History

Israel Condemns UNESCO's Sebastia Listing as an Attempt to Rewrite History

Published

Courtroom-sketch editorial illustration of a visitor photographing Sebastia's ancient stone ruins and colonnade with a Palestinian flag and surrounding hills behind the site

Israel condemned UNESCO's decision to inscribe Sebastia, ancient Samaria, as an endangered Palestinian World Heritage Site. Ambassador Nina Ben-Ami, the Foreign Ministry's deputy director general for UN and international organizations, said Palestinian membership in UNESCO has no legal effect under international law and Israel does not recognize its nominations. She accused the Palestinian delegation of trying to rewrite Jewish history and said no committee could erase Israel's ancient roots in its ancestral homeland. UNESCO's committee placed the 79-hectare archaeological site, northwest of Nablus and once capital of the biblical Kingdom of Israel, on both the World Heritage List and the danger list.

Sources

Secondary sources:1234

Related stories

  1. UN Says West Bank Attacks and Outposts Have Reached All-Time High
  2. IDF Calls Unauthorized Outposts a Major Security Challenge Amid Samaria Reprisals
  3. IDF Checkpoints Cause Major Delays Across Judea and Samaria
  4. EU Urges Israel to Halt Judea and Samaria Settlement Expansion
  5. PA Launches UNESCO Push to Undermine Israeli Control of Cave of Patriarchs

Something went wrong

We couldn't complete that action. Check your connection and try again.