History as plunder

Israel plays antiquities guardian in a game of cultural possession -- but Arabs aren't impressed. Omayma Abdel-Latif tracks Israel's contentious bid for UNESCO's seal of approval
UNESCO, the United Nations cultural watchdog and defender of endangered archaeological sites worldwide, was forced back into the Arab-Israeli conflict with Israel's recent moves to claim guardianship of numerous Arab archaeological sites in the occupied territories. With culture emerging as the new battleground between Arabs and Israelis, the unwitting pawn this time around is UNESCO's World Heritage Committee (WHC). Keeping in line with its aggressive policy of consecrating occupation by obliterating Palestinian cultural identity, Israel submitted an official request to the WHC to list 28 Palestinian sites as belonging to Israel on its formidable list of so-called world heritage sites -- cultural or archaeological sites deemed so precious to world history that they must be preserved at all costs.
Sites included on the Israeli's list include the historic Arab city of Jerusalem, the Negev desert and numerous other sites in the Palestinian territories. Bestowing custodianship on Israel would establish the leadership as the sole authority responsible before the WHC for preservation and restoration projects -- a cause for considerable concern as Israel has massively and deliberately failed to maintain the sites over 34 years of occupation in the holy city.
Disparaging the move as "another act of Israeli aggression", representatives of culture ministries and antiquities officials across the Arab world will meet with their UNESCO representatives in Cairo at the end of April to discuss plans to counter the Israeli scheme and lobby for international backing in their cultural war. "Through this act, Israel seeks to consecrate its fait accompli policy towards Palestinian land and history," Tahani Omar, Egypt's permanent member at UNESCO, told Al-Ahram Weekly from Paris.
Culture Minister Farouk Hosni dismissed the move as "a cheap ploy" on the part of Israel to lay a historical claim to the city and other senior officials were quick to agree. "It is the same Zionist mentality of occupation and aggression -- whether this is done against land or people," Mohamed Ghoneim, the Ministry of Culture's first under-secretary, told the Weekly. Israel, added Ghoneim, continues to appropriate what does not belong to it in order to create artificial historical ties to the land. "They occupied the land and claimed territorial rights, now they are hijacking the history and heritage of Palestinians, claiming it is theirs," he said.
It was Arab member states at UNESCO who first drew world attention to the severe destruction of Jerusalem as a result of Israeli occupation, citing the lack of conservation policies and the threatening effects of town planning by Israel's local authorities. Back in 1982, Jordan submitted a request to list Jerusalem as an endangered "world heritage site". US pressure to take the consent of Israel first -- as the country in which the site is allegedly located -- was overruled and the personal representative of UNESCO's director-general ruled that the city meets the criteria of an endangered site. Now, the Israeli's are trying to lay their claim.
This week, an attempt by Israel to list Mount Zion, adjacent to East Jerusalem, as a world heritage in their care failed miserably during the conference of the International Council of Monuments and Sites held in Paris, which turned down the request. Speaking to the Weekly a day after the conference ended, Dr Saleh Lamie -- the Muslim member of UNESCO's Jerusalem committee, which consists of a Christian, a Jew and a Muslim -- said that the Israeli request caused an uproar that forced the UNESCO director-general to reject it on the basis that Mount Zion is located in a contested area. The site was crossed out and the Israeli manoeuvre aborted. "The Arab countries had to exercise pressure to reach this conclusion," Lamie said. He added that Israel has only two sites the world heritage list: the Masada and Acre.
How far can Israel go with its request? Though UNESCO's Tahani Omar believes Arabs achieved a symbolic victory by forcing the WHC to delay any discussion of the Israeli request, it is quite likely that the issue will be on the agenda of the forthcoming WHC meeting at the end of June and during the forthcoming 26th session of the WHC, in Helsinki this December. Though the organisation responded guardedly to the Israeli request, Arab members were still unsatisfied with the WHC's handling of the case. Omar disclosed that UNESCO's Arab representatives submitted a memo to the UNESCO secretary-general complaining about the "possible intervention" of WHC Chairman Peter King in Israel's favour.
"We explained that all of Jerusalem is still in dispute and that no such action should take place, because it will be a de facto recognition of Israel's claim over the land," Omar said. Acting similarly, Arab culture ministers submitted a memo to UNESCO protesting the Israeli action. The memo called on UNESCO and the WHC to reject in the strongest possible terms the Israeli request, noting that it goes against international law and sanctions the occupation by revoking the Palestinian's right to their cultural identity. According to a copy of the memo obtained by the Weekly, Israel is also intentionally ignoring international resolutions -- in particular UN General Assembly resolution 181(II), adopted in 1947, and Security Council resolution 242 (1967). The angry protest has apparently made its mark, as according to Egypt's ambassador at UNESCO, King has suggested meeting with an Arab delegation to clear misunderstandings.
The case of Jordan's request in 1982 and the refusal to consider Mount Zion set a promising precedent for the Arab side in the new cultural war. Many feel it is unlikely that Israel will manage to get its request ratified by all member states. "Israel is trying to sell itself as a country that protects cultural heritage, but very few would buy this image," said Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, head of the Sinai antiquities department, who represented Egypt in the WHC's last meeting in December. Because of the limited influence of the US in UNESCO's affairs, many feel Israel will founder without its powerful ally.
More importantly, claims that Israel will work to preserve the sites are belied by the realities on the ground, as Israeli occupation has left one of the oldest Islamic monuments and the visual centrepiece of the ancient city, the Dome of the Rock, to suffer serious deterioration. Reports during the 1990s repeatedly spoke of Israeli excavations underneath the mosque and the dome in search of the remains of Solomon's temple. Tunnels were being dug by Israeli authorities, searching in vain for archaeological proof supporting their territorial claims.
"The deterioration of the Muslims' third most holy shrine stands as a living example that Israel is the last country in the world to be trusted to guard world heritage sites," noted Abdel-Maqsoud. "They have no respect for human life, let alone archaeological sites that are testament to the history of Palestinian presence in Jerusalem."
Recommend this page
Related links:
UNESCO
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Send a letter to the Editor