Current events in Israel and Palestine
Current events in Israel and Palestine
In 2022 we were quick to respond to the unfolding crisis in Ukraine, we have not been as quick to respond to the crisis in Gaza, not for any political reason, but simply due to staff absence and workload.
As in Ukraine the protection of life and human rights must always be a first priority but protecting cultural heritage is part of the latter. Archives and cultural artefacts hold a nation and a people’s soul and meaning, they represent centuries, millennia, of history that needs to be kept and preserved for future generations so that they can understand their own history and others can appreciate and understand it too. Such understanding can be a building block to reconciliation, but culture itself can also be seen as a threat.
Both Israel and Palestine are parties to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the Convention’s First (1954) Protocol and Palestine has also ratified the Convention’s Second (1999) Protocol. Under customary international law, all parties in a conflict must recognise that civilians, and civilian objects (which includes their cultural property), are also protected, and must be respected. We hope that soon all parties in this current conflict are able to find a peaceful resolution and until such time as that is reached respect the Hague convention and international law governing such conflicts.
We understand from The Blue Shield that there are, as yet unverified, media reports of significant damage to heritage sites across the area – and Gaza has a rich archaeological and historical heritage dating as far back as prehistoric times.
In their statement on the war in Gaza they make this statement:
“Those who adhere to international humanitarian law, and other relevant, international instruments, declarations, and resolutions, acknowledge that damage to cultural sites belonging to any people whatsoever means damage to the cultural heritage of all humankind, since each people makes its contribution to the culture of the world. Under international law, all parties to conflict are expected to: commit to taking all feasible actions to safeguard and respect cultural property located in areas where armed conflict is taking place; avoid using cultural property and its immediate surroundings as part of their military operations in a way that may cause or lead to damage and destruction; avoid targeting cultural property unless there is military necessity; prevent looting; avoid reprisals directed at cultural property; and protect and support those involved in the protection of cultural heritage.”
And we join with them in making this request:
“We ask all involved to acknowledge their responsibilities to protect the civilian populations caught in the midst of this fighting and to ensure that they will have a heritage on which to build reconciliation and a common future.”