Author: Sherine Al Shallah
Committee: Media Committee
Date: 09/12/2024
On Friday 22 November at 2pm Paris time, Sherine was interviewed live on air by the news team about the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict granting Enhanced Protection to 34 Cultural Properties in Lebanon. Sherine was asked about the meaning and implications of the decision, and about the current extent of threats to Lebanese cultural properties.
Sherine emphasised that the date of the interview coincided with Lebanon’s Independence Day, and the status of Lebanon as a founding member of the United Nations. Sherine expressed the sentiment of Lebanese people’s gratitude to UNESCO, the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict, and the Lebanese Delegation for swift action in issuing a unanimous decision that met the real urgent existential threat to our shared cultural heritage with emergency response. And to the 105 Lebanese Members of Parliament fulfilling their public duties under difficult circumstances and galvanising in one day over 1000 signatures to petition for action to protect Lebanon’s cultural heritage from ongoing threats since September. Sherine described the destruction of historical and cultural sites in Nabatieh, damage and threats in Baalbeck and Tyre documented by organisations and civil defence volunteers on the ground, and their impacts on displacement and permanent displacement – and in turn, the implications of the displacement of over half of the Lebanese population on the protection and safeguarding of cultural heritage sites in Lebanon.
In describing the value of Lebanese cultural heritage under threat, Sherine referred to words from the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict state members (Qatar, Poland, Mali, Brasil, Italy, Armenia, Japan, Finland and Gabon) of the cultural sites as representing windows to history and bridges to a peaceful and prosperous future where our children could take pride in our, their and all of our humanity’s cultural heritage. Cultural heritage scholarship accomodates a tension as to whether cultural heritage is that of humankind (World Heritage Convention) or the communities themselves. The extraordinary session on Lebanon showed that there is little place for tension as cultural heritage is simultaneously for both – heritage of humanity in Lebanon as articulated by the Armenian delegate and requires global effort to protect and safeguard it as demonstrated by the meeting.
Sherine also echoed articulations of the links between cultural heritage sites and immaterial culture. Material heritage in the site of Baalbeck for example is also linked to immaterial heritage embedded in Lebanese cultural identity since the 1950s of the Baalbeck International Festival every August. The Rachid Karami International Fair in Tripoli cited by the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict Brazil delegate as an example of the genius of Niemeyer hosted concerts and art shows and signified connection between Lebanon and Brazil. And the memories go on for the 32 remaining sites that are our sites of joy and pride and humanity.
When asked about the impact of the decision, Sherine stated that international treaties impose legal obligations on state parties (that are not optional, in the words of the Poland state delegation at the 18 November extraordinary session), and that Enhanced Protection of 34 properties signified the universal condemnation of potential attacks and deterrence due to increased prospects of criminal prosecution in relation to attacks – as happened against Al Mahdi for cultural property destruction in Timbuktu. Sherine stated that the grounds of granting Enhanced Protection of high cultural significance and lack of association with military activities are directly linked to criminal prosecution under international law.
Finally, Sherine was also asked about the interlinkages between the current threats and risks of looting and highlighted heightened risks as happened in other situations in Syria for example. Sherine emphasised that attacks to cultural heritage constrain the realisation of human rights and that they attract mandates under European legal frameworks in relation to prosecution of looting and illicit trade in cultural objects, and vigilance in relation to cultural object provenance and risks such as money laundering. Sherine also referred to the accompanying decision of technical assistance to Lebanon to protect cultural heritage including through measures to transfer moveable objects to safe places – particularly those of the two museums included in the 34 properties (Sursock Museum and National Museum).