In a petition addressed to Unesco, 300 cultural professionals called on Sunday the institution to guarantee the protection of Lebanese heritage, notably Baalbeck, on the eve of a crucial meeting at the Paris headquarters of the UN agency.
In Lebanon, Israel’s strikes, in open war since September 23 against Hezbollah, particularly target the cities of Baalbeck (east) and Tire (south), whose ancient sites are listed as UNESCO world heritage sites.
On November 6, strikes on Baalbeck hit an area near Roman ruins. The governor of the region assured that ‘a missile had fallen in the parking lot’ of the thousand-year-old temples.
At the request of Lebanon, an ‘extraordinary session’ of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict is being held on Monday at UNESCO’s Parisian premises.
Made public on Sunday, the letter signed by 300 cultural professionals, including archaeologists and academics, was sent to Audrey Azoulay. She urges the director of UNESCO to ‘implement all means’ and ‘reinforced measures including sanctions’, to ‘protect these irreplaceable treasures’.
Baalbeck
The signatories are ‘all united by the same concern, that of preserving in its entirety the cultural and archaeological heritage of Lebanon, in particular Baalbeck’.
‘Lebanon’s cultural heritage (…) is seriously threatened by recurring attacks on ancient cities such as Baalbeck, Tire and Anjar, all listed as UNESCO world heritage sites’, deplores the petition.
The text calls on ‘states with the necessary influence over the belligerent parties’ to use ‘all their diplomatic and military force’ to ‘stop without delay all military actions threatening the destruction or deterioration’ of Lebanese sites.
The NGO Change Lebanon, at the origin of the initiative, says it has mobilized museum curators, academics, archaeologists and writers in France, Italy, Great Britain and the United States.
With its colossal constructions built over more than two centuries, ‘Baalbeck remains one of the most imposing vestiges of imperial Roman architecture at its peak’, recalls UNESCO on its website.
Every year, the site hosts the prestigious Baalbeck Festival, founded in 1956 and which has become a must on the artistic scene: artists who left their mark on their century, such as Oum Kalthoum, Charles Aznavour and Ella Fitzgerald, have given concerts in the Roman ruins. .
/ATS
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