Osaily Participates in Istanbul Conference as European Cultural Capital and Demands the Support of enlisting Hebron at the UNISCO as Human Heritage.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 Honorable guests,

 First and foremost I would like to thank you for giving me the chance to present the initiative to enlist the Old City of Hebron on the World Heritage List of UNESCO.

And I would like to extend my greetings and congratulations to Istanbul for being the European Capital of Culture for the year 2010. Such an honor is a real expression of what such a city represents from a cultural and historical point of view as a bridge for cultures from different destinations.
Hebron, the home of the Holy Shrine of Abraham – the Tomb of Patriarchs, is a Palestinian City located in the South of Jerusalem in the West Bank, which goes back in history to around 6,000 years. Hebron represents an international cultural heritage of mankind which is blessed with a unique architectural background from the 17th, 18th and 19th century. This mankind heritage is threatened by Israeli measures which threatens the transmission of this heritage to future generations.
Accordingly, Hebron Municipality is leading a major initiative to enlist the Old City of Hebron on the World Heritage List of UNESCO.
In that regard, Hebron Municipality is working jointly with international partners, mainly with French municipalities Arcueil and Belfort in addition to international organizations, institutions and individuals to formulate an International Committee to mobilize all possible efforts and resources to support the initiative; this was officially launched on October 2009. Highly prominent figures like Boutros Boutros Ghali, former UN Secretary General, Luisa Morgantini, former Vice-President of the European Parliament, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, former Director General of UNESCO, joined the campaign together with many intellectuals, architects and journalists.
This is accompanied by an international campaign through active participation in international events and forums to lobby for the benefit of the initiative. As a result, positive indicators started to emerge successively where in the 3rd Conference of Local Authorities of Europe in Venice the General Assembly has submitted a unanimous recommendation calling for considering Hebron as a World Heritage of Humanity. This recommendation was endorsed by the Conference of Local Authorities of Europe held in Istanbul in 2008. Moreover, Hebron was granted membership of the Cultural Committee of COPPEM (Standing Committee for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of Local and Regional Authorities) at the Palermo Conference in 2009.
At the technical level the official inscription file is under preparation and the first draft is being reviewed by international experts for getting it ready for the final submission to UNESCO by Feb, 2011.
In that regard we urge you all to extend all possible support to this initiative and the inscription of the Old City of Hebron on the World Heritage List of UNESCO to preserve the mankind heritage and transform it to the next generations and prevent UNESCO from punishing us as an occupied city once again by not allowing us to register our Old city into its list.