Palestinian Sites Which Israel Is Attempting To Register Within The World Heritage List At The U.N.E.S.C.O.
Mahmoud Awwad
Publication Of
The Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs
Amman- 2005
PREFACE
The resolutions of the United Nations relevant to the Arab – Israeli conflict , the Palestinian issue, the Middle East conflict and Jerusalem, especially those of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), have expressly forbidden Israel (the occupying power) to affect any changes that alter the historical, cultural, religious, archaeological and demographic landmarks of the Occupied Arab Territories, particularly in Jerusalem.
Despite all of these resolutions, Israel did not heed and paid no attention to any of them.
It persisted in a Judaization policy with the aim of obliterating the facts and the cultural, historical and demographic heritage of the Occupied Arab Territories. It followed various paths in this process, the most notable being the total destruction and the removal from existence of Palestinian villages and cities as well as changing the names of other villages, cities and sites.
Among its methods to obliterate the cultural and historical facts in the Occupied Arab Territories in Palestine, especially Jerusalem, is its efforts towards (UNESCO) to register Palestinian sites on that organization’s list of world heritage as being Israeli sites in order to falsify the Arab and Islamic history of the Occupied Arab Territories in Palestine and Jerusalem.
Due to the grave nature of these attempts, the Secretariat General of the Royal Committee of Jerusalem Affairs saw fit to expose its falsehood through the recording of the real Arab names of these sites.
We hope this step will cast some light on the misleading methods of the authorities of the Israeli Occupier and contribute a little towards the exposition of the reality of the expansionist, aggressive and abolitionist Israel.
We hope that the world public opinion , especially that in the West, becomes aware of this.
Abdullah Kanaan
Secretary – General
The Names of Palestinian the sites which Israel is attempting to register within the world heritage list at the U.N.E.S.C.O.
1- Tal Dan And The River Dan :
The natural reservation of Tal Dan and the ancient archaeological site of the hill are sought to be included on the world heritage list.
The true Arab name for the hill is Tal- al-Qadi ( the hill of the judge). It is situated in the most nothern part of Palestine. Dan in Hebrew means judge. They claim that it is named after one of the Jewish judges during the Judges era as claimed in the Torah. This claim is a lie.
There is evidence that some people, in the year 7000 B.C., chose to build their houses on the small hill above the springs. The Jews claim, as usual, that it is the city that the Dan tribe conquered in the first millennium B.C.
2- The First Synagogues In The Galilee :
The word synagogue is derived from the Greek synagoge: meaning the place of assembly or gathering. The Jews claim that the first Jewish synagogues were established in the Galilee area in the first century B.C.
3- The Travels Of Issa (Jesus) And His Students In The Galilee :
The path of the journeys of Jesus and his Apostles, the Christian sacred sites, the cultural and natural sites as well as the scenery and local communities such as Nazareth; Kofr Kannah, Qoroon Hitteen and Tiberias. One can see the beautiful sights in these jonrneys such as Jabal Taboor, Jabal Al- Tayyibat and the Sea of Galilee.
4- Acre Hill:
In Arabic, the hill is known as the Pottery Hill or the Akka Hill. It is situated at the Mediterranean Coast. Acre is situated at a natural bay. In ancient times, it was on the path of the coastal route (Marees Route), and another one extending from the Mediterranean to Syria and Jordan. It is an ancient Canaanite city that was mentioned in numerous Egyptian documents dating back to the late Bronze Age. The Jews do not forget to stress their attachment to these sights, citing as evidence their plagiarised Torah. They call the Pottery Hill, together with Tal al- Jareesah, as Gibat Napoleon, after the Emperor of France who was defeated behind the walls of Akka (Acre).
5- The Sea Of Galilee And Its Archaeological Sites :
These include Tiberias and Hammat (hot spring) al- Jadir and others that are sacred to the Christians. The Jews claim that these are Jewish villages that were established in the middle of the first millennium B.C.
6- Khirbet (Site Of Ruin) Al- Miniah: or (as they call It) Horfat Mineem:
This is located on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee in the Jeenosar Valley. It dates back to the Ummayid Caliph, Al- Waleed Bin Abdul Malik, who built it.
7- Ariel Al- Nabi (Prophet) Shoayb; Or Koroon Hitteen:
A- Ariel: It is situated in the eastern low Galilee. They claim that It was one of the first sites used to teach the Torah in the middle of the first millenniium B.C. It overlooks the Majdal where the Virgin Mary was born. They claim that Ariel Valley is mentioned in their falsified books, and that it is the place where salvation will start.
