The celebration, which took place on Monday, February 7, 2011 at Bethlehem Peace Center was attended by Her excellancy Dr. Khouloud Deaibis – Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Dr. Victor Batarseh – Mayor of Bethlehem, Mr. Abdulfatah Hamayel – Governor of Bethlehem, Ms. Louise Hexthausen – Head of UNESCO Office – Ramallah, Dr. Hamdan Taha – Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and in addition to representatives of the three Churches: the Greek Orthodox Church, the Latin Church and the Armenian Church, and representatives of several embassies and consulates to the Palestinian Authorities and representatives of international and local institutions.

The ceremony started with a speech by Dr. Khouloud Daibis who announced that this is the first site submitted by Palestine to the World Heritage Committee. If accepted, Bethlehem will be voted on during a World Heritage Committee meeting in July 2012.  And added that the process of registering a Palestinian site to the World Heritage Committee has more than one value, first, to represent the Palestinian cultural and heritage internationally, and the other value is to try to protect it from Israeli attacks and attempts to steal our culture and heritage, even though they care less about international law, Dr. Daibes also declared that UNESCO nominations for Hebron and Jericho are being prepared and will be submitted shortly. 

One of the obstacles facing the nomination for Bethlehem is Palestine's lack of state representation in UNESCO.

In his speech, Dr. Batarseh pointed out to the fact that Bethlehem is indeed a world heritage as it is rich of natural, cultural and historical irreplaceable resources.  As well, he mentioned that the responsible committee have been keen to include Bethlehem on the World Heritage List and which is the least that they can do to this great city.  In conclusion, Batarseh expressed his hope to include the city of the World Heritage List thanking all those whom have been working so hard on completing the nomination documents.

“The key problem here is that Palestine is not a state party to the convention” said Louise Haxthausen, UNESCO chief in Ramallah. “What encouraged Palestinians to go ahead with the nomination file is that in 2002 following the military incursions in the West Bank, particularly in the Nativity Church, there was a [decision] by the World Heritage Committee to recognize the Palestinian cultural heritage as outstanding universal heritage.”

Dr. Hamdan Taha explained the procedures and phases of the submission, where he said that in 2002, after approving a plan to include Palestine, UNESCO started training workshops for sixteen Palestinian experts at the World Heritage Convention in Rome in September 2003. The aim of the workshop was to make participants familiar with the terminologies and procedures of the World Heritage Convention, including the preparation of tentative lists and nomination files.

Expressing gratitude for the Ministry of Tourism and antiquities and UNESCO Office Ramallah for trusting the capacities of CCHP’s team, architect Nada Atrash started her presentation which highlighted the Nomination Documents, and added that this nomination of the Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route is the first of a series of nominations that shall aim at inscribing the historic town of Bethlehem and the surrounding sites related to the story of the Birth.

Concluding the ceremony, Dr. Khouloud Daibis, Dr. Batarseh, Dr. Hamdan Taha, Ms. Louise Hexthausen, advocate Gabriel Fahel and Arch. Issam Juha answered questions from the journalists and the audience.
To sign the petition to inscribe Bethlehem on the World Heritage List visit www.bethlehem-whs.pna.ps