1/1/2024–|Last updated: 1/1/202403:03 PM (Mecca time)
A few days ago, the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (1), through its official accounts on social media, condemned the sabotage operations that the World Heritage Site “South Jerusalem Terraces” were subjected to by a group of settlers under the protection of the Israeli occupation army, after they placed Mobile homes (caravans) and starting to carry out bulldozing work for the purpose of building a new settlement outpost. The Ministry indicated that this sabotage comes within the framework of “the war of extermination carried out by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, and its attempts to impose policies of Judaization and to acquire, falsify and destroy the Palestinian heritage, with the aim of justifying its settlement policies.”
It is worth noting that the World Heritage Committee (2) included the “Batir” site (the terraces of southern Jerusalem) on the UNESCO World Heritage List during the meeting held in the Qatari capital, Doha, in June 2014. The cultural landscape of the terraces is located 7 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. It extends through a series of valleys starting from the Al-Makhrour Valley, west of the city of Beit Jala, towards the village of Husan. The World Heritage Committee notes that the development of these agricultural terraces relied on a network of irrigation canals fed by groundwater sources, given the nature of the surrounding mountainous environment.
This Israeli targeting of Palestinian archaeological sites seems closer to a systematic policy. Earlier, the “Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities” reported that a group of important archaeological sites in the Gaza Strip were damaged after they were bombed by Israeli bombing, most notably: the “Porphyrius” Church in the Zaytoun neighborhood, which is considered The oldest churches in Gaza, whose construction dates back to the fifth century AD during the Byzantine era, as well as the “Omari Mosque” in the city of “Jabalia,” which is the oldest among the mosques of Gaza, in addition to the Roman cemetery in “Jabalia,” the minaret of the “Al-Shuja’iyya Mosque,” and the ancient “Qashqar” Mosque, which Its construction dates back to the 13th century AD.
Silencing Palestinian history
“The irony is that wounded Gaza was the one that soothed man’s wound by inventing the medical gauze, whose English name “Gauze” came from the name of the Canaanite Gaza in the 13th century BC, when it was a center for silk weaving.”
Dr. Hamdan Taha, researcher in Palestinian archeology and heritage
Successive publications issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities shed light on the systematic destruction practiced by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian heritage, which is explained by British religious studies professor Keith Whitlam in his book “The Fabrication of Ancient Israel… The Silencing of Palestinian History” (3). Pointing out that archaeological information indicates the physical remains of man, and because the Palestinian people have been present on the land of Palestine since ancient times, archaeological excavations must reveal this, but the Zionist authorities controlling archaeological discovery at the present time are working to erase the features of the Canaanite Arab civilization that inhabited these lands.
Whitlam draws attention to one of the important clauses in the British Mandate Instrument (Article 21), which stipulates that (4): “The state must ensure the establishment and implementation of a law regarding ancient antiquities” in accordance with specific rules, and the Mandate Instrument lists 8 detailed rules. It regulates archaeological excavations and excavations, including prohibiting the excavation of ancient antiquities except with a permit from the relevant department, and restricting the granting of permits to conduct excavations to those who prove their expertise in this field, most of whose experts at that time were Westerners, most of whom adopted the Zionist viewpoint.
Whitlam draws attention to one of the important clauses in the British Mandate Instrument (Article 21), which stipulates that (4): “The state must ensure the establishment and implementation of a law regarding ancient antiquities” in accordance with specific rules, and the Mandate instrument lists 8 detailed rules. It regulates archaeological excavations and excavations, including prohibiting the excavation of ancient antiquities except with a permit from the relevant department, and restricting the granting of permits to conduct excavations to those who prove their expertise in this field, most of whose experts at that time were Westerners, most of whom adopted the Zionist viewpoint.
Whitlam confirms that Zionism wanted to provide the appropriate climate for work in the field of archaeological excavation, with the aim of finding evidence that places all of Palestinian history in the grip of Zionist studies, which is in line with the insistence of the Zionist leader, Chaim Weizmann, that the Balfour Declaration include a reference to the historical link. Between the Jews scattered throughout the land and “the land of their fathers,” as they called it, while “Whitlam” denies that statement, stressing that the ancient history of Israel is just a short moment within the long Palestinian history, which is what the Palestinian thinker “Edward Said” expresses in his book “Blame.” The Victim: False Scientific Research and the Question of Palestine” by saying: “Palestine was the homeland of a remarkable civilization over many centuries before the Hebrew tribes migrated to it.”
Historian and researcher in Palestinian heritage, Dr. Hamdan Taha (5), agrees with Whitlam’s views and points out that the Israeli narrative is considered a model for using antiquities to serve specific ideological goals within the Zionist settlement project, and that the strength of the Zionist narrative does not stem from scientific and objective evidence as much as What is related to international and political alliances?
