The UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has placed the ancient Palestinian city of Jericho on the World Heritage List. This is indeed worthy of celebration but it begs us to ask why the UN doesn&rsquot protect the people who live there or anywhere else in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
Surely humans are more valuable than historic buildings? Without humans there would be no Palestinian culture or ancient cities to wonder and marvel at. Earlier this year the narrow &ldquoWorld Heritage&rdquo roads in the Palestinian city of Jericho ran with tears and the blood of innocents after Israeli occupation forces carried out a large-scale raid of the Aqabet Jaber refugee camp. The violence meted out by the Zionist army lasted for a terrifying six hours. When it was all over five Palestinians were dead and two were seriously wounded. Survivors are still in Israeli custody and so are some of the bodies of the dead. The heartless Israelis won&rsquot even allow grieving Palestinians to bury their loved ones.
During the February raid on Jericho the Israeli military arrested Hamas official Shaker Amara who have recently been released from prison. While crowds of men and women clad in black made their way on foot from funeral to funeral other residents spent the morning dealing with the destruction of homes farms and vehicles said Al Jazeera reporters at the scene.
The Hamas leadership warned of a revolution after the killings in Jericho an ancient city that has seen its fair share of slaughter over the centuries. I wonder therefore what the grieving Palestinian widows and orphans will make of the UNESCO designation of their ancient home.
Jericho is renowned as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world with a history spanning thousands of years. Yet while it is vitally important as part of the legitimate resistance against Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine to protect the region’s history culture and civilization the day that we place archaeological treasures above human life is in my view a sad one indeed.
&ldquoThe UNESCO decision is an affirmation of Jericho’s rich uninterrupted and long-lasting heritage as embodied by 10000 years of human development&rdquo said the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates. &ldquoThe decision reflects the international community’s endorsement of Palestine’s invaluable contribution to world history and human heritage and the Palestinian right to self-determination over their cultural resources and rights.&rdquo
The ministry added that the State of Palestine reiterates its firm commitment to work with UNESCO to defend the Palestinian people’s right to preserve protect and develop cultural heritage against all dangers pillaging and attacks. &ldquoWe call on the international community to join in protecting Palestinian cultural heritage for generations to come.&rdquo
According to UNESCO anyone attacking buildings dedicated to religion education art science or charitable purposes as well as historic monuments is committing war crimes as set out in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. That’s all very commendable but until we declare human life to be more precious than mud bricks and mortar I can&rsquot see a real cause for celebration in Jericho or anywhere else across the occupied West Bank Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.
The brutal truth is that neither UNESCO nor any other agency of the United Nations is ever going to use its full powers against Israel which is guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity on a daily basis including the crime of apartheid. The UNESCO decision therefore should be seen for what it is: a balm to soothe the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah which collaborates with the Israeli occupation forces and practically begs for international recognition of the kind that the UN organization has just delivered. We all know though that it won&rsquot make any difference whatsoever to the impunity that Israel enjoys &mdash or the violence to which it subjects the Palestinians &mdash thanks to the same UN which clearly thinks that protecting ancient buildings is more important than protecting Palestinian lives.
– British journalist and author Yvonne Ridley provides political analysis on affairs related to the Middle East Asia and the Global War on Terror. Her work has appeared in numerous publications around the world from East to West from titles as diverse as The Washington Post to the Tehran Times and the Tripoli Post earning recognition and awards in the USA and UK. Ten years working for major titles on Fleet Street she expanded her brief into the electronic and broadcast media producing a number of documentary films on Palestinian and other international issues from Guantanamo to Libya and the Arab Spring. Her article appeared in MEMO.
