{"id":250690,"date":"2023-12-18T12:00:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=250690"},"modified":"2023-12-17T04:30:36","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T04:30:36","slug":"from-the-heart-of-palestine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/12\/from-the-heart-of-palestine\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Heart of Palestine"},"content":{"rendered":"

15 Dec 2023<\/em> \u2013 We from the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability <\/em>and the Palestine Museum of Natural History<\/em> (Bethlehem University), having good long-term working relations with our cultural, natural heritage institutions and landmarks situated in the Gaza Strip, watched with horror as these same intuitions were targeted by the Israeli apartheid and occupation army. Here are just selected examples of recent destruction of cultural and natural heritage:<\/p>\n

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  1. Destroying historic churches and historic mosques. See this<\/a> and this<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. More than 100 Gaza heritage sites have been damaged or destroyed. See this<\/a> and this<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  3. Destroying Al-Qarar Cultural Museum. <\/a><\/li>\n
  4. There was a deliberate attack on Palestinian Institutions of Higher Education <\/a>including direct attack on science facilities housing important collections and heritage items (both cultural and natural)<\/li>\n
  5. Israel laid hands on Palestinian natural heritage sites and declared many areas “nature reserves” for political purposes<\/a> to exclude the indigenous Palestinian people. Wadi Gaza, a unique wetland habitat, is one of the nature heritage sites that has been damaged by previous Israeli military activities, was to be rehabilitated and is now scene of deliberate Israeli destruction. See this<\/a> and this<\/a> and this<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  6. Israel stole Palestinian heritage books, laid hands on Palestinian cultural heritage sites, and misused areas declared “national parks”<\/a>. See also this<\/a> and this<\/a> on looting Palestinian heritage.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We know that the destruction was\/is intentional (per UN and international human rights groups) and goes hand in hand with intentional targeting of schools, hospitals, UN facilities, refugee camps, water facilities, streets, and all other facilities to make the Gaza Strip (365 km2 or 250 mi2) even more unlivable for 2.3 million Palestinians. So far, 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced (half children) and, as of this writing, over 20,000 civilians killed and 51,000 injured (70% were women and children), practically without medical facilities to assist or rescue them.<\/p>\n

    We also know that this destruction has happened in Gaza before the current events; see for example this report from Al-Haq<\/a>. We know it happened in the destruction of mosques and churches and heritage during the ethnic cleansing of over 500 Palestinian villages and towns during the beginning period of the Palestinian Nakba<\/em><\/strong> that started in 1948 and continues today (see palestineremembered.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

    We thus Demand the Following:<\/strong><\/p>\n