World Heritage Sites in Danger: Protect Precious Cultural Assets from Warfare

Editorial

15:17 JST, August 21, 2024

Not only are lives being lost in the wars in the Middle East and Europe. Valuable cultural assets are also being destroyed.

International efforts should be strengthened to ensure that buildings and artworks that convey history to the present era are handed down to future generations.

In July, UNESCO added the ruins of Tell Umm Amer in the Palestinian territory of Gaza to the World Heritage List. At the same time, the U.N. body designated the site as World Heritage in Danger, meaning that highly valued assets could be lost due to warfare or disasters.

The ruins, which have their origins in the Roman Empire, are located on a trade route that connected Asia and Africa, and they include a Christian monastery and other historic buildings. Conservation efforts were underway, but they have been suspended since the surrounding areas were bombed in a conflict between the Israeli military and the Islamist group Hamas.

The designation of the ruins as World Heritage in Danger is intended to raise the international community’s interest in them and signal a call for a wide range of funding and technical assistance for their preservation and restoration.

Apart from the designation as World Heritage in Danger, the Hague Convention, which was adopted in 1954, obliges signatory nations to protect cultural properties in times of war. Israel has also ratified the convention.

Nevertheless, Israel has gone beyond the scope of self-defense in launching fierce assaults in response to Hamas’ cross-border attacks, putting cultural properties in jeopardy. The death toll has exceeded 40,000 in Gaza. This is something that cannot be overlooked.

Of the 1,223 World Heritage sites, 56 have been designated as World Heritage in Danger. About one-third of these are concentrated in the Middle East. It can be said that this reflects the unstable situation there.

In Ukraine, which continues to suffer from Russian aggression, three World Heritage sites were designated as World Heritage in Danger last year.

Of these, the Saint Sophia Cathedral in the capital of Kyiv is regarded as the starting point of the spread of Christianity to today’s Ukraine and Russia and the spiritual pillar for them.

Russia has repeatedly attacked the central parts of Kyiv, where the cathedral stands, and the Historic Center of Odesa in the south of the country, which is also on the World Heritage List.

It is obvious that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who considers Ukraine part of Russia, is targeting these historic sites on purpose in order to deny Ukraine’s unique culture and identity. This is a blasphemy against the history and culture that humanity should share.

Japan lost cultural assets such as the Nagoya Castle keep and Shuri Castle in Okinawa Prefecture during World War II. Since the end of the war, Japanese experts have assisted in the preservation and restoration of cultural properties, such as the Angkor complex of ruins in Cambodia.

It is hoped that the wars will end as soon as possible and Japanese knowledge and technology will be utilized in the Middle East and Europe.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 21, 2024)