A ‘cultural genocide’: Which of Gaza’s heritage sites have been destroyed? | Israel War on Gaza News

An ancient harbour relationship again to 800 BC, a mosque that was residence to uncommon manuscripts and one of many world’s oldest Christian monasteries are just some of not less than 195 heritage websites which were destroyed or broken since Israel’s conflict on Gaza started on October 7, in keeping with an NGO documenting conflict harm on cultural websites.

Wiping out the cultural heritage of a folks is among the many conflict crimes South Africa alleges towards Israel in a lawsuit that was heard this previous week on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice. It states: “Israel has broken and destroyed quite a few centres of Palestinian studying and tradition”, together with libraries, non secular websites and locations of historic historic significance.

Gaza, one of many world’s longest inhabited areas, has been residence to a pastiche of individuals since not less than the fifteenth century BC, in keeping with historians.

Empires – together with the traditional Egyptians, Assyrians and Romans – have come and gone, at occasions dominating the land of the Canaanites, the ancestors of the Palestinians, leaving relics of their very own cultural heritage behind. Greeks, Jews, Persians and Nabateans have additionally lived alongside this stretch of coast over the centuries.

Strategically situated on the Mediterranean’s jap shores, Gaza was at all times in a major place on the commerce routes from Eurasia to Africa. Its ports made it a regional hub for commerce and tradition. Since not less than 1300 BC, the By way of Maris – a route working from Heliopolis in historic Egypt, chopping throughout Gaza’s western shoreline after which crossing into Syrian lands – was the principle route that travellers would tackle their journeys to Damascus.

“The crime of concentrating on and destroying archaeological websites ought to spur the world and UNESCO into motion to protect this nice civilisational and cultural heritage,” Gaza’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities stated after Gaza’s Nice Omari Mosque was destroyed in an Israeli air strike on December 8.

On account of that specific strike, an historic assortment of manuscripts stored on the mosque could also be perpetually misplaced. “The manuscript collections remained within the neighborhood of the mosque and are at the moment inaccessible due to the persevering with battle,” Columba Stewart, the CEO of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML), instructed Al Jazeera quickly after the strike.

The 1954 Hague Convention, agreed to by each Palestinians and Israelis, is meant to safeguard landmarks from the ravages of conflict. Isber Sabrine, president of a world NGO that paperwork cultural heritage, defined that crimes affecting cultural heritage are a part of the “collateral harm of genocide”.

“Libraries function cultural repositories, and attacking them is an assault on cultural heritage. What is occurring now could be a conflict crime. It goes towards the primary Hague conference,” Sabrine stated. “Israel is making an attempt to erase the connection of the folks with their land. It’s very clear and intentional. Gaza’s heritage is a part of its folks, it’s historical past and their connection.”

Whereas cultural genocide erases tangible heritage like museums, church buildings and mosques, intangible heritage consists of customs, tradition and artefacts. These, too, have been broken, together with the Union of Palestinian artists on Jalaa Avenue in Gaza Metropolis and the well-known clay pots as soon as baked within the metropolis’s al-Fawakhir district.

In an announcement to Al Jazeera, UNESCO stated: “Whereas precedence is rightly given to the humanitarian state of affairs, the safety of cultural heritage in all its varieties should even be taken under consideration. In accordance with its mandate, UNESCO calls on all actors concerned to strictly respect worldwide legislation. Cultural property shouldn’t be focused or used for army functions, as it’s thought-about to be civilian infrastructure.”

Right here’s a better take a look at a number of the websites which were destroyed or broken:

Museums

There are 4 museums in Gaza, and two have been levelled, the Worldwide Council of Museums-Arab (ICOM-Arab) confirmed to Al Jazeera.

The Rafah Museum had accomplished a 30-year venture to curate a group of historic cash, copper plates and jewelry, making it Gaza’s fundamental museum of Palestinian heritage. It was an early sufferer within the conflict, destroyed in an air strike on October 11.

