Each nation has a rich and deep history that shapes its identity. A story that we can neither create nor take on. Only criminals do it …
From Canaanites to the Romans, byzantine to Muslims, Palestine, a land marked by the imprint of more than 22 civilizations, is one of the richest countries in antiquities in the world, even competing with Egypt in the Arab world.
Let’s talk about World Heritage
The sites and cultural goods that Palestine houses make it one of the countries richest in antiquities in the world. However, only 4 sites are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We quote the old jericho in Tell Es-Sultan. It is the oldest fortified city in the world.
Tell Esultan, anterior to the Egyptian pyramids, is an oval mound in the Valley of the Jordan, which contains prehistoric deposits testifying to a human activity between the 9th and the VIIIth millennium before our era.
It is the fourth Palestinian site to join the World Heritage List, after the Nativity Basilica, in Bethlehem, the old town of Hebron and the land of olive trees and vines south of Al Quds.
These registrations are not without provoking the ire of Zionists who want at all costs to attribute the history of this country. Moreover, they saw the registration of nine sites in the said list where Unesco speaks of “Israel” and “the State of Palestine” (the only country mentioned in this way).
The height of irony, the sites allocated to Israel are older than the state itself …
Identity flight
Committees of Israeli archaeologists have been trained to carry out research in all regions of Palestine on which Israel has been founded, in order to create a biased historical story, trying to judil the Palestinian antiquities.
The former jericho in Tell Esultan
The historic monuments of major Palestinian cities such as acre, Jaffa and Tiberiads were not spared by this crime.
In addition, Israel has used various institutions to appropriate Palestinian culture, by flying and systematically falsifying its heritage, including its fashion and cuisine, which they labeled “Israeli” during several international exhibitions.
Systematic looting
Studies show that there are more than 3,300 archaeological sites in occupied West Bank, on average an archaeological site every half Kilometers in Palestine. Sites that testify to the authentic identity and history of the region.
Since the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by Israel in June 1967, many Palestinian antiquities have been stolen and sold.
The Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Palestinian Authority reported the theft and destruction of more than 500 archaeological sites and more than 1,500 main monuments by Zionist thieves.
Judaïsation at all costs
Israel used various means to falsify the history of Palestine, destroy its heritage and erase its identity. From the beginning of the last century, the organization “Eretz Israel Research Association” was created in 1913 in order to discredit any historical proof of the Arab identity of Palestine.
Control of historical sites and museums as well as the destruction of monuments and the theft of ancient objects are part of this strategy.
They checked the Al Bouraq Wall in Al Aqsa, which they nicknamed “Wall of Lames”. They also converted Muslim holy places into Jewish places of worship, such as the Bilal mosque in Bethlehem.
Museums are not spared from the occupants’ stranglehold. The Palestinian museum, one of the oldest in the Middle East, was taken under Israeli control after the occupation of Al Quds in 1967. The citadel of Al Quds, a major archaeological site, was transformed into a museum promoting a purely Israeli vision of the history of the city.
All these wealth is threatened by theft, looting, bombing. Even those that are saved, it is difficult to reserve them for lack of means.
Whatever happens on the battlefield, and as long as the Palestinians continue to fight for their land and their inheritance, their history can never be erased. It is anchored in its ruins, its artefacts, and in the heart of its people. She will live forever …
Jihene Salhi
