ex United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board Item 3.4.3 of the provisional agenda Hundred and fiftieth Session 150 EX/13 PARIS, 3 September 1996 Original: French JERUSALEM AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 147 EX/DECISION 3.6.1 SUMMARY The Director-General submits this document in compliance with decision 3.6.1 adopted by the Executive Board at its 147th session. It has been prepared on the basis of the information available as at 31 July 1996. I 1. The Director-General is continuing to watch very closely developments in the negotiations currently being held in the Middle East with the aim of establishing lasting peace in the region. He hopes that the process will continue and be concluded rapidly. With regard to the Old City of Jerusalem, he reports below on the action taken to give effect to the decisions of the Executive Board and the resolutions of the General Conference. 2. The Director-General points out that at its 147th session, the Executive Board examined his report on Jerusalem and the implementation of 145 EX/Decision 5.5.1 and adopted 147 EX/Decision 3.6.1 in which it requested, inter alia, 4. [ ] that no measure or act be undertaken that alters the religious, cultural, historical or demographical nature of the city or impairs the balance of the site as a whole, pending the outcome of negotiations on the final status of Jerusalem. 3. In the same decision, the Executive Board expressed the profound hope that the peace accords between Israel and Jordan and between Israel and the PLO will pave the way for a
150 EX/13 - page 2 new era of mutual understanding, promoting the establishment of a culture of peace in the region. 4. Having regard to the new situation created by the peace process and within the framework of the mission assigned to him to that end, it also invited the Director-General: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) to draw up a comprehensive medium- and long-term plan for the purpose of making an inventory of the cultural property of the Old City of Jerusalem and working out safeguarding measures, identifying at an initial stage the projects deemed to have priority; to take appropriate measures to determine whether it is necessary to consider consolidating the bedrock and the structures built on it in connection with further tunnelling; to arrange for work to be undertaken rapidly to restore Sammâm ash-shifâ and Sammâm al- Ain, together with the Sûq al-qavvânîn, which form an indissociable complex vital for the conservation of the Old City; to arrange without delay for the restoration of the manuscripts from the al-aqzà Mosque, some of which date from the eighth and ninth centuries, by establishing for that purpose on the spot a restoration workshop which would also serve as a training centre in this field; to arrange [in collaboration with the communities concerned] for a thorough historical, archaeological and technical scientific study to be carried out of the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, under the aegis of UNESCO, on the basis of which further restoration projects could be drawn up, serving as guidance for future work. 5. In addition, the Executive Board invited the Director-General to be vigilant in ensuring that the Israeli authorities, with regard to the work to open the new gate in the historic walls and the continued digging of the tunnel, proceed with full respect for the Charter of Venice and the relevant universally recognized principles and decided to place this item on the agenda of its 150th session. 6. This decision was submitted for approval to the twenty-eighth session of the General Conference, which adopted it with slight modifications (28 C/Resolution 3.14). II 7. In compliance with that decision, the Director-General agreed to increase the contribution of the Special Account to finance the restoration of Sammâm ash-shifâ and Sammâm al- Ain (nearly $300,000). An agreement in that regard was concluded with the Jerusalem Waqf and work began at the start of 1996. However, the progress of the work has been delayed because workers have had difficulty entering Jerusalem, due to the sealing off of the territories. 8. Three expert missions were dispatched to Jerusalem to study and propose ways of improving the interior and exterior lighting of the Dome of the Rock. At the request of the competent authorities, the study was enlarged to include the entire esplanade of al-sarâm ash- Sharîf and the al-aqzà Mosque. Consideration is currently being given to an agreement with the Office of Technological and Scientific Patronage of Electricité de France, which would be