Farther east and as soon as sitting on a hilltop, Al Qarara Museum (also referred to as the Khan Younis Museum) was opened in 2016 by Mohamed and Najla Abu Lahia, a husband and spouse staff who stated they wished to protect a historical past of Gaza’s lands and heritage for generations to return.

Its assortment consisted of about 3,000 artefacts relationship again to the Canaanites, the Bronze Age civilisation that lived in Gaza and throughout a lot of the Levant within the second century BC.

All that continues to be of the museum now are shards of pottery and smashed glass that has been blown out of the widows throughout an October air strike.

ICOM-Arab instructed Al Jazeera this museum was given superior warning by Israeli forces to empty its contents and evacuate to the south of Gaza.

The Mathaf al-Funduq, a small museum opened in 2008 and housed within the Mathaf Resort in northern Gaza, was broken by shelling on November 3.

In Gaza Metropolis, the Thirteenth-century Qasr Al-Basha, or Pasha’s Palace, was was a museum in 2010 by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism, and a group of artefacts from completely different durations of Gaza’s historical past was on show. The location was hit by Israeli air strikes on December 11, damaging its partitions, courtyard and gardens.

Like most of the heritage websites in Gaza, this constructing has modified possession and capabilities a number of occasions over its historical past. The 2-storey fort, constructed by Mamluk ruler Sultan Zahir Baybars within the mid-Thirteenth century, was as soon as a seat of energy, constructed as a defence towards the Crusaders and Mongol armies. In the course of the seventeenth century, it was utilized by Ottoman rulers and as soon as served as lodgings for the French commander Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 when he entered Gaza to attempt to stave off an anticipated Ottoman invasion of Egypt, the place the French held courtroom.

Earlier than the 1948 Nakba, when lots of of 1000’s of Palestinians turned refugees in the course of the creation of Israel and lots of fled into Gaza, the palace served as a police station for the British, who managed the world, and later, it turned a Palestinian women faculty.

Libraries

Throughout a week-long pause within the Israeli bombardment that started on November 24, Palestinians have been capable of briefly survey the extent of the harm to their homeland. It quickly turned clear that many public service buildings had been destroyed, together with the Rashad El Shawa Cultural Middle in Gaza Metropolis, as soon as the venue for peace talks between PLO chief Yasser Arafat and US President Invoice Clinton within the Nineties. Samir Mansour’s group bookshop, which was painstakingly restored after the Israeli bombardment of 2021, was additionally badly broken.

The Library of the Nice Omari Mosque in Gaza Metropolis was as soon as crammed with uncommon manuscripts, together with previous copies of the Quran, biographies of Prophet Muhammad and historic books on philosophy, medication and Sufi mysticism. The library, established by Sultan Zahir Baybars and opened in 1277, as soon as boasted a group of 20,000 books and manuscripts.

Most of the uncommon books and manuscripts housed there have been misplaced or destroyed in the course of the Crusades and World Struggle I, leaving solely 62 books. These onerous copies have now additionally been destroyed in a strike on the Omari Mosque on December 8.

A digitisation venture of those books was accomplished final 12 months by the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library and on the British Library and are accessible on-line at HMML Reading Room.

Mosques

Gaza’s Tourism and Antiquities Ministry estimated that as many as 104 mosques have been broken or destroyed because the begin of the Israeli assault. This consists of the Othman bin Qashqar Mosque in Gaza Metropolis’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, which was inbuilt 1220 on the web site the place Prophet Muhammad’s great-grandfather is believed to have been buried. It was badly broken in an air strike on December 7.

The Sayed al-Hashim Mosque, constructed someday within the twelfth century and rebuilt in 1850, was broken in an October air strike. This mosque, constructed of sturdy limestone within the Previous Metropolis of Gaza, is of nice significance for Muslims as a result of it’s stated to deal with the tomb of one other of Prophet Muhammed’s great-grandfathers, Hashim bin Abd Manaf. Native lore says he was a service provider travelling again to Mecca from Syria when he turned unwell, died and was buried in what’s now Gaza’s Daraj neighbourhood.

