[News] Erasing history: Israel’s war on Lebanon's ‘human heritage’

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Erasing history: Israel’s war on Lebanon's ‘human heritage’

Israel's military assault on Lebanon is not only intent on causing immense
human suffering, but is also deliberately and systematically targeting the
erasure of the nation's ancient, rich cultural and religious heritage. In
Tyre, Baalbek, Nabatieh, and elsewhere, these are attacks on the collective
history of humanity itself.

Ibrahim Dawi <https://thecradle.co/authors/ibrahim-dawi>

NOV 21, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/erasing-history-israels-war-on-lebanons-human-heritage
Photo Credit: The Cradle

The reach of Israeli aggression knows no bounds, sparing neither people nor
stone <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/27584>. The occupation state's
wrath stretches across historic Lebanon, from Baalbek in the east to Tyre
(Sour) in the south, intentionally eradicating countless archaeological and
cultural treasures.

Lebanon's cultural heritage is ancient and deeply rooted in the Levant's
rich history, which the enemy seeks to erase – to wipe out memories,
history, and national identity. Much like ISIS's cultural war on Iraq and
Syria, this assault on antiquities is nothing new; during the 1982
invasion, Israeli forces looted numerous artifacts from the western Bekaa
and the south, many of which ended up in Tel Aviv.

*Erasing Nabatieh’s heritage sites *

In Nabatieh, heritage buildings and homes
<https://www.beirut.com/en/736106/nabatiehs-most-beautiful-heritage-home-has-been-destroyed/>
have faced relentless bombing since the 1970s, through the 1978 aggression,
and later on the 1982 Israeli invasion and 18-year occupation of Lebanon.

The Shaheen House
<https://www.instagram.com/biladi_lebanon/reel/DBHRyzdsTSU/>, built in
1928, where two late Lebanese members of parliament, Ghaleb and Fahmi
Shaheen grew up, was destroyed just shy of its centennial anniversary. The
house was restored in 2013, only to see its beautiful arches and red tiles
razed to the ground today. The Israeli predators went on to obliterate yet
another Shaheen house, that of former minister Dr Rafik Shaheen, which was
built in 1920 by his father.

These historical pillars that once housed locals and memories of Nabatieh's
social and political communities in the 1960s and 70s now lie in ruins –
erased along with the stories they had preserved.
Shaheen House, an old traditional Lebanese home in Nabatieh, south Lebanon,
before and after being destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

The Israelis recently targeted and damaged the traditional house of Qasim
Zaher – once the headquarters of the Cultural Council of South Lebanon and
a beacon for intellectual, cultural, and political figures who gathered
there for countless events and salons for a quarter of a century. The
residence was under restoration by his grandson Kamel Zaher when the enemy
struck.

Parliamentarian and former minister Muhammad Bey al-Fadl's ancestral house,
which was a rare Lebanese architectural gem of the 1930s, was ravaged as
well.

A hub of Nabatieh's cultural life in the 1930s, the Al-Sabah building in
the city's commercial center also made it on the list of destroyed
heritage. The center contained The Priest's Library, Ayoub's Photo Studio,
and records of political movements and protests against the French mandate
in 1943, all of which were blown to dust. The strike also impacted the
nearby tomb of Hassan Kamel Al-Sabah, a prominent and world-renowned
Lebanese electrical engineer and inventor from Nabatieh.

The occupation army has turned many other heritage structures to ashes:
Habib Musa al-Radi’s 1940s house on the main streets, the Khreizat family
home, and the homes of Sheikh Abdul Rasul Assi and writer Sheikh Hassan
Sadiq where Ashoura commemorations took place, making them integral social
locations for the Shia community.

*Nothing is sacred *

As in Gaza, places of worship were not spared. Mosques dating back
centuries, including the historic Al-Bayad mosque
<https://www.instagram.com/ica_internationals/p/DCRfblJugku/?img_index=1>,
Nabatieh al-Fawqa mosque, and 19th-century mosque in the Saraya
neighborhood, have been wrecked.

On the significance of the destruction unleashed on Nabatieh, researcher
Ali Mazraani tells *The Cradle*:

“The commercial center in Nabatieh is not a block of cement or stones that
we can rebuild again. It is the lifeline of Nabatieh and its beating heart.
This is where the people’s days begin: day laborers, vegetable sellers,
taxi drivers, butchers, merchants, and everything that happens on the
ground.”

Complete destruction of a mosque in Nabatieh, reduced to rubble and debris
following an Israeli airstrike.

The first and largest Israeli attack was on Nabatieh's commercial center,
which includes the economic, social, and residential features of the city,
such as the late 19th-century building that was once a small hotel called
‘Lokanda, Flower of the South,’ characterized by its cross-shaped stone
arches.

Nabatieh's director of the Ministry of Tourism office, Zaher Shaitani,
says, “Tourism has become non-existent, and it has become difficult to
replace the institutions that were destroyed in the region, which will
definitely affect the day after the war.”

As per the Hague Convention of 1954
<https://www.unesco.org/en/heritage-armed-conflicts/convention-and-protocols/1954-convention>,
“any damage to cultural property, irrespective of the people it belongs to,
is a damage to the cultural heritage of all humanity, because every people
contributes to the world's culture.”

