Should the Church of the Nativity be a World Heritage Site? Of course it should. However, a friend wrote much of the paragraph below on the current aim of the Palestinian Authority to use the designation for political purposes. Given the desecration over time by the Palestinian Authority of Joseph's tomb, the historic blocking of access to Rachel's tomb and the tombs of the Patriach in Hevron by Jordanians of all non-Muslims, to go alongside the Buddha destruction in Afghanistan, the Cordoba church (now mosque), oppression and murder of Copts...etc., etc., it does not seem that putting the Church in the care of the Palestinian Authority would ensure religious freedom for future generations. Let's not forget the desecration of the Church by the PA's thugs in 2002, when Fatah's al-Aqsa Brigade terrorists trashed the place whilst holding monks and nuns as shields.
How ironic that the Palestinian Authority is initiating an application to UNESCO to designate the Church of Nativity, birthplace of Jesus, as a World Heritage Site. When surrounding Arab nations attacked Israel in 1948, the last thing the Arabs were concerned about was the preservation of sacred religious sites. The British trained and commanded Arab Legion of Jordan ethnically cleansed Jewish civilians out of their holy Old City of Jerusalem and destroyed numerous holy sites including 69 synagogues, amongst them the 250 year old Hurva Synagogue. The reality is, all holy sites in Israel, including the birthplace of Jesus, are most secure in the hands of democratic Israel and the world does not require the UN or the Palestinian Authority to legislate this protection.
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