`` The only purpose of this unprecedented voting procedure was to turn the commission into a propaganda tool against Israel . UNESCO in Bethlehem is now the first Palestinian world heritage site . The vote signals a loosening of Israeli control on Palestinian land , a Palestinian official says . `` This is a real theater of the absurd , '' says an Israeli foreign office spokesman . Bethlehem and Palestinian funding to The Church of the Nativity was cut over Palestinian membership .
UNESCO in Bethlehem is now the first Palestinian world heritage site . The vote signals a loosening of Israeli control on Palestinian land , a Palestinian official says . `` This is a real theater of the absurd , '' says an Israeli foreign office spokesman . Bethlehem and Palestinian funding to The Church of the Nativity was cut over Palestinian membership .