TEL AVIV – A number one archaeology journal has successfully barred submissions by Israelis on Judea and Samaria except they “have cooperated with the related Palestinian authorities,” in what analysts say is a microcosm of the hurt attributable to a worldwide marketing campaign to whitewash the Jewish folks’s historical past within the Land of Israel.
In keeping with a report not too long ago revealed by The Press Service of Israel (TPS-IL), the Palestine Exploration Quarterly (PEQ)—a peer-reviewed journal of the London-based Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF)—is refusing to simply accept submissions from researchers affiliated with establishments working in what it refers to as “occupied territory,” citing issues over alleged Israeli violations of worldwide regulation.
“Publication in PEQ is guided by the PEF’s moral coverage. The principle side of that is worldwide regulation, by which many tutorial establishments and publications, together with PEQ, are sure,” Charlotte Whiting, the journal’s editor-in-chief, informed TPS-IL.
The journal’s web site states that it “doesn’t collaborate with establishments based by an occupying energy primarily based in any occupied territory, and won’t assist, encourage, fund, or publish analysis by any tutorial related to such establishments.”
Excavations at Tel Shiloh, greatest generally known as the situation the place the Tabernacle stood earlier than King Solomon constructed the First Temple. (Shlomo Matityahu/TPS-IL)
Israeli archaeologists informed TPS-IL that any cooperation with Palestinian authorities or colleagues was virtually not possible, as a result of they “could be handled as traitors for this.” Additionally they mentioned that their work is in lots of cases shunned by the broader tutorial world and, as such, researchers are forgoing give attention to the biblically vital areas of Judea and Samaria (West Financial institution) to guard their careers.
“What we’re seeing is a deliberate try and undermine Jewish historic ties to the land,” Yishai Fleisher, worldwide spokesman for Hebron, the cradle of Jewish civilization situated in Judea, informed Fox Information Digital. “There are three methods at play: the Palestinians both acknowledge Jews have been as soon as right here however argue they not belong, deny any Jewish connection in any respect, or destroy the proof outright.”
Fleisher famous ongoing efforts by Palestinian authorities and others to rename historic Jewish websites. “They name Hebron ‘Al-Khalil,’ and the Cave of the Patriarchs turns into the ‘Ibrahimi Mosque.’ The Temple Mount is now the ‘Al-Aqsa advanced,’ and Rachel’s Tomb has been rebranded because the ‘Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque,’” he mentioned.
To counter this, he says Israeli advocates are working to mark and protect historical Jewish landmarks. “We added an Israeli flag and a menorah to a constructing initially constructed by King Herod 2,000 years in the past—which itself stands atop a tomb courting again 3,500 years—to make it unmistakably clear it’s a Jewish website, regardless of the later addition of three minarets by Muslim conquerors.”
The Palestinian Authority, which gained non-member observer state standing on the United Nations in 2012, has been spearheading the marketing campaign to rewrite historical past in international boards that comprise computerized anti-Israel majorities.
Guests arrive at Sebastia Nationwide Park in Samaria. Sebastia was the Israelite kingdom throughout the reigns of Omri and Ahab. (Hillel Maeir/TPS-IL)
Amongst them is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which in 2016 registered the Cave of the Patriarchs—the resting place of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah situated in Hebron—within the title of the “State of Palestine” on its “Record of World Heritage in Hazard.” Extra not too long ago, UNESCO, in September 2023, named the Inform es-Sultan website close to Jericho, which incorporates ruins courting again to the ninth millennium BCE, together with proof of one in all humanity’s first-known villages, as a “World Heritage Web site in Palestine.”
In December 2021, the United Nations Normal Meeting handed a non-binding decision referring to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest website—situated in Jerusalem however past the 1967 borders—solely by its Muslim title, “Haram al-Sharif.” In September 2024, P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas referred to as the Temple Mount the “unique property of Muslims.” Final week, Abbas mentioned in a uncommon televised speech that the Koran describes the Jewish Temple as being in Yemen.
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Naomi Khan, director of the worldwide division at Regavim, a suppose tank centered on Israeli sovereignty, mentioned the P.A. is actively constructing over key archaeological websites as a part of this initiative.
“In Solomon’s Swimming pools, which is underneath P.A. jurisdiction in accordance with the Oslo Accords, they’re developing condominiums immediately on high of historical Jewish infrastructure,” Khan informed Fox Information Digital. “These are internationally acknowledged heritage websites, however the agreements are being violated.
She cited the Hasmonean fortresses close to Jericho as a significant instance. “The burial grounds of Hasmonean kings—the most important necropolis within the Center East from the Second Temple interval—have been plowed and used for farming and development. In a single case, we discovered human bones scattered within the fields. The Israeli Civil Administration needed to acquire and rebury them.”
