Gaza city: The Palestinian National Library has raised alarm over the severe threats to Gaza's cultural heritage amid ongoing conflict, accusing the Israeli occupation of systematic cultural erasure aimed at eliminating Palestinian identity and history.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the Palestinian National Library issued a report on the second anniversary of the conflict, highlighting that Israeli strikes have specifically targeted Gaza's cultural infrastructure. These strikes have affected museums, libraries, cultural centers, theaters, mosques, churches, and academic institutions, causing irreversible damage to the region's cultural assets.
The report from the Library emphasizes that while wars traditionally result in physical destruction and loss of life, cultural erasure poses a more insidious threat to a nation's collective memory and identity. It describes cultural genocide as one of the most dangerous dimensions of conflict, as it seeks to obliterate a nation's historical and cultural legacy, making it difficult for societies to recover and rebuild post-conflict.
The Palestinian National Library has accused the Israeli occupation of deliberately attempting to erase Palestinian historical memory by destroying archaeological sites, cultural properties, and all forms of cultural production. This destruction has impacted rare manuscripts, historical archives, audiovisual materials, and artifacts. Among the damaged sites are Ottoman-era buildings, centuries-old churches, and libraries like the Great Omari Mosque Library, which housed 230 rare manuscripts, of which only 38 survived.
Reports indicate that all museums in Gaza, including the National Museum at Qasr Al-Basha, along with others in Deir Al-Balah and Rafah, have been destroyed. It is also alleged that several artifacts were looted and relocated to Israeli museums. The conflict has resulted in damage or destruction to more than 1,000 mosques and four historic churches, including the ancient Church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest church in Gaza.
The ongoing conflict has deprived over 650,000 students of education, with 95 percent of schools and universities affected. Traditional handicraft industries, such as embroidery, ceramics, and bamboo work, have also suffered substantial losses. The report underscores the immense challenges in reviving Gaza's cultural sector, citing the loss of infrastructure, displacement of cultural professionals, and persistent insecurity as major hurdles.
In light of the findings, the Palestinian National Library has called on the international community to safeguard Palestinian cultural heritage in line with the 1954 Hague Convention. It stressed that cultural property is part of the shared legacy of humanity and that attacks against it constitute violations of international law.