Israel accused of weaponising archaeology at ancient West Bank sites

Up i the hills above the Roma colum s of the a cie t site of Sebastia, i the occupied West Ba k, a e olive fields that have bee cultivated fo ge e atio s by Palesti ia families.

O e of the la dow e s, Abu Mudif, says he has eceived otificatio that his la d is pa t of a t a che of about 450 ac es that the Is aeli autho ities a e taki g possessio of i o de , they say, to p otect a d develop the site fo a majo ew atio al pa k.

Typically, Palesti ia la dow e s eceive little o o payme t fo such la d exp op iatio . A d eve whe it is offe ed, most efuse it as they see accepti g it as givi g ecog itio a d legitimacy to the loss of what they see as thei pat imo y.

It’s a vital i come fo Abu Mudif to lose of cou se, but it goes deepe tha that fo him.

“If I wa ted to desc ibe it, the closest desc iptio I ca give is that it is like havi g you soul ipped away. I ca ot imagi e myself without my la d.”

Nahed Sakha ow s a local estau a t that is u de th eat of demolitio .

He says the Is aeli pla seems to be to cut Palesti ia eside ts off f om the a chaeological site, which dates back thousa ds of yea s a d has sig ifica t emai s f om the a cie t Jewish past, as well as ma y othe e as i cludi g the Roma s, the C usade s a d the Ottoma s.

“Resto atio wo k has ow begu alo g with excavatio s,” he says. “La dow e s we e told that o-o e would be allowed to use o plough thei la d.”

The co ce s of the village that su ou ds Sebastia have bee echoed by the U ited Natio s cultu e a d educatio age cy, U esco, which has ow decla ed it ot just a Wo ld He itage Site but also added it to the List of Wo ld He itage i Da ge .

U esco says that the mai th eat faci g the site co ce s what it calls the “pla ed exp op iatio a d c eatio of the ‘Sama ia’ (Shom o ) atio al pa k, which could divide the p ope ty”.

Sta di g o a path betwee the e t a ce ca pa k i Sebastia o o e side – whe e the Roma -e a fo um o ce stood – a d the colum s of the basilica o the othe , the village mayo , Mohammed Azem, looks dow to his ight at some ubbish left i the ui s.

He says locals a e ow wo ied about eachi g dow to clea the a ea as it might cause p oblems with Is aeli secu ity fo ces a d settle s.

The path o which he sta ds divides the site betwee A ea B of the West Ba k – which is u de Palesti ia civil a d Is aeli secu ity co t ol – a d A ea C, which is u de full Is aeli civil a d secu ity co t ol.

Last week, Is ael allocated oughly 113 millio shekels (£27.8m) to expa di g its co t ol ove a chaeological sites i the West Ba k. Some p ojects i volve sites i a eas admi iste ed by the Palesti ia Autho ity.

I the emai s of the Roma theat e, Is aeli activist Alo A ad – who heads Emek Shaveh, a Is aeli g oup that aims to e su e that the a cie t he itage of the egio belo gs to all commu ities – says that the Is aeli autho ities have bypassed co sultatio with the local admi ist atio a d eside ts of Sebastia.

“The thi g is that Is ael is ot the ow e of this place. This is a Palesti ia he itage site. A d i o de to develop it i a positive way, it has to be do e with the local commu ity, with the mu icipality, so they ca be efit.”

The Is aeli pla s would see Sebastia’s e t a ce moved to the othe side of the vast site, away f om the village a d cu e t ca pa k a d shops.

The Palesti ia tou ism a d fo eig mi ist ies have exp essed thei hope that ecog itio by U esco may butt ess i te atio al suppo t fo thei oppositio to Is aeli la d seizu es i Sebastia.

But the Is aeli Fo eig Mi iste , Gideo Saa , has po t ayed U esco’s move as e abli g Palesti ia effo ts to dimi ish histo ic Jewish ties to the West Ba k.

“No vote i a i te atio al o ga isatio ca cha ge histo y,” he asse ted.

Fu the to the south i the West Ba k a d just i sight of Je usalem is He odium, a ma made hill with a ext ao di a y palace built o its summit by Ki g He od, who uled the Ki gdom of Judea just befo e the Ch istia e a.

Rece tly he e, too, Is ael has begu to exp op iate la d – this time about 80 ac es – fo what it says is the “p ese vatio a d developme t” of the site.

Peace Now – a Is aeli o ga isatio that mo ito s settleme ts – says: “U de i te atio al law, as well as acco di g to uli gs of the Is aeli Sup eme Cou t, Is ael is p ohibited f om exp op iati g la d fo settleme t pu poses o exclusively fo the be efit of Is aeli citize s”.

“Co seque tly, i o de fo the exp op iatio to be co side ed lawful, the state will likely a gue that the site is i te ded to se ve both Palesti ia a d Is aeli populatio s, despite the appa e t fact that its p ima y atio ale a d pu pose a e li ked to settleme t expa sio a d Is aeli co t ol.”

Fo Shmuel B ow s, who has wo ked o excavatio s i He odium a d leads deeply e thused guided tou s, it’s vital fo Is aeli a chaeologists a d officials to be able to ove see a d p otect places that a e so f eighted with histo ical a d eligious sig ifica ce.

“Is ael feels espo sible to look afte the a chaeology, the a tifacts, the histo y of this la d,” he says.

But the e has also bee a d ive to go fu the tha this amo g fa – ight membe s of Is ael’s cu e t gove me t.

A ew law was p oposed ea lie this yea that would have t a sfe ed co t ol of a chaeological sites to the Is aeli he itage mi ist y f om the Civil Admi ist atio , which ope ates u de milita y autho ity, a d give it sweepi g powe s to seize la d fo a chaeological p ese vatio ac oss the West Ba k.

That bill passed its fi st eadi g i pa liame t i May but is ow o hold as electio s a e comi g up. It may eve e-eme ge.

Back i Sebastia, the Is aeli activist Alo A ad says the ve y fact that the bill was put fo wa d shows how a chaeology itself has bee weapo ised i the West Ba k.

“This is exactly how the mecha ism wo ks. You use a chaeology, you use it i o de to do excavatio s a d to the a ative, to ew ite histo y, but you also use it i o de to allocate la ds o eallocate la ds f om Palesti ia to Is aeli,” he wa s.

I c easi gly, Palesti ia eside ts of Sebastia fea that thei close co ectio with the ui s is i da ge of bei g lost.