Threatened West Bank Village Famous for Roman Irrigation

The West Bank community of Battir, granted UNESCO endangered World Heritage status on Friday, is famous for its Roman-era irrigation system that is under threat from the Israeli separation barrier.

The U.N. cultural agency's World Heritage Committee granted protected status to the agricultural community south of Jerusalem, where Israel plans to build part of the barrier, after an emergency nomination by Palestinian officials.

Battir villagers still use its ancient terraces for their crops, and experts had warned the barrier would irreversibly damage the water system.

Water from natural springs is channeled through the irrigation system to villagers' gardens and orchards.

Battir's produce is a key source of income for the village, as is the tourism generated by the Roman irrigation system itself.

During an appeal against the planned route of the barrier, the Israeli High Court in February asked the defense ministry to justify its decision to build the wall through the village's land.

Confirmation of the barrier's projected route "would be catastrophic, not just for Palestinians but also for this world heritage site," Battir's mayor Akram Badr said.

Israel's defense ministry said its "first and fundamental mission was to assure the security of Israeli citizens".

It added the initial plan for the barrier had been modified, and now "only the first row of terraces would be partly affected".

Construction of the barrier, called the "security fence" by Israelis but dubbed the "apartheid wall" by Palestinians, began in 2002 after a wave of Palestinian attacks.

Made up of towering concrete walls topped with barbed wire, of trenches, electrified fences and closed military roads, the barrier will eventually be some 712 kilometers (442 miles) long.

Of this, 85 percent will be in the West Bank, isolating 9.4 percent of Palestinian territory, including occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, the U.N. said.

The Palestinians won membership in UNESCO in October 2011 and quickly moved to submit a number of sites for recognition, including an emergency application for Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity which was approved in June the following year, despite Israeli objections.

Battir residents are currently locked in a high-profile court battle to change the route of the barrier. The legal action is being led by Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) and supported by Israel's Nature and Parks Authority.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice issued a non-binding resolution calling for those parts of the barrier inside the West Bank to be torn down and for further construction in the territory to cease.

Israel has not complied with the ICJ ruling, and has resisted calls to route the barrier along the Green Line, the 1949 Armistice Line established after the end of fighting that accompanied Israel's establishment a year earlier.

Parts of it the barrier are covered with huge murals and artwork, including some by British graffiti artist Banksy.

On his first visit to the Holy Land last month, Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop at the barrier in Bethlehem.