B- Nabai Shoaib: It is situated near Hiteen, south of Tiberias. It is the site, in which it is said to, contain the remains of Yathroun, the father-in-law of Prophet Moses ( peace be upon him). It is the focal point for the annual pilgrimage and festivities for the Druze. They consider it the holiest place in Palestine. They believe that Yathroun was the invisible prophet of his era. It was he who used to guide the Prophet Moses- the visible prophet. In the first Latin sources, the place was known as Jabal ( Mountain) Al- Tayyibat.
C- Koroon (Horns) Hiteen: It is situated in the northwest of the Sea of Galilee. They corrupted its name to Karni Hiteem. It is the site of the famous battle in which Salah Eddeen (Saladin) defeated the Crusaders. It was the beginning of the end of the Crusaders kingdom in Palestine.
8- The Buildings Of The Bahais:
It is a group of separate buildings surrounded by gardens located on Jabal (mountain) al- Karmil, Acre and Nahariah. It is the place where Baha Allah (The prophet and founder of the Bahai sect) resided. It is here that he wrote most of his sacred teachings, that constitute the source of authority for the Bahais. The buildings constitute a part of the path of the pilgrimage of the Bahais. It is built in the Greek style and is visited by the Israelis and foreign tourists. It dates back to the last quarter of the nineteeth century, when Baha Allah reached Acre.
9- The Pre- Historic Archaeological Sites: Al- Abidiah, Shaarah Hagolan (khirbet Al- Kahwanah) and the Karmil Mountain represent the most ancient sites that were discovered and contain settlement traces of an ancient human being. These were identified in the Sadaa ( crevice) Valley and the Karmil Mountain range.
A- Al- Abaidiah: the pre-historic Abaidiah is situated over a hill to the south of Tiberias on the western bank of the River Jordan. It was named after the historical plateau known as Al- Abaidiah Hill. The Bait Ziraa Jewish colonial settlement was established in its periphery. The settlement was originally called Kafar Natan before it was changed. Al- Abaidiah contains ruins of the old Stone Age.
B- Tal Al- Qahwanah:
They call It Shaar Hagolan. This hill is located in the middle Jordan valley on the western bank of the Yarmouk River. It contains relics from the New Stone Age.
C- Al- Karmil Mountain:
The caves of the Karmil Mountain constitute a pre- historic important site. They are situated along the valley called the Valley of the Cave. These caves contain evidence of a continuous chain of human primitive settlement in a world that goes back 200,000 years of the old age of man.
10-Dajania And Nihlal:
A- Dajania: This kibbutz is considered one of the first colonial kibbutz that the Zionists established in Palestine in 1910. The kibbuts movement represents modern embodiment of the socialist thought in the past two centuries that was developed through the works of Karl Marx and Engels known as the “Communist Manifesto.”
B- Nihlal: It is a Moshav ( collective colonial settlement). In addition to the kibbotz, the Moshav represents another type of colonial settlement in Palestine.
11-Bisan (or Bait Shaan In Hebrew):
It is the only city of the ten cities (Decapolis) to the west of the river Jordan. It is one of the oldest cities of the ancient Middle East. It is a crossroad to the Fertile Crescent. Traces of settlement were discovered there that date back to the fifth millennium B.C.
12-Kisariah: It is situated on the Mediterranean Coast near shallow bays that were formed by the movement of sea waves. The Phoenicians built a settlement on the shore of one of the bays. It used to be the most important port on the Mediterranean. It has numerous relics that extend throughout the various invasion periods.
13-The Bawhawzer Buildings In Tel-Aviv:
These buildings are named after the architect Bawhawzer. They were built in Palestine in the first quarter of the twentieth century in Tel Aviv. The latter, whose original name was Tal- Al- Rabie (The Hill of Spring) became the capital of Zionism. These buildings are called the white buildings. They were constructed during the 1930’s, The 1940’s and the beginning of the 1950’s.
14- The White Mosque In Ramleh:
Ramleh, the first Islamic city that was built in the eighth century during the rule of the Ummayid Caliph Suleiman bin Abdul Malik, may have been named after the sand dunes on which it was constructed.
The white mosque which was built by the Ummayids is the only one that still contains relics from that period. The Mamluks rebuilt it.
