UNESCO, it seems, has been busy naming new heritage sites.
UNESCO names West Bank’s Battir a protected World Heritage Site. Both Palestinian villagers and Jewish settlers say stone terraces threatened by Israel’s plan to build separation wall (Renee Lewis, Aljazeera).
Battir (Betar) is the site of Bar Kokhba's last stand against the Romans. Background to this particular story is here and links.
Beit Guvrin-Maresha Caves Named World Heritage Site. UNESCO Calls Spelunker Paradise 'City Under a City' (JTA/The Forward).
The site of Beit Guvrin-Maresha featured in an earlier PaleoJudaica post here.
