As the pace of the Israeli war on Gaza increases, and the loss of life and the humanitarian crisis continue to scream before the conscience of the international community, hoping to awaken it from the heavy slumber of silence, a voice emerged from under the rubble to shed light on a cultural catastrophe that affects the rich historical and archaeological heritage of the besieged Strip.
A recent study conducted by the “Heritage for Peace” group monitored the extent of direct and indirect damage that has so far been inflicted on more than 100 historical sites in Gaza since the seventh of last October.
Detecting traces of destruction
Despite its relatively small area, the Gaza Strip is distinguished by its historical heritage and archaeological sites of cultural and religious value, including mosques and churches dating back thousands of years.
They destroyed the Pasha’s Palace.. The palace that was an essential part of all our school trips, an ancient and ancient tourist attraction.. It dates back to the Mamluk era in the time of al-Zahir Baibars. It was destroyed by criminals who hate civilizations and bandits who attacked our country, our civilization, and our history from the dustbins of history. pic.twitter.com/gnS8b2B9gH
— Saja Eleyan (@sajaeleyan) December 29, 2023
In the introduction to its report, which was published on November 7, the “Heritage for Peace” group, based in the Catalonia region of Spain, confirms that it maintains a “neutral position,” praising the role of those active on the ground in order to protect their heritage in order to complete the study.
Among the most important victims of the Israeli occupation bombing are the Grand Al-Omari Mosque, which is one of the most important and oldest mosques in historical Palestine, and the Church of St. Porphyrius, which is believed to be the third oldest church in the world, as well as the Rafah Museum in the south and a two-thousand-year-old Roman cemetery in northern Gaza that was excavated in 2022.
The group’s head, Esper Sabreen, says, “The report highlights Gaza’s heritage and monitors the effects of destruction since the beginning of the war in an attempt to raise the awareness of the international community about this heritage and cultural catastrophe.”
He added in his interview with Manhattan Tribune Net that the importance of Gaza’s heritage “is represented by its comprehensiveness of the history of religions and its embrace of the first churches in the world, Byzantine and other antiquities from the Mamluk period, in addition to museums.”
The group’s report notes that the ancient Center for Manuscripts and Documents, the Byzantine Church of Jabalia, and the Balakhiya site (Anthedon) were completely destroyed due to direct bombing, while the Al-Omari Mosque in Gaza and the Deir Al-Balah Museum were partially damaged.
4 mosques were directly targeted in the Gaza Strip and 4 others were indirectly bombed, in addition to partial damage to 86 ancient houses, according to the report.
Deliberate and direct targeting
Sabreen explained that the study relied on “information and pictures from experts from the Gaza Strip under bombardment and bombing, including my friend (Fadl Al-Otal), who told me that he was more saddened by the destruction of the Al-Omari Mosque than by the destruction of his home in the Shati camp in the north.”
He continued, “Israel does not respect international humanitarian law and wants to sever the people of Gaza’s connection to their land, which indicates that the destruction of antiquities is not absurd, but rather a deliberate plan followed by the occupying state.”
Despite the difficulty of communicating with the people of Gaza, Manhattan Tribune Net was able to reach the antiquities expert (Al-Awwal) to talk about his own experience.
At the beginning of the dialogue, Al-Otal indicated that he is in the sixth place to which he was displaced with his family, stressing how much he cares about the fate of archaeological sites more than his home, “because the Israeli bombing is deliberate and intentional and does not differentiate between humans, stones, and animals.”
He added, “The occupation army does not only target archaeological sites, but it also has the intention of erasing the past, present, and ancient and modern Gaza through the method of genocide it is committing.”
He pointed out that archaeological sites in Gaza were not targeted in past wars with this degree of destruction, “but in this war they were destroyed directly, such as the northern mihrab and all the domes present in the architectural expansion of the Al-Omari Mosque thousands of years ago, which disappeared completely.”
Regarding the possibility of restoring the damaged places after the end of the war, he answered, holding on to some hope, “We can restore the remaining sites or parts of them that have completely disappeared, such as the site of Al-Balakhiya – which is the oldest seaport dating back to 800 years BC – and the Roman wall that was destroyed by bulldozers and occupation tanks was discovered in Western apartment.
The Al-Ghazawi expert continued, “The mosques, churches, and culture in the Gaza Strip were not spared,” saying that the restoration of the Al-Omari Mosque is possible, but that it will be “a long and very expensive process because its area is vast.”
UNESCO position
In light of the legitimate questions about the fate of these archaeological sites, a UNESCO spokesman stressed that “priority is usually given to a humanitarian emergency, but cultural heritage in all its forms must also be protected in accordance with international law, which stipulates that cultural property is civilian infrastructure and may not be targeted or used for purposes of “military”.
Speaking to Manhattan Tribune Net, he added, “UNESCO has established a process to monitor the damage since the beginning of the war, relying on satellite images and information sent to it from third parties, including our partners and sister agencies of the United Nations currently on the ground and in close cooperation with our office in Ramallah.”
He stressed that UNESCO – unlike other United Nations organizations and agencies – does not have a humanitarian mandate, which means that it cannot deploy staff in combat zones and can only conduct damage monitoring remotely.
As part of this monitoring, the organization expressed its deep concern about the status of the remains of the Monastery of Saint Hilarion, which was included in the National Tentative List of World Heritage in 2012, and is the remains of one of the first Christian monasteries in the region.
To prevent any threat to this site, the UNESCO Commission for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict has granted it status under “enhanced temporary protection”, the highest level of immunity against attack provided for in the 1954 Hague Convention and its Second Protocol.
The spokesman explained, “Implementing this protection measure has become possible, as the site is today subject to surveillance by guards under the direct authority of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the Palestinian Authority.”
He concluded by saying, “The organization is working on taking additional emergency measures that can be implemented in the coming months. However, the timetable will depend on the development of the situation on the ground.”
Global silence
For his part, the head of the “Heritage for Peace” group believes that UNESCO is a “sterile” organization because it follows the policies of countries under the umbrella of the United Nations.
Sabreen pointed out that there is a complete obstruction to the application of international laws and a clear disregard for the 1954 Hague Convention, which stipulates that countries that attack others must take into account the protection of cultural property, as well as the 1999 Protocol after the Yugoslav War.
This may be one of the reasons that contributed to the completion of the group’s report because it is “a civil society organization that can react quickly to disasters and wars and has a degree of freedom, unlike some universities, for example, which were unable to issue reports or statements for fear of losing government funding,” according to the same speaker.
Sabreen concluded his statements by saying, “The people of Gaza have the right to live with their heritage because those who do not have heritage in the place where they live do not have an emotional connection to their land. Heritage is not just stones, but rather stories and identity. For this reason, there are Palestinians like (Al-Aloul) who have dedicated their lives to preserving Their historical treasure