A short interlude of Crusader dominance adopted the mosque’s contruction earlier than the Mamluks took over and rebuilt it. It might later be renovated below the watch of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Majid in 1850 and once more after harm in 1917 throughout World Struggle I.

Early within the present conflict, the mosque caught fireplace throughout an Israeli air strike, which broken its partitions and ceilings.

The Nice Omari Mosque has been a web site of spiritual worship in a single type or one other for about two millennia.

Identified in Arabic as Al-Masjid al-Omari al-Kabir, it’s considered the primary mosque constructed within the Gaza Strip 1,400 years in the past. On December 8, it was destroyed in an Israeli air strike.

Constructed out of native sandstone to accommodate as many as 5,000 worshippers for congregational prayers, all that continues to be is its Mamluk-era minaret, bent and damaged.

“This was greater than only a mosque for the group,” Sabrine stated. “One man instructed me he felt extra unhappy in regards to the destruction of the mosque than that of his own residence.”

Named after the second caliph of Islam, Omar bin Khattab, it was constructed within the seventh century on high of the ruins of an historic church inbuilt 406, which itself was constructed over the foundations of a pagan temple to the Canaanite fertility god, Dagon.

Like many historic websites that outlive the individuals who constructed them, this one has completely different tales behind it. In line with one account, Samson, an Israelite warrior talked about within the Previous Testomony who was recognized to carry his energy in his hair, turned buried below the rubble of the construction after he introduced the partitions of the pagan temple down upon himself. Others say the temple fell after the Byzantines burned down all pagan websites after they took over rule of Gaza from 390.

Ayyubid conqueror Salah al-Din turned the constructing again right into a mosque after the Crusaders had transformed it to St John the Baptist Cathedral.

The mosque had been used as a spot of worship by the native Muslim group since 1291 and had served as a focus for gatherings and cultural actions.

In partnership with the British Library Endangered Archives Programme, HMML final 12 months digitised a selection of historic, single copy books from the mosque’s library which might be unavailable “wherever else on the earth”, an HMML adviser instructed Al Jazeera. Works included the 14th century E-book of Sufi Poems of Ibn-Zokaa and books by famed Gazan jurists, together with Sheikh Skaike.

The December strike was not the primary time the mosque had been hit. It was additionally struck on October 19 and was additionally broken throughout World Struggle I and once more in the course of the 2014 assault by Israel on Gaza.

Church buildings

The ground of the Byzantine Church of Jabalia, inbuilt 444, was as soon as adorned with vibrant mosaics depicting animals, searching scenes and palm bushes. Its partitions have been adorned with 16 non secular texts written in historic Greek, which dated again to the period of Emperor Theodosius II, who dominated Byzantium from 408 to 450.

The Palestinian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry reopened the church in early 2022 after a three-year restoration in collaboration with a French organisation, Premiere Urgence Internationale, and the British Council.

On the time, the ministry’s Nariman Khella stated: “The church was found in the course of the paving of Salah al-Din Avenue, and the very first thing that was found have been two tombs, one for an previous particular person and the opposite for a younger baby.” That very same 12 months, a farmer found a series of intricate mosaics close by. The state of the tombs and the close by mosaics stays unclear.

As for the historic church itself, it was destroyed in October by Israeli air strikes.

The Monastery of Saint Hilarion is in an space referred to as Inform Umm Amer in Nuseirat village on the coast and dates again to about 340 throughout Roman rule of the area. A “inform”, is a flat-topped mound, or hill, typically marking the place of an historic metropolis.

To withdraw from worldly life and immerse himself in non secular pursuits, Saint Hilarion, a Christian who is alleged to be the founding father of monasticism, constructed a small and easy room for himself in what he thought was a secluded spot in at this time’s Deir el-Balah within the central Gaza Strip. Regardless of his need for solitude, pilgrims sought him out searching for cures for illnesses and non secular steering. Buildings round his easy room unfold through the years, ultimately changing into one of many largest monasteries within the Center East.

