Hundreds of Palestinians rallied in the occupied West Bank on Saturday to celebrate the designation of Bethlehem’s Church of Nativity as a World Heritage site. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, declared parts of Bethlehem and the church to be endangered World Heritage sites late last month over the objections of Israel and the United States. The Palestinian Authority had sought the designation in a bid to speed up urgently needed repairs and help protect the city from Israeli occupation. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad hailed the UNESCO recognition as a major milestone.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad: “It’s wonderful to have this celebration. It’s a major event. It’s a landmark event, indeed, I believe, on the path to freedom and statehood. This is the most significant event to have happened since the inception of the Palestinian Authority.”