UNESCO and other heritage preservation groups propose heritage as a natural and historic expression of local culture, but a more critical look asks us to reconsider naturalized accounts of heritage, and examine when and how a practice or object is transformed from “every day” to “heritage.” Making visible the process of heritage production also allows us to ask who are the players involved in designating, celebrating, promoting and preserving heritage, and what are the broader social and political contexts that inform those decisions? The Palestinian Authority in participation with UNESCO has devoted substantial attention and resources to “heritage preservation” as a part of its overall tourism development strategy, most notably in the successful 2011 campaign to acquire the designation of the Church of the Nativity as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While received with much fanfare by tourism producers and PA officials at the time, the move was met with some indifference and skepticism amongst many Palestinians, doubting if the designation would have any positive effect in their lives as individuals or as communities struggling under occupation. This reaction reflects a broader mistrust of the PA and a vocal critique of the statehood project, seen by many as a formalization of the occupation by conceding most of historic Palestine and refugee rights, and leaving the West Bank Palestinians in isolated bantustans. In my paper, I examine the politics of heritage preservation in the West Bank, particularly in the context of the PA statehood project. I argue that particular mobilizations of heritage by the PA reflect its efforts to normalize a conception of Palestine that is limited to its areas of influence in the West Bank, consistent with the limited territorial and demographic boundaries set by Israel and accepted in the PA statehood plan. By tracing the explicit and implicit narratives of history and national identity in PA tourism materials, I show how new meanings are being imposed on older Palestinian nationalist symbols, to adjust to the scope of the statehood project. Finally, I contrast these top-down notions of heritage with some examples of grassroots heritage projects that challenge the ahistorical and depoliticized narratives presented by the PA’s projects.