15- Jerusalem:
What is demanded in this regard is the widening of the areas surrounding the old city of Jerusalem and its walls. This area is already registered on the (endangered) list of world heritage. What they want is to expand this area to include the mountain of the Prophet David (Zion Mount) and a buffer zone. They claim that this is permissible under the guidelines of the supplement to the cultural heritage convention of 1999. Within this context, they refer to the temple mount to indicate al- Haram al- Shareef ( The Noble Sanctuary). They refer to Zion Mountain instead of its proper name: the Mountain of the Prophet David .
They also refer to what they call the City of David to indicate (the Arab) town of Silwan.
They also claim that the area outside the walled city has become something akin to a collective Cemetery to the three religions ( or the city of the dead). They claim that the area registered on the world heritage list could be expanded to comprise sites as buffer zones that provide it with historical context and visual sighting.
This will permit the continued management and maintenance of the registered site. They also demand the inclusion of Mount Zion and the other sites, which according to their claims, provide unique testimony to the Jewish, Christian and Islamic heritage and traditions. They claim that this step will help guard the site against the encroachment of urban development as well as remove the elements that may threaten these sites.
The Jewish goal is to include the Jewish cemeteries on the Mount of Olives and annex them to the “ United Jerusalem” under Israeli Sovereignty.
16- The Area Of The Caves And The Hide – Outs (Bait Jibreen And Mareeshah:
The Jews call it Bait Joffrain. They have established to the north the Bait Neer colonial settlement and the Bait Joffrain kibbutz.
As for Mareeshah, it is an archaeological city in the Khaleel (Hebron) area. The name means the place of the summit. The Bait Jibreen and the Mareeshah settlement constituted, during the Byzantine rule, a large area of caves and hide-outs. They claim that they were mentioned in their distorted books. These sites were inhabited by people during the successive invasion periods.
17- Maasadah: which they call Massada:
It is located atop an islolated mountain on the eastern slopes of the Jerusalem desert near the western coast of the Dead Sea.
They say it constitutes a part of a larger heritage erected by Herod in the Near East. This extends from Kissariah on the Mediterranean Coast towards Maasadah in the east. Herod built this to form a refuge for him from potential internal and external enemies. On top, he built fortifications and luxurious palaces for himself and his entourage.
It provides the best witness to the myths of the distorted Torah. They say that a group of the “Seekaris” ( Fanatic Extremists who were determined to fight the Romans to the death were named after Seekah- the dagger they were carrying) took refuge with their families in Maasada and built a synagogue, baths and a large hall for religious purposes. They numbered 96 men, women and childern. They say that when the Romans besieged them and their (Seekaris) that the situation became hopeless, they decided to commit suicide rather to surrender.
Archaeological excavations reveal buildings constructed by Herod that include castles, baths, storehouses, sleeping quarters, fortifications and water works.
They have the gall to say that a synagogue dating back to the latter part of the first millennium B.C. is still standing. In addition, they claim to have found pottery, stone and metallic eating utensils, coins, woven fabrics and baskets belonging to that period. The lie reaches its crescendo when they claim that the 25 skeletons uncovered by Yigal Yadin (the former Israeli deputy prime minister) in the 1960’s, and the fabrics above them, may date back to the first century. Thus, it may become possible that these were the remnents of the last defenders of Massada.
18- Makhtisheem:
It is a Hebrew word which means mortar. This site is situated in the Nagab (Negev) in the south of Palestine. The area is a rocky desert whose middle is overwhelmed by sloping heights. On top, there are very steep valleys surrounded by very steep walls. Its upper part is formed by limestones and marble. Its lower part is formed by crumbly sand stones. These valleys were formed by the process of erosion. It is these unique, deep enclosed valleys that they call Makhtisheem (mortar in Hebrew) It has no plants or soil. Its rocks are multi- coloured. They are important natural landmarks that have no parallel anywhere else in the world.
19- Shiftah:
It is a town in the middle of the Naqab (Negev) desert, 40 kilometres to the southwest of Beir al- Sabaa (Beersheba). It was built during the Middle era of the Nabateans rule on the road of spices between Egypt and Gaza. The white valley (Nahal Lavan- as the Jews call it) lies nearby. In this valley, a shortwhile ago, the remains of agriculture and farms were discovered as well as Christian and Islamic structures.
