Prepared by:
Mohammed T. Obidallah, Expert on water and the environment and Battir resident, M.Obidallah@gmail.com
Eleanor Marshall, Intern at Friends of the Earth Middle East, Bethlehem Office, eleanor.ada.marshall@gmail.com
Jasmine Salachas, Professional cartographer.: Mapping Focus on Battir from the survey implemented in Battir (Lansdcape
Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management Plan, 2oo7-2o11) , jasmine.d.salachas@wanadoo.fr
A SUPPLEMENT ON BATTIR’S BID FOR RECOGNITION AS A WORLD HERITAGE CULTURAL LANSCAPE
THE ISSUE:
This February, the Palestinian Authority submitted a nomination dossier to the UNESCO World
Heritage Committee (WHC), nominating the Western Bethlehem village of Battir for inscription
as a World Heritage cultural landscape. The site was submitted as an Emergency Nomination
based on current plans to expand the Israeli Separation Barrier through the heart of Battir,
putting the integrity of the site in jeopardy. This World Heritage site designation, which would
demonstrate Battir’s unique historical and global value, is crucial in the ongoing petition of Battir
and Friends of the Earth Middle East that was submitted in December 2012 to the Israeli High
Court to halt the expansion of the fence.
We believe that the ICOMOS evaluation submitted to the WHC is based on incomplete
information and misunderstanding of the situation due to flaws in the investigation and the
Palestinian Authority’s mismanagement of the proposal. Criticisms stem from a lack of
information, not from certainty that Battir does not meet the criteria for inscription. The purpose
of this document is to provide supplementary information that demonstrate Battir’s Outstanding
Universal Value and the importance of its inscription as a World Heritage cultural landscape. We
are working to correct information that was omitted, incorrect, or outdated in the ICOMOS
evaluation and original nomination dossier.
Prepared by:
Mohammed T. Obidallah, Expert on water and the environment and Battir resident, M.Obidallah@gmail.com
Eleanor Marshall, Intern at Friends of the Earth Middle East, Bethlehem Office, eleanor.ada.marshall@gmail.com
Jasmine Salachas, Professional cartographer.: Mapping Focus on Battir from the survey implemented in Battir (Lansdcape
Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management Plan, 2oo7-2o11) , jasmine.d.salachas@wanadoo.fr
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This topographical map, produced from the survey conducted in Battir 2007-2011 provides the framed landscape
used in the Conservation and Management Plan developed for local sustainability of the site
THE COMPLETE TEXTS:
ICOMOS report: http://whc.unesco.org/archive/2014/whc14-38com-inf8B1-Add-en.pdf
Draft decision: http://whc.unesco.org/archive/2014/whc14-38com-8B-en.pdf
KEY POINTS:
- Battir’s cultural landscape has Outstanding Universal Value based on 4,000 years of
continuous human development and its unique cultivation and water-sharing traditions
that are maintained by the community today.
- Battir has demonstrated its ability to sustain itself despite threats from the current geo-
political situation. The village of Battir has a clear plan for conservation and management
of the site, and demonstrated local commitment to its preservation.
- The World Heritage Committee does have the power to safeguard Battir’s cultural
landscape. In fact, inscription as a site is one of the best protections against irreversible
harms.
- At very least, the Committee should vote to defer the proposal, instead of rejecting it
outright, as there are already-existing updates that would strengthen the nomination if
given the chance for revision.
Prepared by:
Mohammed T. Obidallah, Expert on water and the environment and Battir resident, M.Obidallah@gmail.com
Eleanor Marshall, Intern at Friends of the Earth Middle East, Bethlehem Office, eleanor.ada.marshall@gmail.com
Jasmine Salachas, Professional cartographer.: Mapping Focus on Battir from the survey implemented in Battir (Lansdcape
Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management Plan, 2oo7-2o11) , jasmine.d.salachas@wanadoo.fr
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Battir’s terraced landscape and democratic system of water sharing from the Roman Pool have been a preserved patrimony for over 4,000 years. They are actively maintained and developed today, where more than 550 km of dry
stone walls have been surveyed.
Mohammed T. Obidallah, Expert on water and the environment and Battir resident, M.Obidallah@gmail.com
Eleanor Marshall, Intern at Friends of the Earth Middle East, Bethlehem Office, eleanor.ada.marshall@gmail.com
Jasmine Salachas, Professional cartographer.: Mapping Focus on Battir from the survey implemented in Battir (Lansdcape
Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management Plan, 2oo7-2o11) , jasmine.d.salachas@wanadoo.fr
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DECONSTRUCTING THE ICOMOS REPORT:
A. To qualify for inscription, sites must prove that they are of Outstanding Universal Value.
Battir’s nomination is based on the existence of 4,000 years of continuous human development
in harmony with the natural landscape, including archaeological studies that date Battir back to
the Bronze and Iron ages and Roman period. The cultivation of agricultural terraces is a
century-old practice that is sustained today by Battir’s eight main historical families.
What ICOMOS Says:
o Although there is some archaeological evidence dating back 4,000 there is not enough
evidence to show continuous human development in Battir.
o The report states that much of Battir’s current landscape has been shaped by recent
history when Battir became the last stop on the Jaffa – Jerusalem railway under the
British Mandate in 1917 and formed close economic ties with Jerusalem,
o Battir’s preserved system of agricultural terraces and stone watchtowers may be of
exceptional national importance to Palestine, but may not be unique on a global scale.
There are many similar examples of these sites in the Mediterranean.
What We Say:
o While there may be other examples of terraced agricultural landscapes, Battir is unique
and “representative of the very best” of these landscapes because of the depth of
history recorded at this site. The history preserved at Battir is of global significance, with
demonstrated development since Roman times. A 2007 excavation of the site showed
significant intact archaeological remains dating back to the Caliphate Period in 636 AD,
older than any of the remaining terrace systems that may be similar. Further, Battir is
not simply a preserved testament to the past, its ancient terraces are actively
maintained by community traditions that are integrated deep into the landscape.
ICOMOS acknowledges the presence of this historical record, but discounts its
universal significance.
For more information, see FoEME’s fact sheet on Battir’s unique history.
o Battir’s surviving practice of democratic water distribution is globally unique and
sustained today. Water is measured daily and shared equally among the eight main
families cultivating the terraces, using a network of canals and storage pools that have
survived from the Roman times.
For more information on the community’s traditions, view coverage from a
February 2014 CNN report and an August 2012 Wattan report (Arabic).
For a detailed description of the water-sharing practices, see this PNN
profile.
Mohammed T. Obidallah, Expert on water and the environment and Battir resident, M.Obidallah@gmail.com
Eleanor Marshall, Intern at Friends of the Earth Middle East, Bethlehem Office, eleanor.ada.marshall@gmail.com
Jasmine Salachas, Professional cartographer.: Mapping Focus on Battir from the survey implemented in Battir (Lansdcape
Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management Plan, 2oo7-2o11) , jasmine.d.salachas@wanadoo.fr
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o According to the Conservation Opinion of Dr. Michael Turner, the UNESCO Chairholder
in Urban Design and Conservation Studies in Jerusalem, Battir has unparalleled geo-
morphology.
His Conservation Opinion for FoEME states, “In short, it might be stated that the
value of the Cultural Landscape of Battir-Beitar is in its totality and the layering of
histories over many periods and its relationships between the social patterns of
land-use and the land form and structure – its geo-morphology. This embodies
the epitome of the definition – (see Operational Guidelines/WH Convention). As
presented in the previous statement to the Court, the translation of values
through physical attributes is the accepted practice of evaluation of cultural and
landscape values. This moves the evaluation into a more scientific realm,
extending the complex evaluations of ‘scenic beauty’. Even within this sphere
further research has been done in understanding this criterion of ‘scenic beauty’
within the World Heritage Convention, having myself peer-reviewed this
document during this year. This evaluation has not been carried out by the Army
or its expert.”
o Battir’s recent developments such as its economic ties to Jerusalem are not a
reordering of the landscape but a part of continuous development. Farmers have
continued to use traditional cultivation practices on the terraced landscape and a
democratic system of water sharing, simply expanding its agricultural markets to
Jerusalem.
o We acknowledge that the archaeological evidence is incomplete, but this research is
ongoing and inscription as a World Heritage Site is necessary to protect the site for
further research. Without this designation, the site will be vulnerable to irreversible
damage such as the building of the Israeli Separation Barrier and other geo-political
threats resulting from its position along the Green Line separating Israel and Palestine.
Battir’s valleys hold over 4,000 years of human history and unique preserved water-sharing traditions