Acco Mayor Dr. Shmaryahu Biran told Arutz-7 yesterday that his city and Massada are the only two sites in Israel listed by UNESCO on the World Heritage List. However, there is actually one more: \"The Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls.\" Biran may have been looking at the official UNESCO list, which does not consider Jerusalem to be in Israel, and in fact lists \"Jerusalem\" as if it were its own country.
Arutz-7\'s Yosef Zalmanson notes additional indications of UNESCO\'s dismissal of Israeli ties to Jerusalem. The list notes that it was Jordan that presented the 1981 proposal to place Jerusalem on the list - and Israel was not even allowed to attend the session at which the decision was made. The protocol records that Israel and the U.S. had requested Israeli participation in the deliberations, but the Chairman, the Ambassador of Australia, Mr. R. Slatyer, concluded that \"Israel could not be invited to participate in the session, since it was not a State Party to the Convention\" [the reference is to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, of which the World Heritage Committee is a part].
Among the 20 State members in attendance at the session on Jerusalem were Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Libya, while among the 16 observer countries that attended were Algeria, Cuba, Yemen, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia. In addition, although Israel was not permitted to attend, observers from six international organizations were invited, including the African Cultural Institute and the Arab Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization. It should be noted that the U.S. voted against Jerusalem\'s inclusion on the list, and five countries abstained, because of the political implications of the fact that it was proposed by Jordan. Fourteen countries voted in favor, however.
Arutz-7\'s Yosef Zalmanson notes additional indications of UNESCO\'s dismissal of Israeli ties to Jerusalem. The list notes that it was Jordan that presented the 1981 proposal to place Jerusalem on the list - and Israel was not even allowed to attend the session at which the decision was made. The protocol records that Israel and the U.S. had requested Israeli participation in the deliberations, but the Chairman, the Ambassador of Australia, Mr. R. Slatyer, concluded that \"Israel could not be invited to participate in the session, since it was not a State Party to the Convention\" [the reference is to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, of which the World Heritage Committee is a part].
Among the 20 State members in attendance at the session on Jerusalem were Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Libya, while among the 16 observer countries that attended were Algeria, Cuba, Yemen, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia. In addition, although Israel was not permitted to attend, observers from six international organizations were invited, including the African Cultural Institute and the Arab Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization. It should be noted that the U.S. voted against Jerusalem\'s inclusion on the list, and five countries abstained, because of the political implications of the fact that it was proposed by Jordan. Fourteen countries voted in favor, however.