Tehran (December 13): “War in Gaza is the greatest threat to cultural property in occupied Palestine and the world community should give immediate attention to it” was the conclusion of an international seminar organized by the ECO Cultural Institute at Tehran. The seminar on civilizational heritage in Gaza, which was attended by diplomats and intelligentsia from various countries from South East Asia, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.
The speakers at the event emphasized that the occupied Palestinian territories (West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem) account for around ten thousand historical and archeological sites, most of which predate Islam. Hence, apart from pre-historic era and the Roman civilization, the occupied territories are home to Jewish and Christian civilizational heritage including the Cave of Patriarchs, believed to be containing the remains of Adam and Eve, the Brahimi Mosque believed to be the resting place of Abraham and his wife Sara, and the Churches of Nativity and Holy Sepulcher. Although the war has not yet spread to the West Bank, but the destruction of Churches, museums and other historic places in Gaza alone warrant a full global attention to the dangers.