By EUP- MEP-
Prof. Nikolaos Farantouris, Member of the European Parliament, has issued an urgent appeal to UNESCO’s Executive Board on the eve of electing a new Director-General. His message emphasizes that the candidacy of Egypt’s former Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Khaled El-Enany, cannot be evaluated in isolation but must be measured against Egypt’s handling of its own cultural and religious heritage — most notably, Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai.
The monastery, founded in the 6th century under Emperor Justinian and revered across Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions, has been a beacon of continuity for over fifteen centuries. Yet since 2015, its property rights have come under direct threat from Egyptian legal actions and development plans, coinciding with state-backed tourism projects that envision turning the sacred Sinai into a new “Las Vegas.”
Farantouris warns that such pressures could suffocate the monastery, reducing a living sanctuary of prayer into a mere tourist museum. He underscores the paradox: Egypt has long been celebrated as custodian of humanity’s treasures, yet its credibility now rests on respecting Sinai’s patrimony — no less sacred than the pyramids or Abu Simbel.
The MEP calls on UNESCO to uphold its mission, reminding the Board that leadership of the organization is not just a matter of prestige but of moral responsibility. A credible Director-General must embody principles of protection, inclusivity, and justice, not preside over the erosion of living traditions and religious communities.
Farantouris concludes that UNESCO’s integrity is at stake: entrusting its helm to a state or candidate implicated in undermining World Heritage sites would compromise the very ideals the organization exists to defend. The fate of Saint Catherine’s Monastery is thus presented as a test of UNESCO’s credibility — and of the values it claims to uphold.
Full text of Prof. Nikolaos Farantouris’s letter:
