The obliteration of Gaza’s multi-civilizational treasures
Qasr al-Basha (Pasha Palace), 13th century historic building located in the old quarter of Gaza City
Ibtisam Mahdi reports in +972 on 17 February 2024:
Since the beginning of Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, innumerable treasures of Palestine’s cultural heritage have been damaged or destroyed. Like so much of the rest of the besieged enclave, these priceless and beloved landmarks of our people’s history — archaeological sites, millennia-old religious structures, and museums with ancient collections — now lie in ruin.
The ruins of Qasr al-Basha (Pasha Palace), 12 February 2024
Cultural heritage is an essential component of a nation’s identity and carries enormous symbolic meaning, as recognized and protected by countless international conventions, treaties, and bodies. Yet Israel’s pounding of Gaza, now in its fifth month, displays a callous disregard for these testaments to the thousands of years of Gaza’s rich cultural history — to such an extent that it could amount to cultural genocide.
Researchers are trying desperately to catalog these sites and ascertain their current status, but are unable to keep up with the pace of the carnage. And while the loss of human life is the greatest tragedy in any war, Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s physical cultural heritage achieves much the same goal: the erasure of the Palestinian people. Indeed, many of those interviewed for this article believe this is precisely why these sites are being targeted.
National treasures
Hamdan Taha is a renowned scholar, archeologist, and the former director general of the Palestinian Department of Antiquities in Gaza. In an interview with +972 Magazine after he managed to leave the Strip, he underscored the profound historical and civilizational role played by Palestine in general, and Gaza in particular, despite their small geographic size.
“Gaza has witnessed cultural intermingling where civilizations have intertwined, giving rise to a rich and diverse cultural heritage,” he explained. Taha pointed in particular to Gaza’s port, which for centuries was a major hub of trade across the Mediterranean and a locus of this multiculturalism.