The Cases of the Old City of Hebron, the Four Medieval Monuments in Kosovo and Metohija and the Temple of Preah Vihear

World Heritage Sites in Danger is chosen as a leading category of cultural heritage, taking into consideration that it is the object of claims between States. These two aspects are the ground for political claims on contested territories. Specific cases of contested religious heritage rooted in contested territories, such as the Palestinian-Israeli, Kosovo-Serbian and Cambodian-Thailand cases, are the object of the current examination. In particular, three elements will be taken into consideration: a) how UNESCO and National Governments build the Outstanding Universal Value of these selected cases; b) how UNESCO considers the element of contestation in the decisional-making process related to the listing processes of contested sites; c) how intangible heritage has a relevance as a tool to enforce the political claims of parties. In this perspective, UNESCO’s decisions seem to have different impacts (enforcement of national states/ political entities, impairment of national states/political entities, definition of borders1) while managing conflicts of sovereignties between States through religious cultural heritage.