Lebanon formally requesting from UNESCO 'enhanced protection' for 34 archeological sites

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00:00It comes as the U.S. official tasked with securing a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel

00:04and Hezbollah is due to be in Beirut Tuesday.

00:07Lebanon is expected to give its response to a new U.S. truce proposal during that visit.

00:12The diplomacy, though, has been complicated by an Israeli demand for the freedom to act

00:16should Hezbollah violate any agreement, something Lebanon has so far rejected.

00:22Well, over the past few weeks, several Israeli strikes on Baalbek in east Lebanon and on

00:28Tyre in the south hit close to ancient Roman ruins that had been designated as UNESCO World

00:33Heritage Sites.

00:35A special session is being held at UNESCO in Paris today to try and safeguard Lebanon's

00:40heritage with enhanced protection.

00:43On Sunday, a petition came out calling on the U.N. to establish so-called no-target

00:48zones in Lebanon.

00:49That petition was signed by some 300 prominent cultural figures, including archaeologists

00:54and academics.

00:55We're going to talk more about the cultural threat to Lebanon now with Joanne Farshak-Bajali.

01:00Joanne, thanks for joining us.

01:02You're an archaeologist.

01:03You're also the founder of Biladi Lebanon, which is an NGO dedicated to promote and safeguard

01:08heritage.

01:09I mean, let's start with the destruction that's happened already.

01:11How bad is it?

01:13Hello.

01:14Thank you for hosting me.

01:16Well, the destruction that has been going on for the archaeological site is rather very

01:19bad.

01:21The weapons that are being used, but here we'd like to distinguish that there are two

01:24levels of archaeological sites.

01:26There's the World Heritage sites that haven't been directly targeted, meaning that the bombing

01:31did not include the remains, but the surrounding of the remains.

01:35Here we are seeing the photos of Baalbek, the Roman temples of Baalbek also listed as

01:40World Heritage sites.

01:42And the targeted was for the buildings in the surroundings area.

01:45That was a 400-year-old house that was used in the parking as a place for artisanal.

01:51There has been.

01:52But when the evacuation plan for Baalbek was launched two weeks ago, the temples and the

01:57World Heritage site was not excluded.

01:59And that has put the threat on the site in an extremely high level.

02:02Plus, of course, there's the risk of the continuous vibration movement of the soil of the ground

02:07surface and the surface because of the very heavy bombing taking place around them.

02:13Indeed.

02:14The sites that have been.

02:15No, continue.

02:16Go ahead.

02:17No, I was saying that the sites that have been extremely damaged are actually the historical

02:22houses and the historical souks and mosques located in the villages, then towns located

02:27in the south and in the Bekaa that are not protected, that were heavily, in many cases,

02:32they have just been destroyed and turned into ashes.

02:36So how many civilians, Joanne, actually fled to these cultural sites, thinking that they

02:40might be safer there than in other parts of Lebanon?

02:45No, people have tried to say to take refuge in the World Archaeological Site of Baalbek,

02:50but the usage of the site as shelter was refused to them and they were asked to leave.

02:56So the archaeological sites are remaining, how can I say, unopened to the public to take

03:01shelter in them.

03:02And that was a decision made by the Lebanese authorities to do not allow people to enter

03:06the site and take shelter for two reasons.

03:09One, it will threaten their own lives as if they are to be targeted, they will be targeted.

03:14And then it will cause the destruction of the site.

03:17And of course, doing this act will automatically remove the site from being a listed site based

03:23on the Hay Convention of 1954.

03:27So the IDF, for its part, says that it's targeting these areas because they are both Hezbollah

03:32strongholds.

03:33As far as you know, is that the case?

03:35No, it's not the case.

03:37These are the, here we'd like to distinguish again, whether we're talking about the main

03:42archaeological sites that are located within the historical cities and that have always

03:47been used as archaeological sites.

03:49And there, there was no sheltering.

03:52And whether we're talking about the historical houses located in the villages and in the

03:56nearby houses or the mosques that have been heavily destroyed.

04:00Over there, we can see that the destruction was made on the villages, proclaiming that

04:04there are tunnels under them.

04:06But then we could see on the aerial photography that there was no, the surface did not, there

04:12was still intact.

04:13So there was no tunnels beneath them.

04:15And here we're using for documenting this, we're using aerial photography.

04:19So now today in Paris at UNESCO, there is a meeting that is underway to establish these

04:24so-called no target zones in Lebanon.

04:27Do you think that this will be successful?

04:30We definitely hope it will be successful.

04:32Lebanon is asking, is requesting for an enhanced protection for 34 sites.

04:36And this request with the UNESCO will actually, is challenging all the 1954 Convention to

04:42put in practice a modality of securing and safeguarding archaeological sites.

04:48Plus to this list, there's the no strike list that you are referring to as no hit list that

04:52is being proclaimed and asked for around the world.

04:55So if indeed this goes through and these no target zones are established and there is

05:00a way to better protect these sites in Lebanon, do you think that that will actually be enough

05:04or is the damage that's done already going to have more serious consequences down the

05:08line?

05:09Fortunately, it will not be enough.

05:11It's a very, very good start, but it's not enough because these, we have limited the

05:15protection to 34 sites, but we still have all the historical houses located within the

05:20villages.

05:21That's plus the fact that the damage that have been done already by the heavy destruction

05:26has already caused a lot of damage.

05:28So let's say it's a very good start towards enhancing protection and raising awareness

05:33about cultural heritage being targeted, but more measures need to be made to secure the

05:39rest of the historical houses and then find a way to restore or reconstruct what has been

05:44destroyed.

05:45Joanne, thank you for sharing your expertise with us.

05:47Joanne Fauschach by JALI, thank you.

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