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The article examines the factor of heritage as it arose during the extremely ephemeral period of Palestinian autonomy (1995-2002). That period saw the beginnings of a great number of urban “projects” linked to the re-appropriation of the built environment in the Palestinian towns of Ramallah, Naplouse, Gaza, Hebron and Bethlehem. The memory of the local autochthonous patrimony was brought to the forefront as a political belief in the Palestinian nation, capable of “rallying” the community. The policy of conservation of the heritage of the built environment, partly freed of the long foreign, military and colonial presence, is full of references to the threat of degradation, of war, and expresses, especially, the symbolic Palestinian nationalist tone. However, these urban identities must not be considered as just the expression of patriotism. The policy dealing with the memory is looked on here in the light of the circulation of ideas or of capital, and of a certain internationalization on which the Palestinian urban sphere depends. Such is the case of Bethlehem 2000, a gigantic heritage scheme hinging on the universal commemoration of the new Millennium. The Author analyses this as the example of a new public culture, existing in a space which is a crossing-point where ideas of the nation meet the economic situation and a certain globalized public culture.