Khaled Osaily. خالد العسيلي رئيس بلدية الخيل السابق خالد العسيلي
In a meeting held with the Mayor of Belfort, France, Mr. Etienne Butzbach, Mayor Khaled Al Osaily discussed the progress achieved in nominating the Old City of Hebron for Unesco’s World Heritage List. The cities of Belfort and Arcueil are, in fact, the two main supporters behind this international initiative.
The meeting was held during a special visit by a Belfort delegation which included, in addition to Mr. Butzbach, the latter’s deputy, a representative from the French Consulate, and a number of municipality officials. It was also attended by members of Hebron’s Municipal Council; retired General Mohammad Amin Al Jaabari, head of the National Committee in Support of the Old City; Dr. Anwar Abu Eysheh, President of the “Association d’échanges culturels Hebron-France”; and the project’s technical committee.
The meeting started with a long discussion of developments in Hebron, the consequences of Israel’s decision regarding Al Ibrahimi mosque, and the importance of focusing efforts on the year-old initiative aiming to inscribe the Old City of Hebron on Unesco’s List of World Heritage Sites and to boost international pressure on UN institutions to uphold Palestinian rights and refute Israeli allegations.
Osaily stressed the importance of collaborating with international bodies – particularly Belfort Municipality – and of continuously coordinating efforts to embody the spirit of cooperation between world populations. He also underlined the significance of actively working towards upholding the rights of oppressed peoples and achieving human justice, in accordance with all international conventions and celestial laws.
“We are undoubtedly pursuing our steadfast endeavours towards achieving our aim of inscribing the Old City on Unesco’s World Heritage List with the collaboration of our friends all over the world, peace lovers, and supporters of our just cause and our legitimate rights,” he said.
Participants also discussed Unesco’s World Heritage Committee’s decision to add one item to the agenda of its meeting – scheduled for next month in Brazil – regarding Al Ibrahimi and Bilal Bin Rabah mosques. They underscored the need to follow-up on this issue with competent authorities and to sustain Palestinian demands in that meeting, due to its major significance.
The project coordinator made a detailed presentation informing the audience about the latest technical developments in the preparation of the file. Following that, Butzbach praised the efforts exerted by Hebron Municipality in that direction. He commended the team’s professionalism and expressed satisfaction in the degree of seriousness in dealing with this issue, saying that it had exceeded all his expectations.
At the end of the meeting, and prior to a field visit covering numerous projects all over the city, the parties decided to closely follow up on this matter and undertake media campaigns in order to mobilize the greatest possible level of international support for this project.
