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—
With more than 70 thousand people dead, tens of thousands injured, and hundreds of thousands of citizens homeless, imagine the process of rebuilding
Gaza
feels almost impossible.But amidst the rubble and devastated districts, a small group of workers continues to struggle to dig up historical remains that may still be salvageable.
At several badly damaged historic sites, including the Grand Omari Mosque, Gaza’s most important cultural heritage, workers picked up fragments of the past with shovels in hand, hoping to find surviving traces.
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The mosque in the Old City of Gaza was hit by an Israeli attack on the grounds that there was a tunnel used by fighters under the complex.Palestinians strongly deny these accusations and say there is no evidence of the existence of tunnels.
“If the (Israeli) occupation thinks it can erase the history of this nation by destroying these buildings, that is wrong,” said Hamuda al-Dahdar, an architect and cultural heritage expert from the Center for Cultural Preservation who is now helping efforts to save historical sites in Gaza.
“Every building is a very old collective memory of the nation. We must unite to protect it,” he told
Reuters
.
The Israeli military has not provided any recent comments regarding the damage to Palestinian cultural heritage in Gaza.
Eternal traces in the torn land
In a region where most of the population are refugees from cities and villages that are now in Israel, the Omari Mosque is the main connection between Gazans and the cultural roots and architectural history of the Middle East region.
According to local tradition, this location is believed to be the place where Samson in the Bible story destroyed the temple of the Philistines.Before the seventh century, the area was home to a Byzantine church, until Caliph Umar brought Islam to the Mediterranean region and converted it into a mosque.
Over the centuries, this building continued to undergo repairs and expansion by the Mamluks, Crusaders, and the Ottoman Empire, and was once one of the architectural wonders of the region in the Middle Ages.
The mosque’s minaret is an icon of Gaza’s skyline.Worshipers crowd into the prayer hall with its high dome and cool tiled floors, before streaming out into the ancient souks nearby.
Not far from there, the Al Qaisariyya Gold Market was once filled with legendary stories, from tragic bridal jewelry to rival mothers-in-law.Now all that remains are ruins.
The Pasha’s Palace, a historic 13th-century building that houses a museum, has also been reduced to rubble.The cultural treasures he once kept were lost somewhere.
“When we talk about cultural heritage, it’s not just old buildings. Every stone tells a story,” said Dahdar.
Rescue efforts amidst shortages
Palestinian officials and UNESCO are now preparing a three-phase recovery plan with an initial cost of around US$133 million.The first priority is to prevent existing buildings from collapsing.
But the effort has been hampered by shortages of essential materials, such as white cement and gypsum, as well as skyrocketing excavation and restoration costs.
The loss of cultural sites causes special pain for Gaza residents, even for those who have lost their families and homes.
Munzir Abu Assi said he had to calm his daughter, Kenzy, who was crying after hearing about the damage to the Omari Mosque.
“He was really sad. When we heard the mosque had been attacked, we wondered, why?”said Abu Assi.
“And when the Pasha’s Palace was also hit, we became even more convinced that the (Israeli) occupation wanted to erase the Palestinian identity and eliminate all the heritage of this nation.”
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