{"id":314223,"date":"2026-03-16T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=314223"},"modified":"2026-03-12T12:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T12:37:35","slug":"the-new-barbarians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2026\/03\/the-new-barbarians\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Barbarians"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

NB<\/strong>: Waiting for the Barbarians<\/a> by JM Coetzee<\/em> (2017); and The Natural History of Destruction<\/a><\/em> by WG Sebald (1999); are two books that show the mirror to \u2018Western civilisation\u2019 and Israel, inheritors of an atrocious history of exterminism and genocidal mania stretching from the Roman destruction of Carthage till the Armenian genocide of 1915, the Nazi death camps and the atomic bombings<\/a> of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. We need not wait: the barbarians are among us, they are not confined to any particular country or culture or religion. We have lots of them in Asia. But the USA and UK and Israel remain the vanguard of the natural history of destruction \u2013 the title of a book about their favourite activity: killing and destroying from the sky above. The book was titled Luftkrieg und Literatur<\/em>; (Air war and literature<\/em>). DS<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Bulldozing Gaza<\/mark><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Anthedon Harbour, Gaza, Palestine<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Anthedon is the first known seaport of Gaza, mentioned in Islamic literature with the names of Tida, apparently an abbreviation of Anthedon, or Blakhiyeh. The city was inhabited from 800 BC to 1100 AD, and witnessed a series of different cultures: Neo-Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic rules (Umayyad, Abbasid, Tulunid and Fatimid).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Source: The Conversation<\/a><\/p>\n

One km south of the seaport of Anthedon lies the ancient harbour of Maiumas, then identified with the harbour of Gaza, which was also continuously populated and became, during the Roman period, a flourishing and well-developed coastal town. Maiumas, which is mentioned only in late classical sources, dates back to an earlier period, at least when the trading with Greece began. \u201cMaiumas\u201d derives from an Egyptian word, which means \u201cmaritime place\u201d.<\/p>\n

The archaeological site of ancient Anthedon has not been precisely identified: there are several heaps of ruins in the neighbourhoods of Gaza which have been considered to be the old harbour; however, the site of Anthedon may probably be identified with a tell located to the north of Gaza known to the natives as Tida. In the Middle Age, Anthedon was known for sure as Tida or Taida.<\/p>\n

The present site consists of a variety of elements which spread in the area from the seashore, including the underwater archaeology, to the inland: the ruins of a Roman temple and a section of a wall have been uncovered, as well as Roman artisan and living quarters, including a series of villas, testifying of the city ofAnthedon. Mosaic floors, warehouses and fortified structures are found in the area.<\/p>\n

The acropolis of Anthedon shows archaeological remains dated from the late Iron Age II, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods. Basically, below the post-Byzantine level, traces of stone walls of the Roman period were found, which in turn rest on Hellenistic and Persian levels with constructions of mud brick. These latter structures, built on the tell\u2019s summit, consist of an enormous mass of mud bricks, which has been cleared to a height of 8 metres. It projects towards the sea as a tower, and its sides are filled with casemate walls.<\/p>\n

The excavated site is about 20 dunums (corresponding to circa 2 ha.) and consists of a 65 metres long mud-brick wall, formerly of the old commercial city centre, which was part of the eastern extension of the harbour, and other earthen works. The massive walls, which stretch 30 metres eastwards, form the coastline to the inner land, display an extraordinary height, 8 m, and thickness, 6 m, and are in a well-preserved state of conservation. Five sizes of mud bricks (adobe) have been found within the masonry of the uncovered structures, plastered with earth\u2026.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/whc.unesco.org\/en\/tentativelists\/5719\/<\/a><\/p>\n

++++<\/p>\n

Destruction of Gaza heritage sites aims to erase \u2013 and replace \u2013 Palestine\u2019s history<\/mark><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Great Mosque of Gaza<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cultural property has been a target of the Israeli offensive since the beginning of the conflict and, as early as November, the devastation of the cities of northern Gaza far exceeded that caused in the infamous\u00a0bombing of Dresden in 1945<\/a>. We cannot forget that the Gaza Strip is just a narrow area of coastal land measuring some 365 km\u00b2, rich in archaeological and historical sites, that the international community has\u00a0recognised as occupied territory since 1967<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

The Great Mosque of Gaza, located in Gaza\u2019s Old City, was the largest and oldest mosque in the Strip. It was destroyed in a bombing in December 2023.\u00a0<\/em><\/mark><\/p>\n

Alaa El halaby\/Wikimedia Commons,<\/em>\u00a0CC BY-SA<\/a><\/mark><\/p>\n

Research over the last century<\/a>\u00a0has counted at least 130 sites in Gaza that Israel, as an occupying power, is obligated to protect under international law along with the rest of the area\u2019s cultural and natural heritage. These obligations are laid out in the following conventions:\u00a0Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide<\/a>\u00a0(1948); the\u00a0Geneva Conventions<\/a>\u00a0(1949) and their annexes, and the\u00a0Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict<\/a>\u00a0(1954).<\/p>\n

As of 17 September 2024,\u00a0UNESCO has verified<\/a>\u00a0damage to 69 sites: 10 religious sites, 43 buildings of historical and artistic interest, two repositories of movable cultural property, six monuments, one museum and seven archaeological sites. Other\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0give a much higher number of affected sites. These assessments are made in very difficult situations, in the midst of constant bombardment, thanks to testimonies and studies on the ground and supported by\u00a0satellite<\/a>\u00a0images<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

Church of Saint Porphyrius<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

https:\/\/theconversation.com\/destruction-of-gaza-heritage-sites-aims-to-erase-and-replace-palestines-history-240722<\/a><\/p>\n

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n

Who Are the Civilized? Who Are the Barbarians? Who Are the Savages?<\/a><\/strong>
\nAntonio C. S. Rosa | Editor – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Aug 2025<\/p>\n

Bulldozing Gaza<\/a><\/p>\n

Chris Hedges: The Gaza\u00a0Riviera<\/a><\/p>\n

Gaza and the End of Western\u00a0Fantasy<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. leaders knew we didn\u2019t have to drop atomic bombs on Japan to win the war. We did it anyway\u00a0(2020<\/a><\/p>\n

____________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \u00a0Dilip Simeon<\/em>: My blogs are non-commercial. I believe strongly in the power of ideas; and am opposed to ideological tyranny and the control of the mind by dictators or totalitarian movements of any doctrinal inclination whatsoever. My blogging has been devoted to fostering an informed and non-polemical debate in India and globally, about the crucial concerns of our time. Here\u2019s a thought that I consider profound: <\/em>\u2018It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honored by the humiliation of their fellow human beings.\u2019 (M. K. Gandhi). The title, <\/em>After the Truth Shower, is from <\/em>a poem I wrote<\/em><\/a> for a friend.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 dsimian.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The barbarians are among us; they are not confined to any particular country or culture or religion. The USA and UK and Israel remain the vanguard of the natural history of destruction \u2013 the title of a book about their favourite activity: killing and destroying from the sky above. Luftkrieg und Literatur; (Air war and literature).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":277451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[1161,295,290,1295,1296,3614,447,1851,433,3405,88,3530,2060,552,103,825,639,70,1594],"class_list":["post-314223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlight","tag-arms-industry","tag-civilization","tag-culture","tag-deep-culture","tag-deep-structure","tag-disaster-capitalism","tag-division","tag-ethnocentrism","tag-europe","tag-homo-barbaricus","tag-israel","tag-military-capitalism","tag-profits","tag-race","tag-racism","tag-savages","tag-uk","tag-usa","tag-war-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":314224,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314223\/revisions\/314224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}