RAMALLAH - The UNESCO heritage committee's decision to include Bethlehem’s Nativity Church and the nearby pilgrimage route on the world heritage sites list is evidence of worldwide recognition of Palestinian rights and their just cause, a top advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday.

Nabil Abu Rdeina told the Palestinian Authority's official news agency Wafa that “this was a historic day for justice.”

The world, he added, has once again expressed opposition to occupation and sided with justice and international legitimacy by recognizing the Palestinian right to establish a state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as their capital.