150 EX/13 - page 3 responsible for computer simulation of the projects to be submitted to the Waqf authorities in order to help them choose among the three proposals to be presented to them. 9. With a view to enhancing the skills of the Committee for the restoration of the al-aqzà Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, UNESCO used the Special Account to pay for additional training for the Committee s assistant architect, who thus attended the 1996 architectural training session of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) in Rome. 10. Consideration is currently being given to the joint publication by UNESCO and the Jerusalem Waqf of an annotated catalogue of the collection of old Koranic manuscripts housed in al-sarâm ash-sharîf, prepared by the Director of the al-aqzà Mosque library and Curator of the Islamic Museum of Jerusalem. 11. In connection with the urgent need for the restoration of certain precious manuscripts of the al-aqzà Mosque, contacts have been made with a top-level specialized European institution, the Istituto per la Patologia del Libro in Rome. In September 1996 UNESCO will dispatch a mission of experts from this institution to assess the state of preservation of the manuscripts, evaluate the restoration and conservation work required, and prepare a detailed safeguarding plan. 12. As mentioned in the 1994 report (145 EX/17), a contract was drawn up for the restoration of the Khâlidî Library, which contains a very large number of manuscripts of great historical and cultural value. The tasks of cataloguing and microfilming the manuscripts, and improving their conditions of storage, are almost complete. Restoration of the manuscripts is continuing, with the help of other funding sources. 13. With respect to the Holy Sepulchre, the Director-General has continued his negotiations with the communities in charge of this venerable shrine of Christianity in order to convince them of the need for a scientific, archaeological, historical and technical study of the monument, which UNESCO could finance in part from the Special Account. Thus far, there has been no reply to the Director-General s proposals. The issue is, in his view, a matter of urgency and should he fail to receive appropriate reassurances, the Director-General plans to propose appropriate steps at the twenty-ninth session of the General Conference. 14. As at 31 July 1996 the balance of the Special Account for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage, including the Islamic monuments of the city of Jerusalem, stood at $2 million. 15. In compliance with the resolutions and decisions of the governing bodies of UNESCO, the Director-General is continuing his consultations with all the parties involved in order to identify and formulate other projects, in particular, with a view to financing them from the Special Account. In addition, relations established with international governmental and nongovernmental organizations, such as the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) and the Welfare Association, are being pursued. III 16. In pursuance of 147 EX/Decision 3.6.1 mentioned above, Professor Lemaire visited Jerusalem from 21 to 26 July 1996 and prepared the following report. 17. Report by the Director-General s personal representative
150 EX/13 - page 4 Report to Mr Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO, on the safeguarding of the cultural heritage, in particular the urban and monumental heritage of Jerusalem 1. The on-the-spot mission was conducted from 21 to 26 July 1996. Since the report of the previous year, your personal representative has overseen, in agreement and close collaboration with the Division of Physical Cultural Heritage, the implementation of the resolutions and decisions of the General Conference and the Executive Board. 2. Persons interviewed Israelis: Mr Uzi Manor, Director of the Division of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr Moshe Benzioni and Mr Oren Bar-El, Division of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr Yoel Marinov, Director-General of East Jerusalem Development Ltd.; Mr Michael Turner, architect in charge of development of the Mazar excavations zone; Mr Yacov Shaffer, Director of the Department of Conservation, Israel Antiquities Authority; Mr Roni Reich, archaeologist in charge of the site of the Mazar excavations, Israel Antiquities Authority; Mr Jon Seligman, archaeologist, Israel Antiquities Authority. Arabs: Sheikh Abdul Azeem Saalhab, Director-General of Waqfs for the Occupied Territories; Mr Adnan Husseini, Director of the Jerusalem Waqf; Mr Isam Awwad, architect-engineer in charge of the Committee for the Restoration of al-aqzà Mosque and the Dome of the Rock; Mr Bassam Hallak, assistant architect; Mr Khader Salameh, Director of the al-aqzà Mosque library and Curator of the Islamic Museum of Jerusalem; Mr Marwan Abu Khalaf, Director, Institute of Islamic Archaeology of Jerusalem; Ms Haifa Haidar Khalidi, Khalidi Library. 3. Excavations 3.1 No new excavation sites, in the Old City or its immediate environs, have been reported to me by either the competent Israeli or Arab authorities.
150 EX/13 - page 5 3.2 The Mazar excavations, located at the south-west corner of al-sarâm ash-sharîf: As noted in my earlier reports, since digging was discontinued in 1977, the excavations have fallen into an almost complete state of disrepair threatening not only the interpretability but also the conservation of the very valuable remains that had been discovered. Today, the excavations are being cleaned up, consolidated, monitored and, at certain specific points, made deeper. Visitor itineraries, with explanatory signs, are to be set up. A discreet form of landscaping has been devised. This important archaeological site, which illustrates some of the great periods in the long history of Jerusalem, including the Herodian and Umayyad periods, will thus become one of the major attractions of the lower city. The work being carried out has been criticized by the Waqf authorities who take the view that inappropriate and excessively heavy machinery has been used, thereby endangering the uncovered remains. They also fear that in making the inevitable choices relating to the display of the remains, preference will be given to vestiges of the Herodian period over those from the Arab era. I have observed on the spot and understand, from the explanations provided by the Israeli authorities, that the safeguarding and display of the remains of the three Umayyad palaces found on the site are one of the major priorities of the project. The Arab concerns were brought to the attention of the Israeli officials, who were advised to consult with the former on the contentious issues. The Waqf authorities make the point that it is difficult for them to accept that the future of essential parts of their cultural heritage, located moreover on land belonging to them but unfairly expropriated, should be decided without giving them the opportunity to express and assert their views and their wishes in the matter. The Director of the Waqf also noted that he had been informed about an Israeli project to construct on the remains of the monumental Herodian staircase and the bridge connecting it to the west wall of the Sarâm - which, during the first century of our era, was one of the major access routes to the Temple Mount ( Robinson Arch ) - a tubular metallic replica of the original arrangement. The Israelis in charge of the site affirm that they are unaware of any such project which, moreover, would seem to them to be incongruous and unacceptable from the standpoint of the proper conservation and preservation of the archaeological site. 3.3 The great wall which surrounds al-sarâm ash-sharîf and overlooks the excavation site has several cracks and a slight lean. Furthermore, water from a source unknown, but almost certainly located on the Sarâm itself, is seeping from it. In September 1995 it was agreed that the problem should be examined by an eminent foreign expert, and both sides had agreed to engage Professor Giorgio Croci, of La Sapienza University in Rome. Several days before the mission, the Permanent Delegation of Israel indicated that its government wished to reconsider the date and nature of the mission, and, in any case, to postpone it. In order to avoid losing time or the occurrence of an accident, however unlikely such an event might be, it is proposed that a monitoring system should be installed on this portion of the wall in order to record any movements and indicate the amplitude thereof. This data would in any case be useful, if not actually essential, to whoever is appointed as specialist, and would help that person to carry out a reliable examination. The funding for this equipment would come from the Special Account. 3.4 Work is continuing on the gate adjacent to the Dung Gate and set in a wall predating the Wall of Süleiman the Magnificent; enlargement of this gate will provide a separate pedestrian link, in addition to the passages through which vehicles can pass at present, between the Mazar excavations and the City of David (the Jewish Quarter), the most ancient part of the city. In this connection, some minor supplementary excavations have been necessary. The
150 EX/13 - page 6 condition of the gate remains similar to that obtaining in September 1995. The restoration project, which, according to the architect in charge, is designed to cause minimum disturbance to existing archaeological remains, is currently under consideration. 4. The tunnel An exhaustive visit of the tunnel and the adjacent chambers demonstrated that no significant alteration has been made since September 1995. The highly controversial gate that was to provide access to the tunnel from its northern end on the Via Dolorosa has not been opened up, although the preparations for doing so are complete. There remains only a foot or so of stonework to tunnel through. The rock in which the final section has been dug shows no sign of weakness, and has no cracks or fissures. There is thus no cause for concern regarding its solidity. There is therefore no need to commission a geologist to carry out an examination, which would constitute a considerable expense of doubtful utility. 