Jordan hails UNESCO's decision to keep Old City of Jerusalem on endangered heritage list

AMMAN — Jordan on Tuesday welcomed the unanimous adoption by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO of a decision to keep the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls on the List of World Heritage in Danger. 

This decision was made during the committee's 46th session held in New Delhi, on Tuesday, and it is a response to Israeli actions threatening the cultural heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem and changing its status quo, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sufian Qudah said that all Israeli measures aimed at changing the character and legal status quo of the holy city are null and void, stressing the need for Israel, the occupying power, to cease all its violations and illegal actions in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Qudah said that the adopted decision reinforces previous committee resolutions and recalls UNESCO's 16 resolutions, all expressing regret over Israel's failure to stop excavation, digging tunnels and all other illegal actions in East Jerusalem according to international law. 

The decision highlights the urgency of appointing a permanent UNESCO representative in the Old City of Jerusalem to monitor all developments within the organisation's mandate and calls for dispatching a UNESCO reactive monitoring mission to Jerusalem to observe all violations committed by the Israeli occupation, the spokesperson said.

He added that adopting the decision was the result of Jordanian diplomatic efforts in coordination with Palestine and the Arab and Islamic groups within UNESCO, where the decision reiterates all aspects of the Jordanian position regarding the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls, including the Islamic and Christian holy sites.