Mourning loss of Palestinian culture and heritage through Israel’s occupation and aggression
Lauren Hossack talks about the impact that the attacks by the Israeli occupiers have had over the past seventy six years on libraries, museums and cultural heritage of Palestine. As a library worker and researcher these are issues very important to her.
The loss of human life in Gaza is immense, and this is rightfully our focus. Along with the loss of human life goes the loss of human memory. Along with the destruction of buildings - not just homes and businesses, but schools and universities, museums and archives - goes the loss of the physical artefacts and documentation of that human experience.
According to a report back in January from Librarians and Archivists with Palestine:
The Central Archives of Gaza City - containing 150 years of records of Gaza's history – have been destroyed.
Omari Mosque and Library - Gaza's oldest mosque and home to a collection of rare books dating back to 14th century – has been destroyed.
Al-Israa University Library and National Museum – has been completely destroyed by controlled detonation. The museum was looted beforehand.
Ibrahim Abu Sha'ar Heritage Diwan, home to a collection of Bedouin heritage, was reported destroyed back in December.
These are just a few examples of the range of places targeted, places of access to knowledge, community, of cultural and religious significance, all reduced to ash and rubble. At least 203 cultural heritage sites have been destroyed in Palestine in recent months. Countless more have long since been buried and bulldozed across ’48 territory.
Several knowledge workers have been martyred in recent months. These are just some:
Abdul Karim Hashash, writer and heritage advocate – killed with his family members on 23 October
Bilal Jaddah, director of Press House – died 19 November
Doah Al-Masri, librarian at Edward Said Library – died with her parents and siblings on 7 Dec
Dr Jihad Suleiman Al-Masri, historian and director of Al-Quds Open University in Khan Younis – died 17 October
Iman Abu Saeed, oral historian at Tamer Institute for Community Education – died with her husband and two children, date unknown
Marwan Tarazi, archivist of Photo Kegham photography studio – killed with his wife and granddaughter on 19 October
These names were gathered in January by Librarians and Archivists with Palestine. We might reasonably assume more names could now be added to this list.
The word 'scholasticide' was used by some speakers last week, coined by Palestinian Professor Karma Nabulsi, describing concerted attacks on educational life of a population. We know from the bombings of schools and universities this has and is happening in Gaza.
But libraries, archives and museums in Palestine have been systematically looted and destroyed over the past seventy six years by occupying Israeli forces. Deliberate destruction of heritage has been recognised by the ICC as a war crime, and South Africa's current case to the ICJ uses heritage destruction as evidence for genocide.
This systematic process amounts to nothing less than 'epistemicide', or 'the destruction of knowledge systems.'
Palestinians have been subjected not only to dispossession of land for work and living. They have been prevented access to the documentation of their history and culture. It has been stolen, locked up in archives on occupied territory, or burned to ashes among the rubble of bombed libraries and universities. Robbing Palestinians of these resources is all very convenient for the occupier who seeks to bury the evidence that Palestine is and always was a land with a people.
What are Palestinians on the ground doing about this? They are running organisations that push back against this destruction and erasure. You can go on to palarchive.org right now and see the Palestine Museum Digital Archive. This collection tells Palestine's history 'from below', from the people themselves. You can use it to learn more, share it with others and amplify the stories within.
Projects like Matloub (‘Wanted’ in English) organised by Librarians and Archivists with Palestine and the Tamer Institute for Community Education purchase new books for libraries. The restrictions on imports into Palestine mean that getting books can be difficult, but they have built networks on the ground ensuring resources can be delivered. You can support them by raising funds to buy books on their website.
And we must remember, heritage is not just about physical artefacts or official records. We know how strong the intangible heritage of the Palestinian people is - in music, dance, storytelling, food, the symbolism of tatreez and the keffiyeh... These are all vital forms of resistance and cultural survival. The crimes of the occupation against Palestinian cultural heritage have been egregious, but it has not and will not stamp out this intangible cultural heritage. Part of our actions lie in uplifting these knowledges and practices. We know this epistemicide is destined to fail. But we still must do all we can to stop attacks on all of Palestine, its people and cultural institutions.
We can also take part in BDS actions which are working to stop the bombs falling over Gaza. Take a look at where funding for our libraries, museums, and broader cultural sector comes from. You don't need to look far to find support of organisations complicit in the slaughter in Gaza. We need to keep putting pressure on institutions to end these relationships.
Yesterday the CEO of Barclays wrote in the Guardian, calling protests against the bank a 'disinformation campaign'. He claimed that the BDS campaigns asking cultural events to end sponsorships from complicit institutions 'hurts artists livelihood[s] and our broader culture.' He said, 'nobody benefits from reduced funding for the arts.'
Well, nobody can truly benefit from a cultural sector funded by money soaked in blood, one which makes claims to be open-minded and inclusive on the one hand while taking money from companies complicit in Israel's genocide with the other. It is absolutely immoral that the spaces we enjoy are contingent on their Palestinian equivalent being razed to the ground.
Right now, a campaign is ongoing to get Barclays out of UK libraries, where they provide financial advice to people in some branches. And BDS victories in this area are already being won. A campaign led by Fossil Free Books has seen an end to investment firm Bailie Gifford's sponsorship of both the Hay Festival and Edinburgh Book Festivals, linking the causes of Palestinian liberation and climate justice.
The ties are many - and there's some backlash - but the tide is turning. Thank you for the chance to speak today. Free Palestine.
Lauren Hossack
Speech from SPSC Barclays protest, Saturday 15th June 2024
