Bethlehem - "Jerusalem" dot com - Georges Zeina - At the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization " UNESCO ", in the French capital, Paris , the Bethlehem exhibition "A New Birth on Restoration Work in the Church of the Nativity" was inaugurated.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition took place in the presence of the President of the General Conference of UNESCO, President of the Executive Council, Director-General Audrey Azoulay, President of the Arab World Institute in Paris, Jack Lang, and the Ambassador of the Vatican to UNESCO.

Members of the diplomatic corps, clerics, and French and Arab political and cultural figures participated in the inauguration. From the Palestinian side, Ramzi Khoury, a member of the Executive Committee and head of the Supreme Presidential Committee for Church Affairs, Deputy Custos of the Holy Land Father Ibrahim Faltas, Ambassador of the State of Palestine to UNESCO Mounir Anastas, and State Ambassador Palestine in France Hala Abu Hasira, Director General of the Bethlehem Development Foundation Kholoud Daibes, Ambassador Elias Sanbar, Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the Vatican Issa Qassisieh, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, Chairman of the Executive Council of UNESCO Dawas Dawas, Ambassador of Palestine to the United Nations In Geneva Ibrahim Khreishi.

In his speech, Khoury conveyed the greetings of President Mahmoud Abbas to UNESCO, stressing the importance of the State of Palestine's commitment to protecting the Palestinian cultural heritage and religious sanctities, as a global, religious and cultural heritage of exceptional importance to humanity.

And he appreciated all the efforts made to preserve the cradle of Jesus Christ and to remove the Church of the Nativity from the List of World Heritage in Danger, as a result of the completion of the restoration work that was carried out on it, under the continuous patronage and personal care of the President.

Khoury stressed the importance of the exhibition to show some of the treasures of this heritage, religious and cultural edifice of the oldest church in the world, despite the daily challenges and obstacles imposed on the Palestinian people, their existence, history, heritage and religious and cultural sanctities by the Israeli occupation.

For his part, Mounir Anastas emphasized the role of Palestine among nations in preserving its heritage and its commitment to the World Heritage Convention, and that this exhibition is presented by the State of Palestine to celebrate the world's fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 World Heritage Convention.

Father Faltas talked about the siege of the Church of the Nativity in 2002, and the harsh moments it went through, stressing that its message is shining, which is the message of love and peace. He spoke about the cooperation of the churches that have the right to the church, in coordination with the Palestinian leadership to accomplish this historic mission to make a comprehensive restoration of the church to wear the new dress. And rekindled hope to encourage pilgrimage and tourism to the Holy Land.


In his intervention, the head of the Italian company that carried out the restoration work, Jean Marco Piacenti, spoke about their experience in this exceptional field, and their communication with representatives of churches, the local community and Palestinian experts.

For his part, Sanbar talked about the process of registering the Church of the Nativity as a model of the essence of Palestine and the meeting point between East and West, highlighting the role of the Palestinian engineers team in the restoration process and the acquisition of skills related to restoration techniques.

In his speech, the Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for the Culture Sector, Armesto Otuna Ramires, congratulated the State of Palestine for its achievement in removing the site of the Nativity from the List of World Heritage in Danger.

In turn, Daibes reviewed the stages of restoration, leading to the traveling exhibition that began in 2019, in the Vatican Museums through the Embassy of Palestine to the Holy See, all the way to the UNESCO headquarters.

She thanked the supporters from the Palestinian private sector: APIC, Bank of Palestine, Arab Contractors Company, Al-Sayegh Group, Rawabi Group, Cairo Amman Bank, businessmen Zahi Khoury, Bassem Khoury and Simon Kouba.

At the end of the ceremony, the audience toured the exhibition, which is expected to be moved to several locations around the world.