Destruction of Palestinian heritage by the genocidal Israeli Occupation Forces

Below is the speech delivered by Bea Evison, at a recent Barclays protest in Aberdeen.

The last time I spoke at one of these demonstrations back at the start of November, I tried to shed a light on how important cultural heritage sites and museums had been destroyed by Zionist airstrikes. I mentioned how places such as the Rafah Museum, which held collections dating back several centuries, had been bombed, and how the Zionist occupation forces were attempting to completely destroy any evidence that Palestine and the Palestinian people had ever existed.

It’s now January, and so many more heritage sites have faced total destruction. Such as the Othman bin Qashqar mosque, built in 1220, which was damaged on the 7th December. The Library of the Great Omari Mosque, built in 1277, destroyed on the 8th December. Radwan Castle, also built in the 13th century, was damaged on the 11th December. There have been many that were destroyed on unknown dates, such as the St Hilarion Monastery from c.340, the Anthedon Harbour from 800 BC, and the Tell el-Ajjul fortified city, which was founded in c.1800 BC. According to Gaza’s Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, 104 mosques have been damaged or destroyed since the start of the genocide. The Byzantine Church of Jabalia, built in the year 444, was destroyed by airstrikes in October, and the 3rd oldest church in the world, the Church of Saint Porphyrius was targeted and destroyed on the 19th October.

As a historian and a Museum Studies graduate, I urge you all to consider that these were not merely pretty buildings. History is a living thing, and the walls of these heritage sites spoke about the people who walked through the buildings and about the entire history of Palestine . Cultural artefacts in museums are not inanimate objects, and books are not simply pages binded together with words on them. They tell stories and bring the past to life, building a connection between us and our ancestors, and bridging the gap caused by time. They help us to understand our human history, and demonstrate how global history is interconnected.

The fact that museums, libraries, and places of cultural heritage have been targeted by the Zionist forces is not an accident. As I said last time, the destruction of these places allows them to legitimise the illegal state of Israel because if they destroy the evidence that Palestinians ever walked on this earth, they can propagandise the false claim that they were there first. Let me also reiterate that this is yet another war crime to add to the endless list of war crimes committed by the occupation forces.

Gaza is one of the longest inhabited places in the world, and the loss of these heritage sites is devastating. There isn’t much more to say than that. All 11 universities in Gaza have also been destroyed. This is not only horrific because they were places of learning, but they were also part of the history of Palestine - its history of education, culture, medicine, science. Imagine the uproar if Aberdeen University, founded in 1495, St. Andrews University, founded in 1413, Edinburgh University, founded in 1583, and Glasgow University, founded in 1451, faced the same fate. Imagine the uproar if we lost Dunnottar Castle, the site of which dates back to the Picts, or if all the 16 stone circles in Scotland were destroyed.

But we shouldn’t despair! We should rage! And we should support all those, particularly in the diaspora, who are trying to keep the cultural history of Palestine alive, like the Badan Collective who bring to life traditional Palestinian embroidery techniques. No matter how hard they try, the Zionist state cannot remove Palestine from the history books nor wipe Palestine from our collective memories.

Let me end with a short poem by Langston Hughes:

I am so tired of waiting,

Aren't you,

For the world to become good

And beautiful and kind?

Let us take a knife

And cut the world in two-

And see what worms are eating

At the rind.