Sugar Cubes

By Kevin Chamberlain

While the world’s media has been concentrating on the hardships suffered by the Palestinian people as a result of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, considerably less publicity has been given to the systematic destruction of Palestine’s rich cultural heritage resulting from the occupation.
Following the 1967 conflict when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza there was intense archaeological activity. Objects were removed in two ways – officially by the Israeli occupation authorities, or clandestinely by individual Israeli soldiers, civilians and, unfortunately in some cases, even by Palestinians. Israeli military operations, the construction of settlements and their communicating roads, and more recently, the construction of The Wall,
have meant that archaeological sites are constantly being uncovered. (It is estimated that there are around 4,000 such sites.) When a site is uncovered the Israelis institute a ‘salvage excavation,’ i.e. the rapid removal and recording of artefacts before the site is covered up. In most cases this results in the destruction of the site, although occasionally the site is covered up but not destroyed for future investigation, e.g. in the case of an important mosaic floor. Nevertheless the effect of these ‘salvage excavations’ is that the all-important context of the site is destroyed and the knowledge that it yields is lost forever. Such excavations fall under the authority of the archaeological staff officer, who is an officer of the Civil Administration (i.e. the Israeli military). There is anecdotal evidence that in conducting many of these ‘salvage excavations’ only objects of Jewish interest are removed and remains of other cultures either ignored or destroyed.
It is also alleged that Israeli excavations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) are politically motivated, namely, to uncover evidence of ancient Jewish settlement so as to bolster Israel’s current settlement policies. Conversely, it has been alleged that Jewish artefacts discovered by Palestinians are often destroyed or sold so as to remove any excuse the Israelis might have for constructing new settlements in the area where such artefacts may have been discovered.

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Tags: Palestine, Archaeology