Inside the 25-acre (10-hectare) monastery’s sanctuary, there would ultimately be 5 church buildings, a burial web site, a baptism corridor and historic baths. Mosaics and limestone adorned the flooring and partitions to welcome pilgrims travelling the By way of Maris from Egypt to Damascus.

Broken in an earthquake in 614, the location lay deserted till Palestinian archaeologists began excavations within the late Nineties. The location, which UNESCO added to its Tentative World Heritage record in 2012, has been broken within the Israeli bombardments.

The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius has been situated in Zeitoun for 16 centuries. It was struck and broken on October 19.

Thought-about to be the third oldest church on the earth, Saint Porphyrius was inbuilt 425 on the foundations of an historic pagan web site and was named after the Byzantine saint who had made it his mission to shut down the pagan temples. He’s thought to have been buried on the grounds of the church.

Like different important websites, this church was was a mosque within the seventh century however reverted again to a church within the 1150s when Crusaders reclaimed it. Renovated in 1856, it has remained a spot of worship for Gaza’s Christian community to wish and search shelter throughout occasions of battle.

Within the October 19 Israeli bombing, 17 folks have been killed when the roof of the church caved in. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem stated concentrating on the church “constitutes a conflict crime”. The neighbouring Ottoman-style Katib al-Wilaya Mosque, constructed within the fifteenth century, sustained harm in the identical assault.

The Holy Household Church, inbuilt 1974, is Gaza’s solely Roman Catholic church and a shelter for the local people. It was hit in an air strike on November 4. A college within the church advanced was partially destroyed.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem confirmed that shrapnel from Israeli army strikes on buildings close to the Holy Household Church had destroyed water tanks and photo voltaic panels on the roof of the church.

Different heritage websites

Ard-al-Moharbeen, or the Roman Necropolis, was unearthed final 12 months by archaeologists from Palestine and France after development staff constructing new properties found tombs on the web site.

At least 134 tombs relationship from 200 BC to 200 AD with skeletons nonetheless intact have been present in what’s believed to be a Roman necropolis.

Two intricately adorned lead sarcophagi have been found, one with grape harvest motifs and the opposite that includes dolphins.

Fadel Alatel, an archaeologist in Gaza and a part of the Heritage for Peace community, was engaged on this excavation earlier than October 7. He instructed Al Jazeera he was scared of what could have occurred to those uncommon tombs.

“That is within the space the place white phosphorous was dropped. Its harm to the location is unknown,” he stated. “Additionally the winter climate and heavier rains could imply the uncommon discovery could possibly be destroyed.”

Alatel has labored to protect Gaza’s heritage and archaeology by means of numerous Israeli air strikes however stated this time the state of affairs is way worse and he has been unable to return to the location to survey the extent of the harm.

Forensic Structure (FA), an investigative journalism company primarily based at Goldsmiths, College of London, has been documenting the destruction of cultural heritage in Gaza in its investigation Living Archaeology. On October 8, sooner or later after the Hamas assaults on Israel that began the conflict, researchers on the company utilizing satellite tv for pc know-how discovered proof of three giant craters from Israeli rockets on the archaeological web site.

In a report, FA acknowledged: “This disregard for and destruction of Palestinian cultural heritage each diminishes Palestinian claims to statehood and denies Palestinians their elementary proper to entry and protect their very own heritage.”

The destiny of one other historic web site, a harbour, is thought. It has been destroyed.

Situated within the northwest nook of Gaza, the enclave’s first recognized seaport, Anthedon, also referred to as Balakhiyah or Tida, was inhabited from 800 BC to 1100 AD, or from the Mycenaean period to the early Byzantine age. It turned an unbiased metropolis in the course of the Hellenistic interval.

