Critics slam heritage plan for omitting non-Jewish sites
The NIS 400 million project includes 37 archaeological sites - all of which are tied to Jewish tradition.
By Nir Hasson Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu Hebron Israel news BethlehemThe national heritage proposal that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented to the cabinet this week is attracting criticism for including only sites that are part of the Jewish and Zionist narrative.
The NIS 400 million heritage project, which is geared toward supporting the preservation of Jewish artifacts and teaching schoolchildren about Jewish and Zionist history, includes 37 archaeological sites - all of which the program ties in to Jewish tradition.
For instance, though Tiberias is a pilgrimage site for many Christians, it is the city's history during the Mishnaic and Talmudic eras that the program emphasizes.
In addition, all three of the Golan Heights heritage sites are ancient synagogues, and the Jerusalem locations, which include the tombs of the Sanhedrin, the City of David and Jason's Tomb, are also Jewish in character.
The heritage project contributes to the alienation of Israel's non-Jewish minority, even though "the heritage of the country is very much multi-layered," said geographer Oren Yiftachel of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
The plan is "a small but very symbolic step to the effect that the dominant group is not capable of maturely including the other groups that live here," he said, adding that it is "another small nail in the alienation of the non-Jewish population of the country."
Noting that some are battling to preserve a Negev mosque, one of the largest from the Ottoman period, Yiftachel asked: "If the dominant group were surer of itself, then what would it care if they preserved the mosque in Be'er Sheva?"
Cabinet Secretary Tzvi Hauser, who was responsible for putting together the heritage program, defended the plan as a revival of "our unifying historical story."
"Just as there are programs for the Galilee that don't deal with the Negev and programs for dental hygienists that don't deal with dentists, there is also this program," he said. "The good news is that if up to now these topics were budgeted at a few tens of millions [of shekels], now there is a one-time supplement of several hundred million, and that is what will make the difference. That we are reviving our unifying historical story doesn't mean that the other sites don't exist or are not important, but this action addresses a certain need at this time that [we] should not be ashamed of."
Sites such as the Old City of Caesarea, which are not explicitly Jewish, will have their Jewish character highlighted.
Architect and preservation expert David Kroyanker said the list of heritage sites would look different if it were based purely on historical and architectural criteria, without regard to the sites' Jewish or Zionist character.
"It is the government's right, of course, to assemble its list, but in Jerusalem, for example, if I were to rank the contribution of Muslims, Jews and Christians to the architecture, I would give the Muslims a rating of nine, the Christians a seven and the Jews a six."
A booklet prepared by the heritage project's planners states that proposal will encompass about 150 locations, including the 37 archaeological sites as well as museums, archives and cultural institutions.
The planners said their intent was to emphasize only the Jewish and Zionist history of the country.
The program has also given rise to Palestinian protests for including Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron on the list.
The program, which will include a school curriculum component, focuses on four types of national heritage: archaeological sites, heritage buildings, museums and a broad category that includes theater, song, dance and film. The school curriculum deals only with Jewish and Zionist heritage. Students will study, for example, about the archaeological history of the country up to the destruction of the Second Temple and the Bar Kochba revolt, and will then skip ahead to the early Zionist history of the 19th century.
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Muslims and cristianas pay taxes for Jewish only sites state racisim just like the bulit up Jewish sectors only and how Muslims and Christine towns never built only Jewish with my taxes is that a democracy state
I am not Jewish. But I do understand the benefits of learning of and preserving our heritage. Thought should be giving to researching family histories and showing the connections between the families of the world.
I couldn't have said it better.
You argue that a Jewish state should protect only Jewish sites. Never mind the fact that 20% of Israelis are not Jews. Thank you. I could not imagine a better argument why Israel should not be a Jewish state, and why the Palestinians should not accept her claim to be one.
"However, the built heritage of the Christians and Muslims survives. Is the current plan to allow this heritage to decay through neglect? If so it will put Israel on the same level as the Taliban" What silliness! Has Israel blown up any mosques or churches? No. In the first place, Christian and Muslim sites, from Nazareth to Jaffa to Jerusalem continue to be maintained. What is really at stake is, once again, the fact that people refuse to treat Israel just as they do other nations. Does anyone complain when Poland chooses to raise up Polish heritage over that which was built by Prussian and Russian rulers? Of course not! Does the UN beat its breast about the destruction of Christian and Jewish heritage on the Arabian Peninsula? What about the PA turning the synagogue at the Shrine of Joseph into a mosque? Don't hold your breath...
So they're going to skip 1800 years of history and probably only tell the part of the story of the Bar Kochva revolt that is heroic and not include the part where they were murdering Jews that they did not consider religious enough. I suppose they'll skip on the Jewish history of the Byzantine Era, the last Jewish revolt of the 6th Century and the subquent conversion of the Jewish people there to Islam. Opps. That messes up Asknasi Zionist narrative. There were no Jews in the ME; only in Europe. I forgot.
'I hope (with no amount of bloodshed) Israel is totally destroyed, and that never again, we will have to hear the words Jew, Muslim, Christian, Catholic.... ' I love the idea of a world without borders and ethnic divisions. However I have a better Idea on where to Start. I would like to start with Saudi Arabia, Iran Shia state, Packistan and Vatican.
In ignoring 1800 years of history and the infrastructure built during that time, Israel is trying to perpetuate the myth that nothing happened in the meantime. That no one occupied the land during that period and that the Zionists came upon a deserted land at the end of the 19th. century and made it their own. Needless to say this was not the case and this plan will not make it so. However, the built heritage of the Christians and Muslims survives. Is the current plan to allow this heritage to decay through neglect? If so it will put Israel on the same level as the Taliban. The educational aspect of the plan will leave young people ignorant of the land they live in. Such sectarian plans have all the subtlety of a brick thrown through a window.
For the Palestinians, I presume, Rachel has nothing to do with the Jews...Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Leah...are also not Jewish....Will somebody just tell them once to forget about destroying all signs of Jewish presence in the Land of Israel ?.... What is so strange that a Jewish State protects Jewish sites ? Does the Muslim Saudi State protect churches or synagogues ? Is the Pope investing in preservation of Muslims or Jewish sites ? Why are we asking Israel to do it ?
From another viewpoint, i think it essential that Netanyahu's, and the other extreme, and excessively ignorant individuals see their plans come to fruition. By this they will destroy not only any hope of peace, but also the ridiculous traditional, and religious practices linked to this barren piece of soil. Only when these "blind" individuals once again see that their stubborn clinging to history, misleading and narcissistic religious texts, national patriotism, identification with race, and class etc. brings them nothing but suffering will they realize that they have always been the cause of their suffering, and not some outside force. I hope (with no amount of bloodshed) Israel is totally destroyed, and that never again, we will have to hear the words Jew, Muslim, Christian, Catholic.... I hope with the destruction of this will come a sense of oneness between people, there will always be the "ego" but at least we will have removed a large part of the conflict in this worli
that land belongs to the Jews, because it's Jewish, therefore the sites are Jewish.