They're Stealing Our Heritage

This just came in:

New research by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE): The Palestinian Authority, together with Islamist centres, give new Islamic names to historical Jewish sites – Rachel's Tomb as an example.

A new report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE) following an UNESCO decision recognising Rachel's Tomb as a mosque only – finds out that the Palestinian Authority in their schoolbooks, gives new names to historical sites, among them Rachel's tomb.

The report...reveals that although in school books from 1995 Rachel's Tomb was mentioned by its historical name, since 2001 suddenly the civil studies books' editors reported to their students that they have decided "with the help of Arab and Islamic centres" to change its name to Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque. It should be noted that Bilal was a slave who was set free and then converted to Islam after meeting Muhammad of the Quraish tribe. Only two traditions are known regarding his burial; one is that he is buried in Bader near Amman, the other that he is buried in Damascus. Now, as seen in IMPACT-SE's report, the Palestinians decided on a new tradition turning feminine Rachel into a masculine Bilal Mosque. The report's author and CEO of the institute, Poetess Shelley Elkayam, explains that the phenomenon is characterised by a few levels of significance, among them gender symbolism alongside subversive logical undermining and a slipping away from the modern-historical to the mythical-legendary.

The IMPACT-SE report shows the change clearly. On page 91 in the book "Palestinian civil studies" for grade 6 from 1995, Rachel's tomb is "Rachel's tomb: mother of Joseph our lord (Said) and Jacob's wife", while on page 56 in the book "civil studies" for grade 7 from 2001 Rachel's tomb was suddenly transformed by the Palestinians into a mosque.

The author of the IMPACT-SE report emphasises that the new Palestinian edition itself explains the process of change as a conscious manipulation which was done by "Palestinian, Arab, and Islamic centres and with the help of charities working to revive the Arab Palestinian heritage to maintain the character of Palestine and its heritage like Al-Burke Wall – the Western Wall, Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque – Rachel's tomb". The Palestinian school book also describes the Israelis as attempting to change the names of Muslim and Christian holy places.

Pallywood all over again.

^

Now, They're Teaching Them Heritage Preservation

This past week, I was informed that the Ambassadors Fund, a PACE partner, is engaged in training Arabs "to protect Palestinian heritage in West Bank".

Seems that in 1996, a group of Arabs decided to dedicate themselves to preserving a "Palestinian" cultural heritage. They formed the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE) [that link has a country notation of "ps", btw]. It is engaged in more than 20 projects of heritage highlighting.

And now,

For its latest project, PACE has partnered with the U.S. Department of State’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation to preserve and protect cultural antiquities in three West Bank villages: Aboud, Al-Jib and Beitin [I think I reported on this a while back].

The Preservation and Protection of Palestinian Cultural Heritage in Rural Areas project aims, in part, to raise awareness among the residents of the three villages about the relevance of protecting, preserving and presenting the historic areas.

Along with natural deterioration of ancient sites, illegal digging and sale of antiquities is a widespread phenomenon [that last bit about thievery refers to Arabs, mainly. Remember how we had to buy back the stolen Dead Sea Scrolls?]in the West Bank as a whole. In particular, the three villages in the project have been targeted because of their rich cultural resources. Among these are ancient dwellings currently occupied by residents. Aboud is a Roman-Byzantine site while villages Al-Jib and Beitin have been continuously settled from the Bronze Age forward and contain biblical sites. ["biblical sites"? not "Jewish"? not"Hebrew"? not Israelite?]

In addition to the project’s goal of raising awareness among the local population, two other aims focus on heritage protection training and generating jobs through training and support for traditional crafts.

To achieve these goals, PACE is coordinating an education program that utilizes classes, on-site training and workshops...Classroom discussions focus on what constitutes heritage and how to present it to the public, how to assess local and socioeconomic conditions to determine the future of cultural resources and how to effectively communicate the values and history of cultural property...

Could it be that the US is involved in stealing away some other people's cultural heritage?

Jib is Giv'on. It's from where, after the taking of Jericho and Ai, the Hivites sent ambassadors to trick Joshua and the Israelites into making a treaty with them. The Gibeonites presented themselves as ambassadors from a distant, powerful land. Without consulting the high priests, Israel entered into a mutual pact with the Gibeonites. Joshua realized he had been deceived, but he kept the letter of his covenant with the Gibeonites to let them live; however, he cursed and enslaved them as woodcutters and water-carriers (Joshua 9:3-27). See also 2 Samuel 21:2 about Saul pursuing them. The city is also the place where God made the sun stand still during the Israelites' war with the Amorites. (Joshua 10:12) and the fight between the soldiers of Joab and those of Abner took place beside the Pool of Gibeon (2 Samuel 2:12).