This principle was born from the devastation wreaked during World War II,
but today, Israel’s war on Gaza and Lebanon – apart from ISIS's rampage
last decade – stands as perhaps the most extensive violation of cultural
heritage ever since, targeting lands that have long been the cradle of
ancient civilizations.

Dr Hussein Fayyad, a professor of urban geography, offers some comfort
amidst the despair:

“The process of building these houses, as well as the heritage markets and
ancient religious places, is possible, but on the condition that they are
rebuilt in the same old architectural style and using the same or similar
materials to those in which they were built. Thus, part of the ancient
heritage of the city of Nabatieh can be preserved.”

The centuries-old souk of Nabatieh, devastated and left in ruins following
an Israeli bombing.

*Tyre: A World Heritage Site in peril*

The southern city of Tyre was designated as a World Heritage Site
<https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/299/> in 1984, entailing that its
protection from attacks is mandatory as these sites are demarcated by
the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as
protected territory. Nonetheless, Israeli incursions have erased entire
chunks of Tyre's decadent past, particularly in the Old City that dates
back to the 18th century. Phoenician antiquities, among the most
significant relics in human history, face imminent danger due to ongoing
bombardment by enemy fighter jets and munitions.

The media officer in the Disaster Management Unit of the Union of Tyre
Municipalities Bilal Kashmir tells *The Cradle*:

“Through these raids, the occupation wanted to eliminate culture, heritage,
and tourism by bombing the largest building in Tyre, the Awda Tower, and
destroying shops, residential apartments, hotels, and restaurants along the
sea line, which was full of cultural and artistic celebrations before the
war.”
A view of Tyre, Lebanon, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited
cities, with its historic architecture and coastal landscape.

Meanwhile, in the southern Lebanese village of Muhaibib, located east of
Marjayoun, the Israeli army planted explosives in residential
neighborhoods, annihilating their entire history. The village once harbored
the 2,000-year-old ancient historical shrine of Prophet Benjamin
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/27336> (son of the Prophet Jacob and
brother of the Prophet Joseph). The Israelis not only reduced to ashes the
spot that was once revered across borders, but also robbed many of its
artifacts in 1948.

In Mais al-Jabal, the situation is not much different, as confirmed by
Mayor Abdel Moneim Choucair, who noted that the occupying forces blew up
the oldest mosques and most ancient, centuries-old neighborhoods.

*A duty to protect and preserve *

In addition, the Tirdaba Mosque, the Kafr Tibnit Mosque, the Church of
Dardaghia, the Church of Yaron, the Monastery of Mimas, and the Blida
Mosque (a mosque whose construction dates back more than 1,000 years) - all
of which are archaic religious landmarks classified as heritage edifices -
were also affected. The crusader Tebnine Castle
<https://www.instagram.com/biladi_lebanon/p/DBMD9qZsPCh/?locale=it&img_index=1>,
located in east Tyre, came under direct bombardment by the Israeli military.
Aerial footage of the border village of Blida before and after its
destruction by the Israeli army.

Most recently, on 15 November, after invading the southern village of
Shamaa, occupation forces directly targeted the Shrine of Shimon
<https://www.newarab.com/news/israeli-forces-blow-shrine-shimon-south-lebanon>
(the prophet Shamoun al-Safa)  – also known as the Shrine of Saint Peter –
with explosives. It is a site cherished by both Shias and Christians: the
latter believe the saint is buried there, and the former have constructed
various sites to honor Imam Mahdi.

This shrine was a center point for religious tourism: the Prophet Shamoun
al-Safa's lineage dates back to the Prophet Suleiman bin David; he was a
disciple, the son of Hammun, and his mother was sister to the Prophet
Imran, the father of the Virgin Mary. A document carved on one of the
stones of the shrine’s Ottoman-style minaret indicates it was built in 490
AH, that is, before the arrival of the Franks, who built the castle
overlooking the Sea of Tyre and northern Palestine.
The Shrine of Shimon in Shamaa, south Lebanon.

This spectacle is located within the wall of the historic citadel of the
town, which was transformed into a military headquarters for the Israeli
army for about 22 years prior to when Hezbollah liberated the country in
2000. Before the Israelis and their local collaborators fled, however, they
made sure to destroy the shrine and the citadel. In the July 2006 Israeli
war on Lebanon, large sections of the castle were yet again destroyed by
the aggressors.

Over 100 Lebanese representatives have sent urgent appeals to UNESCO,
pleading for the conservation of these historical sites from further
Israeli vandalism, assaults, and bombardment. In a glimmer of hope, the
Lebanese Minister of Culture, Wissam al-Murtada, announced
<https://thecradle.co/articles/20241120> that UNESCO had decided to grant
enhanced protection to 34 Lebanese archaeological sites.

While this step marks progress, it cannot reverse the harm already done to
Lebanon's rich ancient history and heritage. If the devastation of
Lebanon's cultural treasures is truly an attack on humanity's shared
legacy, it becomes our collective duty to fight and resist such destruction
and work toward restoration.
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