"Archaeology has become yet another mechanism of oppression, alongside settler and military violence, movement restrictions, and daily dispossession. And while Palestinian communities resist with the few means available to them, Israeli archaeologists continue to legitimize and advance these forces. If Israeli archaeologists wish to maintain their academic legitimacy — and, more importantly, cease participating in an unethical project of colonial domination — they must heed the warnings of their international peers and reject the state’s cynical exploitation of their profession."

 Israel preparing largest ever act of ‘archeological cleansing’ in West Bank

Subordinating scientific value to colonial expansion, Israeli archeologists are putting up no resistance as the state moves to expropriate swaths of Sebastia.

By Alon Arad December 11, 2025

 

Graffiti sprayed on ancient archeological artifacts, in Sebastia, near the West Bank city of Nablus, May 12, 2025. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

https://www.972mag.com/sebastia-archeological-cleansing-west-bank/

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

 

... On Nov. 19, Israel’s Civil Administration announced plans to expropriate 550 of Sebastia’s private plots — approximately 1,800 dunams (450 acres) of land that have been central to the village’s livelihood, cultural heritage, and identity for centuries. Residents say the project will devastate local agriculture, including destroying some 3,000 olive trees, some of which are hundreds of years old.

Sebastia is, undeniably, a multi-layered archaeological site of extraordinary value. Once the Iron Age city of Samaria, capital of the Kingdom of Israel, it contains remnants of King Ahab’s palace that were unearthed in the 1930s. In the first century BCE, King Herod of the Kingdom of Judea rebuilt the city, leaving behind a temple honoring his friend, Roman Emperor Augustus, near the older ruins. A well-preserved Roman theater, Byzantine church, and other antiquities have also been uncovered in the area.

But Sebastia’s archeological significance only sharpens the political contradiction at hand: While the site merits careful study, the gulf between the ethical commitments claimed by Israeli archaeologists and the state violence carried out in archaeology’s name to justify steps toward annexing the West Bank has never been more stark.

Israel’s takeover of Sebastia — its largest ever land expropriation for antiquities — began in May 2023, when the government allocated NIS 32 million for the site’s “restoration and development.” The campaign escalated in July 2024, when the military seized the summit of Tel Sebastia (the village’s highest point, home to its most significant archaeological remains) citing vague “security concerns.” Soon after, the government signaled plans to take over even more of the village. 

Palestinian residents — together with Emek Shaveh, the organization I direct — filed a formal objection with the Civil Administration, arguing that international law prohibits the use of cultural property for military purposes. The challenge was ultimately rejected.

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu celebrated the expropriation online. “We will no longer hand over our inheritance to murderers,” he wrote on X last month. Eliyahu, a prominent advocate of West Bank annexation and Jewish resettlement in Gaza, added: “This is our historic homeland; we will never leave this place.”

Though the area currently targeted for excavation lies technically within Area C (under full Israeli control) and most of Sebastia’s built-up village falls within Area B (under Palestinian civil administration and Israeli security control), in practice the two zones form a single, continuous landscape. The village’s own antiquities are historically and culturally inseparable from those situated in Area C.

The new expropriation plan threatens to rupture that connection entirely. It envisions diverting Israeli visitors along a road settlers intend to build that bypasses the Palestinian village altogether, and includes constructing a visitor center, fencing off the archaeological zone, and charging entrance fees. If carried out, these measures would effectively cut Sebastia’s residents off from their land and heritage.

Archaeology in service of annexation

Israel’s use of archaeology to facilitate the takeover of Palestinian land — a practice that can aptly be described as “archaeological cleansing” — long predates Sebastia. For decades, the state has deployed this strategy both within the 1948 borders and across the West Bank: in East Jerusalem’s City of David park, in the village of Susya in the South Hebron Hills, in the Nabi Samwil national park, in Shiloh, and in numerous other sites. ... READ MORE 

  https://www.972mag.com/sebastia-archeological-cleansing-west-bank/

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]