Khan additionally referenced Sebastia, the Greco-Roman title for the traditional metropolis of Samaria. Initially based by King Omri within the ninth century BC, Samaria turned the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel, as famous within the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 16:24). It served as the dominion’s capital till it fell to the Assyrians in 722 BCE. Centuries later, Herod the Nice rebuilt town and renamed it Sebaste—Sebastia in later utilization—in honor of the Roman Emperor Augustus, whose title in Greek, “Sebastos,” carried the identical imperial which means.
In March of final yr, Palestinian development employees constructed an unlawful highway by Sebastia, which is situated close to town of Nablus, additionally recognized by its biblical title, Shechem.
Antiquities of the Jewish neighborhood in Hebron. (Hillel Maeir/TPS-IL)
Khan mentioned different websites dealing with encroachment embrace Joshua’s Altar, the place a brand new Palestinian neighborhood is being developed close by, and Joseph’s Tomb, which is essentially inaccessible to Jewish Israelis
“I’m disgusted, however not involved,” Sandra Hagee Parker, Chairwoman of the Christians United for Israel Motion Fund, informed Fox Information Digital in a press release. “The place are the Romans, Ottomans, and Crusaders? The enemies of Israel are remembered just for their final defeat by the God of Abraham and His youngsters.
“Furthermore, the grotesque effort to disclaim the Jewish connection to the Land is a rejection of God Himself,” she continued. “It’s each antisemitic and anti-Christian—and it’ll by no means succeed. My solely concern is that America continues to face shoulder to shoulder with Israel and her folks,” she added.
Ze’ev Orenstein, Director of Worldwide Affairs on the Jerusalem-based Metropolis of David Basis, confused that “from its inception in 1964, the Palestine Liberation Group—the forerunner of at the moment’s Palestinian Authority—was based on the denial of 1000’s of years of Jewish historical past and heritage rooted within the Land of Israel basically, and in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria—the Biblical heartland—specifically.
“This denial,” Orenstein informed Fox Information Digital, “aimed to delegitimize and undermine the Jewish folks’s authorized, ethical and historic proper to sovereignty within the Land of Israel, portraying a folks with a few of the deepest archaeological ties to the land as occupiers and colonizers.
“For that motive, the Islamic Waqf carried out a marketing campaign of systematic destruction of antiquities atop the Temple Mount within the late Nineties, and Palestinian management continues to disclaim, harm, and destroy Jewish heritage websites all through Judea and Samaria,” he mentioned.
Following the destruction and extreme harm by Palestinian rioters on the ‘Joshua Altar’ archeological website situated on the spur of Mt. Ebal, dozens of Jewish worshipers arrived for morning prayers on the website. (TPS)
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July 2023 introduced a $33 million program to safeguard and rehabilitate archaeological websites within the biblical heartland.
“In each nook of Judea and Samaria, one want solely to place spade to floor to be able to uncover archaeological finds that attest to our deep roots within the Land of Israel,” Netanyahu mentioned on the time. “This plan will encourage tourism, training and [present] info for these vital websites that inform the story of our folks in Judea and Samaria.”
Rev. Dr. Petra Heldt, professor on the Jerusalem College Faculty and director of the Ecumenical Theological Analysis Fraternity in Israel, cited biblical texts and ongoing excavations as proof of longstanding Jewish presence within the area.
“There are lots of of biblical place names displaying Jews lived in Judea and Samaria for the reason that time of Abraham,” Heldt informed Fox Information Digital. “The Palestinian Authority has tried to erase this proof, nevertheless it’s practically not possible to remove.”
Heldt pointed to Shiloh as a thriving instance, with an energetic kibbutz and archaeological website the place new discoveries are often unearthed. “Jewish communities are usually not solely dwelling of their ancestral homeland—they’re documenting it. You’ll be able to see the impression of varied layers of occupation over the past hundred years.”
A carved set up recognized as an altar, with a channel for liquid drainage. (Credit score: Kobi Harati, Metropolis of David)
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In keeping with Heldt, whose group hosts international lectures and academic packages on archaeological findings in Judea and Samaria, extra worldwide assist is required to guard these websites. “We should contain the media, universities, artists, filmmakers and writers to inform these tales and make these locations matter globally,” she mentioned.
The battle to protect Jewish historic websites in Judea and Samaria isn’t just about stones or ruins—it’s a battle over narrative, legitimacy and id, in line with the specialists.
“The best way to struggle that is to construct, to coach and to claim our sovereignty,” Hebron’s Fleisher mentioned. “That’s how we strengthen our connection to the land and defend the reality of our historical past.”
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