Beitin is Bet-El. It is mentioned several times in Genesis. The best-known instance is Genesis 28 when Jacob, fleeing from his brother Esau, falls asleep on a stone and dreams of a ladder stretching between Heaven and Earth with angels ascending and descending. God there promises Jacob the land of Canaan and again, at Genesis 35. Bethel was an important cult-centre for the northern Kingdom of Israel following the break-up of the united kingdom of David and Solomon.

Aboud is not Biblical that I know. It includes in its boundaries a number of churches, monasteries and mosques built on foundations belonging to the Byzantines, Ottomans, and crusades empires built during the fourth, seventh and 11th centuries. They include Messieh Church, Knnasieh Church, Simon's Church, Saint Todros Church and the Virgin Marry Church, built on the foundations of a 5th century church and has been renovated in the 11th century. There's also an ancient monastery one kilometer to the West of Aboud village. Dr. Yoel Elitzur told me he found an Aramaic inscription there.

Well, thanks to Uncle Sam, the Arabs are discovering a "Palestinian" heritage.

What will they do next (can I hear an echo of Helen Thomas)?


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Will The US Provide Grants for the Jewish Cultural Heritage Preservation of Judea and Samaria?

Found over at the American Consulate General site:

Consulate General staff and Dr. Adel Yahya, Director of the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE), met to commemorate the first grant given to Palestinians under the U.S. Department of State’s Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation. The project will assist three historic villages in the West Bank – Beitin, Aboud, and Al-Jib – to preserve their cultural heritage and promote tourist destinations, while also raising awareness among residents of the villages about their cultural heritage, assisting local specialists and curators on the methods of cultural preservation, and educating the communities on the illegal procurement and sale of antiquities. The director of PACE and its staff thanked the Consulate General for its support and noted the importance of this grant, especially as it involves training Palestinians on the methodology and techniques of cultural heritage preservation.

Al-Jib, you should know is the Israelite Givon:

The first scientific identification of al-Jib with the ancient Canaanite city of Gibeon was made by Edward Robinson in 1838.[4] Archaeological excavations led by James Pritchard in 1956, 1957, and 1959 confirmed this identification with the discovery of 56 jar handles inscribed with the Semitic triliteral gb'n.[4] The inscriptions were dated to the end of the Judean monarchy and have been cross-referenced against geneaological lists in the Book of Chronicles. While they include many Benjaminite names, they also include non-Israelite names, attesting to the intermixing of local population.[4]

In the Book of Joshua, ancient Jib or Gibeon is described as "a large city, like one of the royal cities." The flat and fertile land with many springs which surrounds it gave rise to a flourishing economy, attested to in the large number of ancient jars and wine cellars discovered there. The jars could hold 45 liters of wine each and 66 wine cellars two meters deep and dug out of rock have been unearthed in Jib.[4]

4 - Brooks, Simcha Shalom (2005), Saul and the Monarchy: A New Look, Ashgate Publishing

and Beitin is Bet El or not.

Can we get grants for Jewish culture?

Or, at the very least, stop Arabs from destroying that heritage?


UPDATE

Why Aboud?

Here:

Aboud: The story of Aboud is another illustration of how the barrier is making life difficult for the remaining Christians in the West Bank. Aboud is a small village northwest of Jerusalem near Ramallah and is six kilometers from the Green Line, Israel's internationally recognized border. The Christian history of Aboud dates back to when Jesus and the Holy Family passed through Aboud enroute from the Galilee to Jerusalem. There are remains of nine ancient churches dating back to the early centuries and visited by pilgrims from all over the world. Today, Aboud is home to approximately 2200 people, half of which are Christian. In the 1980's land was confiscated from Aboud without any compensation for the construction of two settlements. In 2005, the Israeli military issued additional orders for the confiscation of land without compensation to build the barrier. The route of the barrier will confiscate around 1000 acres of land, leaving the settlements ample space to expand. The consequences for Aboud have been catastrophic. Thousands of olive trees have been uprooted with no adequate compensation. Many of these trees are over a thousand years old and are a part of the town's Christian heritage. More importantly, they are a major source of income for Aboud's families. One olive tree produces up to $200 of profit per season. The Israeli government's offer to buy or compensate each destroyed tree for $15.00 is not an equitable solution. In addition, the barrier will strengthen Israel's control of the water supply. Aboud sits on the Western Aquifer, one of the main sources of water for the area. The Israelis also control a small water reservoir on the east side (Aboud side) of the barrier. While this may appear to give control of the water to the residents of Aboud, it does not. The reservoir is surrounded with a high chain link fence topped with barbed wire. It is always locked and only Israeli officials and settlers have the keys. It is seldom accessible to the people of the village. The Israelis ration the water in Aboud during the summer months while the settlements enjoy a 100% flow of water year round.