5. The Dome of the Rock As indicated in the previous report, preliminary studies were undertaken in 1994 and 1995, with funding from the Special Account, on the treatment and cleaning of the outer facing of marble slabs along the lower part of the monument, the conservation of the mosaics, the uncovering of the earlier coats of paint on the dome, and the illumination of the various monuments on al-sarâm ash-sharîf. The head architect of the site has been requested to draw up as rapidly as possible, on the basis of the reports and proposals of international experts, detailed and costed documents for the work in question in order to establish the precise cost and to be in a position to begin execution of the projects in the near future. The ceramics constituting the outer facing of the upper part of the monument are currently being examined, in view of their apparently rather unsatisfactory state of conservation. The original ceramic tiles, which dated back to a major restoration undertaken in 1545-1546 in the reign of Süleiman the Magnificent, the work of craftsmen from Kâshân, were almost entirely replaced in the restoration undertaken in the 1950s. According to the architect, the replacement of the defective items, which include a number of gargoyles, by new items from the same source poses serious problems. He is investigating possible alternative solutions, and we propose to assist him in that endeavour. 6. Other monuments of al-sarâm ash-sharîf There is nothing to report concerning these buildings. In most cases, work is either halted or has been considerably delayed by the closure of Jerusalem to workers from the occupied territories. Nevertheless, the cleaning of the facing of the minarets of al-fakhrîya and as-silsila (the Chain) is continuing, using methods which ensure proper conservation of the stone. 7. The Sammâm ash-shifâ and Sammâm al- Ain baths A contract for the restoration of these two monuments adjoining the Sûq al-qavvânîn (Cotton Market), the main gateway to al-sarâm ash-sharîf, which is also due to be restored, has been concluded with the Waqf for nearly $300,000, to be provided from the Special Account. These are the only two traditional Tammâms (still in use several years ago) remaining in the Old City of Jerusalem. This project is being carried out under the
150 EX/13 - page 7 responsibility and supervision of the head architect Isam Awwad. The work has been considerably delayed for the same reasons as were mentioned above. 8. Conservation and restoration of the old Koranic manuscripts of the al-aqzà Mosque Funding of this work from the Special Account was recommended by 147 EX/Decision 3.6.1 and by 28 C/Resolution 3.14, adopted at the most recent session of the General Conference. With the agreement of the Waqf authorities, the Istituto per la Patologia del Libro of Rome has been selected to undertake a preliminary examination of the manuscripts in question. The Director of the Institute and one of his staff will shortly visit Jerusalem to examine the manuscripts, assess the amount of conservation and, if necessary, restoration work needed, draw up an emergency plan, determine what work can be done at the museum and what requires special equipment which is not available locally, and investigate the possibility of setting up a local laboratory where young Palestinians could receive training in routine procedures involved in the treatment and conservation of manuscripts. Such a laboratory would be extremely useful in view of the impressive number of manuscripts, old publications and archives held in various Islamic institutions and private Arab libraries. 9. Publication of an annotated catalogue of the manuscript collection of the al-aqzà Mosque An agreement in principle has been concluded between the Waqf authorities and the author, Dr Salameh. There are plans for the catalogue to be published jointly with UNESCO. A final decision is to be taken shortly. 10. The Holy Sepulchre The resolution adopted at the last session of the General Conference invited the Director-General to arrange for a thorough historical, archaeological and technical scientific study to be carried out, on the basis of which further restoration projects could be drawn up, and which would serve as guidance for future work. The Director-General has communicated this recommendation to the religious authorities concerned, none of whom have given any reaction to the proposal. Discussions held with several of those authorities have not been fruitful. It appears that they maintain their joint decision, taken on 2 November 1995 and communicated to the Director-General, in which they reiterated the policy set by them on 12 May 1993 not to allow UNESCO or any international body, or local government authority, to intervene with the restoration works of the Holy Sepulchre Church. They recalled that the religious communities of Jerusalem (Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Custody of the Holy Land, Armenian Patriarchate) who maintained the particular and common places throughout the centuries are the owners, the sole and exclusive competent authorities to proceed with the restoration and the maintenance of the Holy Sepulchre Church. They further indicated that they are open to remarks and suggestions, provided that these do not violate the status quo that has governed the occupation and use of the Holy Sepulchre for a century and a half. However, none of the authorities has thus far declared itself ready to accept and to collaborate in the study proposed by the Director-General. In a letter dated 23 November 1995, the Director-General reassured the Patriarchs and the Custodian regarding the intentions of UNESCO, which proposed to undertake a scientific historical, archaeological and technical study of the Holy Sepulchre in full knowledge of and respect for the status quo. This letter has remained unanswered.
