Campaigners welcome Battir's listing as World Heritage Site скачать в хорошем качестве

Campaigners welcome Battir's listing as World Heritage Site

(25 Jun 2014) LEADIN Campaigners are hoping that the elevation of the West Bank village of Battir to a UNESCO World Heritage Site will help stop the Israeli's building a separation barrier there. They fear the area's ancient terraces and natural landscape will be damaged forever if the barrier goes ahead. STORYLINE The land of olives and vines. With it's ancient walls and fresh springs, it's not hard to see why the village of Battir, found south of Jerusalem, is the newest addition to the World Heritage Site list. The landscape here, along with a series of farmed valleys made up of stone terraces, has remained unchanged for thousands of years. Now Battir is on the World Heritage List and on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Campaigners to save the valley are celebrating, among them Akram Badier, the head of Battir's local council. He says it's taken years of hard work to get to this point: "I can't describe our joy because for the past five years we have been working on making Battir world heritage site," he says. The group received a boost in 2011 when they were awarded US $15,000 and the Melina Mercury award from UNESCO, which recognises examples of actions to safeguard "cultural landscapes" such as Battir's agricultural terraces. Badier says this encouraged the activists to push for heritage status "because UNESCO recognised Battir a place with a cultural and historical value." But despite this new accolade, Battir remains vulnerable. The village is located seven kilometres southwest of Jerusalem. Not far from the village the Israeli government continues to build a wall separating Israel from the West Bank. Construction started more than a decade ago under the auspices of keeping out Palestinian militants, but Palestinians say the wall is a political land grab and a way for Israel to redraw borders between the two areas. Until 2007 the route went straight through Battir's farming landscape but now lawyers from the two sides are battling it out before Israel's Supreme Court to have it changed. The UNESCO award raises hopes among some activists that this will protect the community from the separation barrier. "We hope that now the (Israeli) court will think again, and will listen to UNESCO, and to the decision of UNESCO and decide not to build here a physical barrier," says Gidon Bromberg, a member of the Friends of the Earth Middle East. Whether the wall runs through the farmland or not, the Israeli presence is felt close by. An Israeli railway passes close to Battir's farm terraces. UNESCO has added the village of Battir to the list of heritage sites in danger, too. More than one thousand landmarks across the world have received World Heritage Status. But only a handful have also receive the title 'sites in danger'. In listing Battir, UNESCO said the village faces "irreversible damage," citing "the start of construction of a separation wall that may isolate farmers from fields they have cultivated for centuries." One of those who could be affected by the barrier is Abed Amar, a local farmer. "I inherited my land from my father and he inherited it from my grandfather." he says. To lose the land would mean the loss of all income for his family. "We have no work in Israel and for the past five years I am working my land only and if I lose my land because of the separation wall I will lose the source of living for my family." Battir , along with its ancient farming terraces, has an irrigation system dating back to Roman times, fed by seven springs. There's even an old Roman bath still in use and fed by one of the springs in the middle of the village. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...