World Institute in Paris ended on 26 November. The Conference was convened by Hebron Municipality and its two key partners in the Project to Support the Inscription of Hebron on the World Heritage List, i.e. Arcueil and Belfort municipalities (France).

At the end of the Conference, Hebron Mayor Khaled Osaily said he hoped to see the dream of inscribing Hebron on the List come true in 2012 now that Hebron’s technical file was completed and submitted to the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Archeology. International experts have confirmed that Hebron’s nomination file is now ready and have underlined the merit of Hebron’s heritage and historical sites which deserve to be inscribed on UNESCO’s WHL. Osaily confirmed that Hebron and its French partners have agreed to continue the International Campaign which started three years ago in support of Hebron’s bid. “The Campaign shall continue on its website as well as through various projects, international conferences and contacts with political, cultural, technical, societal and media leaders in Europe and throughout the world to mobilize additional support and to lobby UNESCO”, he added.

Twelve papers were presented at the Conference by prominent world heritage experts, including Dr. Daniele Pini, a well-known UNESCO and ICOMOS expert (Italy) who helped in the preparation of several other nomination files, Dr. Howaida al-Harithy (Saudi Arabia), Chair of the Department of Architecture and Design at the American University of Beirut who is a key expert in the field of heritage safeguarding especially in the Middle East, and Dr. Samir Abdulac (France), Vice-president of ICOMOS France who enjoys a large experience in the preparation of WHL nomination files and in the protection of cultural heritage throughout the world. The papers tackled issues ranging from Hebron’s history, mechanisms to safeguard cultural heritage and inscription on the WHL to case studies concerning similar cities and means to enforce systems for the protection and management of cultural heritage in Hebron.

Two presentations by Mr. Yves Roujon and Mr. Luc Vilan from the National School of Architecture of Versailles (France) -who earlier this year spent two months in Hebron’s Old City preparing a field study on Hebron in coordination with its Municipality- provided historical insight about Hebron and underlined the uniqueness of the city’s features and history.

In his presentation, Dr. Pini said that Hebron’s value exceeds that of many cities inscribed on the WHL. Hebron must be inscribed on the List, he said, in order to provide swift protection of its cultural and historical heritage. He supported his presentation with plans, drawings, diagrams as well as old and new pictures of the city.

Several prominent Palestinian experts also took part in the Conference including Dr. Nathmi al Ju’beh, Director of the Department of History and Archaeology at Birzeit University, Dr. Nou’man Amre from Al Quds Open University, Dr. Ghassan al-Dweik, Head of Architecture Department at the Palestinian Polytechnic University, Dr. Khaldun Bshara, Chairman of RIWAQ-Center for Architectural Conservation, Mr Alaa Shahin, Engineer at Hebron Municipality and Head of the Hebron inscription project and Mr Emad Hamdan, General Director of Hebron Rehabilitation Committee. Their presentations covered historical sites in Palestine in general and in Hebron in particular with a particular focus on mechanisms to safeguard and manage cultural heritage, plans to develop cultural heritage, golden eras witnessed by Hebron and a detailed presentation of the city’s sites and archeology which continue to enrich the city’s heritage.

The Conference came up with a number of recommendations, including confirming the worthiness of Hebron’s Old City and Al Ibrahimi Mosque’s of inscription on the WHL and the importance of eliminating threats posed by occupation against Hebron’s cultural and historic values.