PAPP [CULTURE\]

In the Holy Land, history is a natural treasure. Cultural and religious tourism will contribute to the creation of new jobs
History is a natural treasure of the Holy Land the development of Palestinian cultural heritage and crafts will boost cultural tourism and enhance the impact of religious tourism. This should contribute to the creation of new jobs in the short and medium term.
An emergency heritage plan

In the West Bank and Gaza, heritage is not only a matter for experts, scholars and tourists fond of old stones. The historical and religious heritage of the region is a treasure every bit as valuable as its natural resources. Now, just a few years from the two-thousandth anniversary of the Nativity in Bethlehem, it is vital to tap the potential of an area which has been particularly afflicted by the region's geopolitical situation over the past half-a-century. This heritage emergency (allied to the urgent requirement of providing spiritual and material goals, markets and work to a large part of the population which has been stricken by unemployment-especially the young) has meant that pride of place has been given to activities which can involve people without qualifications or even school or university graduates, until such time as large-scale projects are set in train. The options proposed are:
- in the are a of archaeology (Jericho and its Canaanite, biblical, Graeco-Roman and Arab Moslem sites): weeding, clean-up, enclosure, emergency reinforcement, signposting and restoration work; - in the area of historical monuments (Gaza and its medieval and Ottoman components, with the so-called "Umari" Great Mosque and the Governor's Palace): clean-up, refurbishment of facades, emergency rein-forcement and first-phase restoration work, as well as site preparation to accommodate museum exhibitions; - in the area of historic towns (Bethlehem): the establishment by a joint Franco-Palestinian team of a "Bethlehem 2000" plan to safeguard and develop the Church of the Nativity, religious monuments of historical importance and traditional quarters of the town.The development of this heritage will foster cultural and religious tourism and play a key developmental role.

The Projects