

The Foreign Ministry decided Monday to cut off all contacts with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a senior diplomatic official said.

The move came following the decision by the council last Thursday to send a fact-finding mission to the West Bank to probe the impact of the settlements on Palestinian human rights.

From now on, the officials said, Israel’s ambassador to the UN organizations in Geneva will not appear before the council, answer any phone calls from the council, or cooperate with them in any way.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| March 9, 2012
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UNESCO Condemns Syria But Won’t Kick it Out

UNESCO condemns Syria for its brutal crackdown on protesters but stops short of dismissing it from its human rights committee.

UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural agency, condemned Syria on Thursday for its brutal crackdown on opposition protesters but stopped short of dismissing it from its human rights committee.

Fox News reported that the commission of the executive board of UNESCO voted 35-8 Thursday for the watered-down resolution.

Damaged houses in Baba Amr, Homs

Damaged houses in Baba Amr, Homs Handout photo / Reuters

The resolution, the report noted, urged Syrian authorities to end human rights violations, protect the population, restore freedom of expression and respect heritage.

But it did not heed U.S. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
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