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UNESCO targets Lebanon castles
UNESCO member states are set to vote from Friday next week on new additions to its World Heritage and World Heritage in Danger lists when they meet in Busan, South Korea, with Lebanese castles among the sites described as under threat from war or climate change.
“Also to be given priority are five castles in south Lebanon”
The UN cultural agency plans to prioritize five castles in southern Lebanon, where the region has come under fire from Israel, including the Crusader fortress of Qalaat al-Chakif or Beaufort Castle, which Israeli troops captured in May.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre director Lazare Eloundou Assomo said, "We may not have the means to deploy peacekeepers... but we can send a message to the entire world," linking the vote to preventing destruction of threatened sites.
Assomo added that safeguarding heritage allows communities that have been traumatized by conflicts to begin to come back and rebuild, and that being placed on the endangered list is meant to help states "find funding, partners and attention" rather than serve as a reprimand.
The vote is also framed as a way to unlock support for preservation, with the World Heritage list including about 1,200 sites worldwide and the endangered designation intended to attract attention and resources for at-risk locations.
How the vote is framed
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee is expected to examine nominations under an emergency procedure, and the Lebanese castles in southern Lebanon are among the sites being processed for possible inclusion on the World Heritage in Danger list.
The Hürriyet Daily News report says UNESCO documents describe the five Mount Amel castles in southern Lebanon as having suffered damage and continuing to face serious threats from the conflict, while also noting that advisers have recommended adding Sebastia and Boma–Badingilo simultaneously to the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
In the same coverage, the UNESCO director told AFP, "These sites are important, and everything must be done to prevent their destruction," as representatives of UNESCO’s 196 member states begin voting next Friday in Busan.
The Economic Times similarly frames the endangered designation as not a reprimand but a measure meant to help countries secure resources, quoting Assomo that it is intended to help states "find funding, partners and attention" to better preserve threatened heritage.
Together, the reports place Lebanon’s castles within a broader set of proposed World Heritage in Danger additions that also includes Roman baths and a second-century triumphal arch and hippodrome in Tyre, Lebanon, which have come under heavy Israeli bombardment in recent months.
What’s at stake for Lebanon
For Lebanon, the stakes described in the coverage include both the potential listing of five castles in southern Lebanon and the possible endangered classification of existing World Heritage sites in the country, including the ruins of Tyre.
“a second-century triumphal arch and hippodrome in Tyre, Lebanon, which has come under heavy Israeli bombardment”
The Taipei Times report says a second-century triumphal arch and hippodrome in Tyre, Lebanon, have come under heavy Israeli bombardment in recent months, and it places those ruins among sites that could be labeled as endangered.
The Times of India likewise says several sites already on the World Heritage list could be added to the list of endangered places, including the remains of Roman baths and a second-century triumphal arch and hippodrome in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.
UNESCO’s director Lazare Eloundou Assomo links the endangered designation to preservation support, saying safeguarding heritage helps communities traumatized by conflicts begin to come back and rebuild.
The reports also emphasize that UNESCO’s World Heritage list currently includes around 1,200 sites worldwide, and that inclusion can boost tourism and unlock funding for preservation of sites facing threats such as pollution, war and negligence.