Taha adds that Palestine has witnessed the largest looting of antiquities since the British occupation period, and currently there are thousands of artifacts discovered in Palestine on the shelves of international museums around the world, in addition to the organized looting of antiquities carried out by Israel through its institutions or through individuals. According to Taha, Israel’s interest is focused on sites of ideological importance that consolidate Zionist claims or that constitute an important resource for tourism development, such as “Paradis Hill,” which was a Roman fort, and Mount “Gerizim” in Nablus. At the same time, Palestinian antiquities that contradict this narrative are systematically destroyed (as is the case with ancient churches and mosques in Gaza), or deliberately left vulnerable to neglect (as Israel prohibits Palestinians from restoring these buildings).
The occupation destroys the antiquities of Palestine… the effects of destruction on the Pasha Palace and the Omari Mosque in Gaza City as a result of the continuous Israeli bombing pic.twitter.com/S5NIsXgD3I
– Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) December 31, 2023
Rockefeller Museum
“They dominated history in order to inhabit the reality they captured in the embrace of that history.”
Syrian writer Mamdouh Adwan, book “Judaization of Knowledge”
Israel’s theft of Palestinian history goes beyond the theft of a group of artifacts to the seizure of entire sites, including a museum with all its possessions, which is the “Palestinian Antiquities” Museum, which is the first museum established in Palestine and is currently known as “Rockefeller” (6). The construction of the museum began in 1928, and it took approximately 10 years to build it, since the excavation work revealed the presence of Islamic graves, which necessitated excavation of them. Then, it was opened in June 1938. The museum at that time contained many important artifacts, such as antiquities. Khirbet al-Mafjar (Hisham bin Abd al-Malik’s palace) and the Qumran Scrolls (discovered in the Dead Sea in 1947 and considered by the Israel Antiquities Authority to be among the state’s most important treasures).
By 1948, with the end of the British Mandate over Jerusalem, the Mandate government formed the Board of Trustees of the Museum to keep it under its control until the Jordanian government nationalized it in 1966, but a few months after nationalization, the Israelis seized the museum during the June War of 1967, and its name was changed to the “Rockefeller Museum.” Named after the American Rockefeller family that donated its construction costs. The museum is currently managed by the Israel Antiquities Authority, which considers it part of the National Museum of Israel built in West Jerusalem.
Although the museum’s collections range from Greek, Christian and Islamic antiquities to Pharaonic writings documenting an Egyptian campaign in the 13th century BC on the Beit Shean region, the Israeli touch intervenes in a crude and “parasitic” manner in order to demonstrate the synchronism of those civilizations with the Jewish presence in those lands. (7). For example, there are engraved writings in the Hebrew language in all the corridors and corridors of the museum, while the museum guide indicates that the British artist “Eric Gill” who designed these letters was inspired by ancient Hebrew letters that were discovered in “ancient monuments in countries.” Likewise, the tour guide unnecessarily links the time of the Egyptian campaign with the presence of the Prophet “Joshua ibn Nun” (who led the children of Israel out of the wilderness and brought them into Jerusalem according to the biblical account).
Israeli arrogance reaches its peak when looking at the collections of the National Museum in Jerusalem, which contains archaeological diversity that represents a unique history of successive civilizations in Palestine, such as the anthropoid coffins originally discovered south of Gaza in the city of Deir al-Balah (8), which number about 50 hand-made pottery coffins. Using scroll technology, these coffins date back to the late Bronze Age and the beginning of the First Iron Age (around the 14th century BC).
At the same time, the museum insists on placing archaeological collections consistent with the biblical narratives at the forefront of the scene, while discoveries related to the period of Arab civilization are hidden or almost non-existent, including the celebration of the statue of the Roman Emperor Hadrian discovered in the Palestinian town of Beit Shean. Although the statue is in fact considered a rare piece because it is made of bronze and is distinguished by its standard resemblance to the emperor, it seems that the main purpose of highlighting this statue alone, according to the Jewish narrative, lies in the emperor’s suppression of the Jewish rebellion during the “Bar Kochba” revolt in 2nd century AD. Thus, the Israeli occupation policy continues to employ the Palestinian heritage in the service of its narrative. It either seizes this heritage and falsifies it in line with its settlement policies, or it resorts to destroying and obliterating it completely when the falsification process becomes difficult.
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Sources:
- Page of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities – State of Palestine – Facebook.
- Inclusion of Battir (Palestine) on the UNESCO World Heritage List and World Heritage in Danger, UNESCO website.
- The book Fabricating Ancient Israel, Silencing Palestinian History – Keith Whitlam – Translated by: Sahar Al-Hunaidi – World of Knowledge, Issue 294.
- Mandate for Palestine – Palestinian News and Information Agency.
- Palestine, the Stolen Land and History – Palestinian News Agency – February 2023.
- The history of Palestine is summarized by the Rockefeller Museum – Al Jazeera – June 2016.
- All about Jerusalem, Rockefeller Museum.
- Anthropoid Coffins from Deir El-Balah, Jan Gunneweg, Archaeometry Unit, Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