150 EX/13 - page 8 Naturally, the proposed study cannot be undertaken without the active collaboration of the religious authorities concerned: there can be no access to all parts of the monument, examination of the archives or analysis of liturgical needs without their agreement and participation. Negotiations are continuing, but there seems little hope that they will be successful. 11. Road works around the Old City The reports of the previous two years drew attention to the construction of a belvedere by the ha- Ofel road running beneath the eastern wall of al-sarâm ash-sharîf. This project, undertaken despite the protests of the Waqf as owner of the land, has nearly been completed. The structure blends in well with the landscape. From this vantage point, tourists are afforded a remarkable view of the celebrated tombs of Absalom, Saint James and Zechariah, all hewn out of the rock, with a degree of security previously difficult to ensure on this narrow road bearing heavy traffic. Following contacts with the specialists of the Israeli municipal authorities, it appeared in 1995 that these authorities no longer intended to implement a further project to widen that road somewhat and to build a footpath alongside it, which would make it possible to walk more safely from the entrance to the Old City through the Dung Gate on the south-eastern side of the wall to the Valley of Kidron and the various shrines located on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. This footpath was to be built along the eastern edge of the Muslim cemetery, which occupies the steeply sloping area between the eastern wall of al-sarâm ash-sharîf and the ha- Ofel road. It would thus run along the eastern side of the cemetery. Naturally, the Muslim authorities were totally opposed to this project, despite the advantage it had of diverting the frequent and unwelcome passage of non-muslims from the part of the cemetery that is currently in use. From the point of view of the landscape, the municipal authorities project also had serious drawbacks: given the steep slope on which the greater part of the road is built, the addition of a footpath would necessitate the construction of retaining walls several metres high in many places. These would severely impair the harmony of the landscape, which is the last to offer, from the Mount of Olives, a traditional view of great beauty of the Old City of Jerusalem. Despite the opposition of the Waqf, the owner of the land in question, and despite the fact that the plans appeared to have been dropped owing to the foreseeable impact on the landscape, the project is now nearing completion. This is extremely regrettable since the damage is considerable and practically irreversible. First of all, despite the denials of the Israeli municipal official in charge, as a result of the building of the footpath a number of old tombs in the cemetery have been disturbed or destroyed, and this has been documented photographically. Furthermore, the landscape has been sorely affected by the building of retaining walls, whose broad horizontal lines running parallel to the wall of al-sarâm ash- Sharîf detract from the monument s dominance of the landscape. The project appears to have been designed and undertaken without any prior landscaping study. Such a study would have been bound to point to the disastrous consequences of the undertaking. This is all the more surprising when one recalls the extremely detailed attention paid to the landscaping of similar projects, such as the building of the belvedere described above. In view of the present situation, it would be desirable for
150 EX/13 - page 9 a study to be undertaken with the aim of lessening the terrible visual impact of the retaining walls now being built. It may be that by planting greenery in the appropriate places, the visual aspect of the project may be somewhat enhanced. 12. In its decision, the Executive Board invited the Director-General to draw up a comprehensive medium- and long-term plan for the purpose of making an inventory of the cultural property of the Old City of Jerusalem and working out safeguarding measures, identifying at an initial stage the projects deemed to have priority. As indicated in the 1995 report, this will be a vast undertaking requiring a fairly large and diverse team. It can only be carried out with the collaboration of the authorities who are in charge of or the legal owners of the properties in question. Sizeable funds will need to be allocated to it. At present, none of these conditions has been met. The responses to discrete inquiries made on the spot suggest that this initiative is not particularly welcome: the uncertainty of the situation means that owners, whether public or private, of buildings possibly concerned by the inventory are not keen to make these buildings known and have them included in a list. Furthermore, it is very difficult to find locally any competent persons who are willing to participate in the undertaking. The recent establishment of the Palestinian Institute for Archaeology may perhaps change matters in this respect. In the meantime, consideration is being given to the establishment of the fullest possible list of publications providing a sector-by-sector inventory of the cultural property of the Old City. R. Lemaire 29 July 1996