After Roman temple ruins and mosaic flooring have been found on the 5-acre (2-hectare) archaeological web site, it was positioned by UNESCO on its Tentative World Heritage record in 2012.

Different stays date again to the late Iron Age and the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine durations.

The Hammam al-Sammara, or Samaritan Bathhouse, was destroyed on December 8. It had pre-dated Islam and was doubtless established by the Samaritans, a non secular sect of ethnic Jews who lived within the Zeitoun space, also referred to as the Jewish Quarter. The realm had a thriving Jewish group till Crusader rule within the twelfth century. The final Palestinian Jewish household lived in the neighbourhood till the Sixties.

The one different piece of Jewish historical past in Gaza was the King David Mosaic, which dates to 508. It was found on the stays of a sixth century synagogue and depicted King David taking part in a harp. It was transferred to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem after Israel captured the Gaza Strip in the course of the 1967 Six-Day Struggle.

At one time, Gaza Metropolis had 38 bathhouses. Many have been misplaced throughout wars and occupation as a result of there have been an absence of assets to take care of them.

The Hammam al-Sammara was the final one remaining. An indication as soon as hung by its entrance stating it had been restored in 1320 by Mamluk ruler Sangar ibn Abdullah.

The location was a well-liked assembly place for Gazans to socialize and search cures for illnesses below its conventional vaulted ceilings. With intricate, inlaid marble tiled flooring the hammam was nonetheless heated utilizing conventional wood-fired ovens and aqueducts.

Situated northeast of Nuseirat, the fortified metropolis of Inform el-Ajjul, or Calves Hill, sits between the Mediterranean Sea and Wadi Gaza. It was established about 2000 to 1800 BC and has been broken within the Israeli bombardment.

British Egyptologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie found the location within the Thirties after he moved east into Palestine after excavating Giza’s Nice Pyramid. Right here he found gold jewelry and historic cash utilized by the Hyksos, Romans and Byzantines.

Most of his discoveries made between 1930 and 1934 when Gaza was below the British Mandate now reside on the British Museum’s Institute of Archaeology in London. Different finds included imported pottery from Cyprus, bottles and scarabs, with many items relationship way back to the Bronze Age about 3,600 years in the past. The artefacts additionally recommend Inform el-Ajjul was as soon as a buying and selling hub.

Standing unknown

The standing of Gaza’s many different historic websites stays unknown. In line with Alatel, it’s tough to maintain up with the state of affairs on the bottom as a result of it “modifications each 5 minutes”. Native photographers have been unable to return to many websites to evaluate the harm due to the damaging state of affairs.

These are a couple of of the websites whose situation is just not but recognized:

Courting again to the 14th century, the Khan Younis caravanserai was constructed to serve the wants of individuals travelling alongside the By way of Maris.

Named after its Mamluk founder, Younis al-Nuruzi, the khanate, or khan, was a sort of inn that was well-liked within the area from across the tenth century, providing a spot for travellers to relaxation and take a break throughout their journeys. This caravanserai, inbuilt 1387, has a mosque, a publish workplace and storage rooms.

Throughout an archaeological excavation from 1972 to 1982, a group of distinctive, human-shaped pottery coffins have been found at Deir el-Balah Cemetery, relationship again to the late Bronze Age (1550-1200 BC).

Situated within the Daraj neighbourhood, the Sufi mosque of Ahmadiyyah Zawiya was established in 1336 by followers of Sheikh Ahmad al-Badawi, a well known twelfth century Sufi scholar who lived in Gaza.

Sufi worshippers would collect there for collective prayers on Mondays and Thursdays. There was shelling within the space, Alatel stated, however it’s as but unknown what has change into of the sacred web site.

“All our heritage websites are clearly marked, but the Israeli army strikes, the tanks and the bulldozers proceed,” the archaeologist stated. “However I’ve religion all it will finish. Even when they try and destroy our previous, we’ll construct again Gaza’s future.”