PA Ministers say UNESCO adding Palestinian embroidery to heritage list is "significant because Palestinian heritage, history, culture, and rights are undergoing falsification, theft, and destruction"
Headline: “Palestine welcomes Palestinian embroidery being added to UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage”
“Yesterday [Dec. 15, 2021], the UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage approved the Palestinian request to add "The art of embroidery in Palestine – practices, skills, knowledge, and rituals’ to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This was during its 16th meeting, which is currently being held in Paris, France.
[PA] Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh emphasized yesterday that this approval is an important step that came in time, which is meant to preserve our identity, our heritage, and our Palestinian narrative against the occupation’s attempts to steal that which does not belong to it…
[PA] Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Al-Malki… emphasized the significance of adding Palestinian embroidery [to the list] precisely now when Palestinian heritage, history, culture, and rights are undergoing falsification, theft, and destruction…
[PA] Minister of Culture Atef Abu Saif said that officially adding the art of embroidery to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Cultural Heritage of World Humanity is a victory for the Palestinian narrative, which is based on our people’s right to its land. He added that this is part of a greater mission that must continue in order to defend and preserve our heritage and transfer it to the coming generations.
Abu Saif said that the [PA] Ministry of Culture worked for more than two years to add embroidery to the representative list by preparing the necessary files and documents that prove that the art of embroidery is a pure Palestinian heritage that our people has been engaged in for thousands of years (sic., the Palestinians have no history prior to the modern period).”