STORY: UNESCO adds Palestinian site to World Heritage List
DATELINE: Sept. 18, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:25
LOCATION: RAMALLAH, Palestine
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Tel es-Sultan in Jericho
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): MAJED ISHAQ, General Manager of Tourism Marketing and Media

STORYLINE:

The World Heritage Committee on Sunday officially added a Palestinian heritage site to the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
   
In a press statement sent to Xinhua, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said "Tell es-Sultan, located in Jericho in the West Bank, was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List."
   
"The decision to add the historical site took place during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee meeting held in Saudi Arabia," the ministry added.
   
"Such an important decision affirmed the unique universal value of the site and of Palestine in general and reveals the historical, aesthetic, ethnological, and anthropological origins of the Palestinian people," the ministry added.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic): MAJED ISHAQ, General Manager of Tourism Marketing and Media
"Tell es-Sultan site is one of the oldest archaeological sites in Palestine. Here was the beginning of construction and the beginning of the work of animal and agricultural farms, and then villages and cities and civilizations were built."
   
Tell es-Sultan is located in the Jordan Valley, near Jericho city. The property is an oval-shaped tell, or mound, that contains the prehistorical deposits of human activity.
   
Jericho, known as the "City of the Moon," is a significant Neolithic site. It houses the palace of Caliph Hisham bin Abdul Malik, which revealed a massive mosaic panel measuring 824 square meters.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ramallah, Palestine.
(XHTV)