Jerusalem*

Description

Jerusalem at the crossroads between the watershed route of the Judean Mountains being midway between Nablus and Hebron and the connection from the coastal Via Maris to the Jordan Rift Valley, has historically given it strategic importance. This meeting place between East and West has, over the ages, become cultural as well as physical.

The Old City and Ramparts of Jerusalem is an inscribed site on the World Heritage List. The Ramparts represent the Ottoman boundaries of the 16th century and enclose within it the built sites of the Temple Mount/Haram el-Sharif and the Christian shrines of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Via Dolorosa.

The geo-historic context of the Old City includes the Kidron Valley/the Valley of Jehoshafat and the Hinom Valley encompassed by the surrounding hills - Mount Scopus, Mount of Olives, the Hill of Evil Counsel, and Mount Zion. The water source of Jerusalem is the Gihon Spring/Mary's Well that has proven over the generations to be the focal point for the city and its development, including water installations and aqueducts bearing evidence to the changing sociopolitical patterns of the area.

Jerusalem between these hills, forms a unique witness to the cultural cradle of the Western monotheistic religions, including Jewish sites identified during,the Temple periods, including the City of David Christian sites identified by Queen Helena including Gethsemane, the Church of the Ascension, Bethany, and the site of the Last Supper, and Islamic sites of the Night Journey of Mohammed.

The area outside the built space of the city has developed over the years as a necropolis for Jewish, Christian and Muslim burial. Various forms of burials are evident including rock cut tombs, which form the basis for the beliefs for resurrection to commence from this site.

The extension of the inscribed site will accord with the changes in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention whereby sites may include buffer zones providing the visual and historic context for ongoing site management and conservation. In addition, it is proposed that the site be extended to include Mount Zion as well as those sites that bear a unique testimony to the cultural traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This will help guarantee the conservation of the site from encroaching urbanism and help to eliminate the factors which may endanger those sites.

* : Ceci concerne le bien nommé « La Vieille Ville de Jérusalem et ses remparts, pour y inclure le Mont Sion » proposé par Israël comme extension à la « La Vieille Ville de Jérusalem et ses remparts » inscrite sur la Liste du patrimoine mondial en 1981, sur proposition de la Jordanie. Le Comité, lors de sa 25e session (Helsinki, 2001), a approuvé la recommandation de la 25e session de son Bureau (Paris, juin 2001) « de reporter toute considération de proposition d'inscription jusqu'à ce qu'un nouvel accord sur le statut de la Ville de Jérusalem soit conclu en conformité avec le droit international ou jusqu'à ce que les parties concernées soumettent une proposition d'inscription commune ». Il convient de noter que la Conférence générale de l'UNESCO, par les résolutions 32C/39 et 33C/50, a affirmée que :  

« (...) assurant que rien dans la présente décision, qui vise à la sauvegarde du patrimoine culturel de la vieille ville de Jérusalem, n'affectera en aucune manière les résolutions et décisions pertinentes des Nations Unies, en particulier les résolutions pertinentes du Conseil de sécurité sur le statut juridique de Jérusalem ».