New Settlement and Expanding Outposts Represent a Wholesale Attack on the World Heritage Site: Land of Olives and Vines – Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir
Joint alert by Peace Now, Combatants for Peace, Emek Shaveh
Summary:
The World Heritage Site of Palestine, known as the Land of Olives and Vines – Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir southwest of Jerusalem is facing a full-on attack from ongoing and planned Israeli settlement activities throughout the section of the core zone of the World Heritage Site situated in Area C of the West Bank. Inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2014 for its unique cultural and agricultural landscape, the area is renowned for its ancient terraces and sophisticated irrigation systems, evidence of thousands of years of human activity. Located in the West Bank southwest of Jerusalem, the World Heritage Site consists of 11 square kilometers spanning the area between the villages of Husan, Battir, and Walaje and the towns of Beit Jala and el-Khader. The unique agricultural landscape has been cultivated and maintained by local communities for thousands of years.