"Suffice to say that, if the tables were turned and Hezbollah had been the one psychotically eradicating 5,000 years of cultural heritage and "collective humanity", western audiences would be hearing a lot more about the depravity of it all." Belen Fernandez

Debris covers ancient stone pillar bases near the archaeological site of the Roman Baths in Tyre, south Lebanon, a day after Israeli air strikes on the city, on 8 June 2026 (AFP/Kawnat Haju)

Israel and the US are erasing Iran and Lebanon's ancient heritage

Belen Fernandez

21 June 2026 

 

The Taliban's 2001 bombing of the Bamiyan Buddhas was condemned worldwide, but the US and Israel's destruction of Tyre's ruins and other ancient sites barely registers

 

 In early 2001, the Taliban blew up two giant Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan, which dated from the sixth century.

The world erupted in outrage at the destruction of cultural heritage, and western media engaged in handwringing over the loss of statues that most people presumably had not known existed in the first place but were nonetheless symbolic of our "collective humanity".

Philip T Reeker, deputy spokesman for the State Department of the United States, issued a press statement declaring the US to be "distressed and baffled" by the Taliban's decision to demolish the Buddhas and other ancient artefacts: "Deliberate destruction of statues and sculpture held as sacred by peoples of different faiths is incomprehensible."

Of course, when the US launched the so-called "war on terror" later that same year and undertook to bomb Afghanistan to smithereens, there was no similar distress over the "deliberate destruction" or the mass slaughter of "peoples of different faiths".

But such hypocrisy is part and parcel of an imperial mindset predicated on orientalist dehumanisation, selective cultural concern and the weaponisation of "heritage".

While the prevailing Bamiyan narrative was that the Taliban had done away with the Buddhas because they were idolatrous, The New York Times presented a slightly different version of events in an article published on 19 March 2001.

The article quoted Taliban envoy Sayed Rahmatullah Hashimi, who claimed that the destruction had instead been ordered by a council of religious scholars enraged by European and other foreign offers of money to preserve the statues – but not to assist a million Afghans facing starvation.

The scholars had been "so angry" at the misplaced priorities, the envoy told the outlet, that "they said, 'If you are destroying our future with economic sanctions, you can't care about our heritage.' And so they decided that these statues must be destroyed".

War on civilisation

Fast forward a quarter of a century to the 2026 war on Iran by the US and its genocidal buddy Israel, and the Bamiyan Buddha hypocrisy once again comes to mind. Iran, after all, is home to a lot of cultural heritage and ancient sites, many of which have been damaged in the months-long assault.

But because it's Us and not Them doing the destroying, no one is terribly up in arms over the loss of history - to say nothing of the vast loss of life. In one of the war's opening salvos, a US cruise missile strike on an elementary school in the city of Minab killed more than 175 people, most of them schoolgirls... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-and-us-are-erasing-iran-and-lebanons-ancient-heritage 

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A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic: As of 27 May 2025, UNESCO has verified damage to 110 sites since 7 October 2023 – 13 religious sites, 77 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 3 depositories of movable cultural property, 9 monuments, 1 museum and 7 archeological sites.

Photos from 2022 : Byzantine mosaics discovered under Gaza farm

The mosaics, latest in a series of Byzantine archaeological finds in Gaza, are [were]“in a perfect state of conservation”

https://aje.io/poip3g

The son of Palestinian farmer Salman al-Nabahin uses a sponge to uncover Byzantine mosaics that were discovered by his father while ploughing his land in Bureij in the central Gaza Strip. [Mohammed Abed/AFP]

The patch of land holding the mosaic is about 500 square meters (5,400 square feet) and three dug-out spots reveal glimpses of the mosaic. [Mohammed Abed/AFP]

 

This mosaic was discovered by chance by a Palestinian farmer while working in his olive orchard in the Bureij refugee camp  https://aje.io/poip3g

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] 

A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic.

A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic.

Found in an area less than a kilometre (half a mile) from the often tense border with Israel, the mosaics are "in a perfect state of conservation", said French archaeologist Rene Elter, a researcher associated with the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem whose team examined the finds. [Mohammed Abed/AFP]

A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic.

So far the damage we know of to historical and cultural sites in Gaza noted by UNESCO

 https://www.unesco.org/en/gaza/assessment

As of 27 May 2025, UNESCO has verified damage to 110 sites since 7 October 2023 –  

13 religious sites,  

77 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 

3 depositories of movable cultural property, 

9 monuments,  

1 museum and 

7 archeological sites.

Arts & Culture Rescuing the Memory: Gaza's Archaeological Treasures Between Exile and Resilience... The exhibit “Treasures Saved from Gaza – 5,000 Years of History,” organized by the Institut de Monde Arab (IMA) in Paris, constitutes a major cultural event in many respects. It not only highlights an exceptional archaeological heritage but also speaks to the necessity to protect cultural heritage in conflict zones through the example of Gaza, an emblematic region both by its history and the trials it is going through today.

 

Arts & Culture

Rescuing the Memory: Gaza's Archaeological Treasures Between Exile and Resilience

Date: 

May 02 2025

Author: 

Sélim Abi Kheir

The exhibit “Treasures Saved from Gaza – 5,000 Years of History,” organized by the Institut de Monde Arab (IMA) in Paris, constitutes a major cultural event in many respects. It not only highlights an exceptional archaeological heritage but also speaks to the necessity to protect cultural heritage in conflict zones through the example of Gaza, an emblematic region both by its history and the trials it is going through today. 

A Dive Into 5,000 Years of History 

Since antiquity, Gaza has been an intersection of civilizations. Situated on a strategic commercial route between Asia, Africa, and Europe, it was influenced by a number of cultures – Egyptian, Philistine, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and Ottoman. This rich history is reflected in the objects presented by the IMA, which for the most part come from excavations performed in 1990 and 2000 in the Gaza Strip. 

The exhibit includes around 130 objects selected from a larger collection of 529 pieces belonging to the Palestinian National Authority, which have been kept at the Museum of Art History of Geneva (MAH) since 2007. The objects, ranging from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman Empire, include amphorae, oil lamps, funerary steles, votive figurines, jewels, and an exceptional mosaic from the Byzantine Empire found in Abu Baraqeh. Their diversity testifies to the cultural and religious importance of Gaza through the ages. 

The Treasures “Saved” and Sheltered  

What makes this exhibit particularly poignant is its context. The objects presented have never been able to return to Gaza because of the blockade and successive conflicts. They are kept in Switzerland, at the MAH, which has allowed them to avoid destruction. A large number of archaeological sites in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in recent years. UNESCO has reported that since 2023, there have been attacks on over 69 cultural sites in Gaza, including a museum, religious sites, and historical buildings. 

 

Marble Statue of Aphrodite on display at the IMA

In this sense, the exhibit does more than simply display ancient artifacts: it is an act of cultural resistance, a reminder of the value of heritage in times of war. The exhibition also features a dedicated space for this issue, with a map of the bombings that have affected heritage sites, as well as rare historical photographs of Gaza in the early 20th century from the collection of the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem. 

 

 Hellenistic and Roman artifacts from Gaza on display at the IMA

A Tribute to Memory and Resilience 

For Jack Lang, president of IMA, this exhibit is a tribute not only to the memory and the resilience of the people of Gaza. It serves as a reminder that Gaza, long before becoming a symbol of conflict, was a place of life, exchange, art, and spirituality. By restoring visibility to this glorious past, the exhibit also seeks to revive a collective awareness of the importance of safeguarding world heritage, wherever it may be found. 

A Cultural and Educational Experience... READ MORE https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1657291

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