20- Jail Karkoom:
It’s proper Arabic name is Jabal Adeed ( Adeed Mountain) before the Jews gave it a Hebrew designation. It is located in the southern Nagab ( Negev) desert at the northern edge of the Kharafi valley that ends in Wadi Arabah. They changed its name to Nahal Barat. It represents one of the best examples in the world of engraved rocks. The rocky cliff rises to around 300 metres. It is thought that It was used in the Old Stone Age to manufacture flint implements. It was an important meeting place.
In the Late Stone Age and the early and middle Bronze age, it was used as a pligrimage place and a site of festivals as well as a cultural site. Many of its rocks have religiously- important engraved symbols. Other religious buildings were erected there.
21- Timnah: Which Is Known In our Arab language As Khirbet (Site of Ruin) Tibnah. It means The Assigned Section:
The Timnah valley is located to the east of the Aqaba Gulf (Eilah), within the valley rift.
It was formed as a result of four valleys that flow from the Timnah cliff to Wadi Arabah.
Timnah was an ancient site for extracting and smelting metals like copper ores. The process of prospecting for, and smelting metals goes back to the 19th and 20th Egyptian dynasties in the late Bronze- Iron Age.
22- The “ Torah” Hill:
A: Majiddo: It is a Canaanite archaeological site which means the station where the armies camp. It is the site of Tal Al-Mutasalim on the Jeneen- Haifa road overlooking the pass that crosses al-Karmil Mountain. The Majido Hill is considered one of the most important plateaus of Palestine and natural fortifications. It rises 40-60 metres around the plain that encircles it. The hill is situated at the entrance of Wadi Arah at its Junction with Jizreel Valley.
Thus, it gave it a strategic location in ancient times. It controlled the Marees route, which traverses the plain to Jizreel Valley through the Wadi Arah route. This was the most important route of ancient Palestine, which Majiddo overlooks.
Thus, it became the scene of major wars in the past and up until now. In the Torah myth, the Majiddo hill will be the site on which the kings of the earth will fight the final battle including the kings of Egypt, the Barak and Deborah (according to the claims of the writers of the Torah) before the world comes to an end.
B-Hazoar: Or Hasoar:
It is Tal Al- Waqqass (The Hill of Waqqass) in the administrative district of Safad. It means the walled city or the city of the circle. It is a Canaanite city in the upper Galilee. It is the only one that was mentioned in the documents of Mary, which dates back to the 18th century B.C.
It was one of the main trade centres in the area of the Fertile Crescent.
Important archaeological relics were found there.
C- Likheesh: It is a colonial settlement in Tallat Al- Dowair. It is located on a five- kilometres area southeast of Samakh Triangle in the Ghor.
Its name was corrupted to Tal Dobair. There is another hill carrying the same name, located 8 kilometres away to the southwest of Bait Jibreen near Al- Qoqaibah.
It was the latter are that they have corrupted its name to Likheesh.
It is a Canaanite town that the Torah claims the Jews were mentioned in. It is situated on one of the major ancient routes. Relics were found in it that date back to the New Stone Age.
23- The Crusaders Castles :
These were built between the 12th and the15th centuries. They are:
A- The Mont Forte:
It is a French name which means the strong mountain or the impregnable fortress. It was built in the West Galilee in the year 1266 at a narrow ridge with steep slopes on three sides. It is situated at a distance of 12 kilometres from the Mediterranean Sea.
B- The Bellevoire Fortress:
It is located on a peak to the east of the Bisan Valley north of a water spring near Kawkab Al- Hawa ( the planet of the air), or according to the modern Hebrew name-Kokhav Hairdin (The star or the planet of Jordan). The castle was built in 1140. The Spartan knights then established a magnificent fortified farm. Thus the name belle voire (The splendid sight).
C- Atleet Castle:
It is located 30 Kilometres to the south of Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea amid an area teeming with ancient relics.
It was built in 1218 by the Dawodian knights so as to control the coastal route and then to proceed to occupy Jerusalem.
D- Arshoof Fortress:
They call It Arsoof. It’s Arabic name is derived from the Ammorite idol (Rashaf).It is situated near Al- Harm village (or our master Ali) in the administrative district of Yaffa. The original city was established by the Phoenicians. At a later time, the name was changed into Appolonia because the name Apollo equals that of Rashaf. It was one of the 13 important towns in Palestine, and the Crusaders built an important fortress there.