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<h1 class="title">Notre Dame of Gaza: Our mosques and churches are
also burning</h1>
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<div class="PhotoContainer" style="width: 650px">April 24, 2019</div>
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<div class="authorClass">By: Ramzy Baroud - <font size="-2"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=783305">http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=783305</a></font><br>
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As the 300-foot spire of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
tragically came tumbling down on live television, my thoughts
ventured to Nuseirat Refugee Camp, my childhood home in the Gaza
Strip.<br>
<br>
Then, also on television, I watched as a small bulldozer
hopelessly clawed through the rubble of my <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/gaza-mosques-fall-to-israeli-airstrikes-without-any-groundswell-of-outrage/2014/08/09/01900458-b403-483d-af1f-1fa2b1121dc7_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b812c251b75b">neighborhood
mosque.</a> I grew up around that mosque. I spent many hours
there with my grandfather, Mohammed, a refugee from historic
Palestine. Before grandpa became a refugee, he was a young Imam in
a small mosque in his long-destroyed village of Beit Daras.<br>
<br>
Mohammed and many in his generation took solace in erecting their
own mosque in the refugee camp as soon as they arrived to the Gaza
Strip in late 1948. The new mosque was first made of hardened mud,
but was eventually remade with bricks, and later concrete. <br>
<br>
He spent much of his time there, and when he died, his old, frail
body was taken to the same mosque for a final prayer, before being
buried in the adjacent Martyrs Graveyard. <br>
<br>
When I was still a child, he used to hold my hand as we walked
together to the mosque during prayer times. When he aged, and
could barely walk, I, in turn, held his hand.<br>
<br>
But Al-Masjid al-Kabir - the Great Mosque, later renamed Al-Qassam
Mosque - was completely pulverized by Israeli missiles during the
summer war on Gaza, starting July 8, 2014.<br>
<br>
Hundreds of Palestinian houses of worship were targeted by the
Israeli military in previous wars, most notably in 2008-9 and
2012. But the 2014 war was the <a
href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-gaza-conflict-50-day-war-by-numbers-9693310.html">most
brutal</a> and most destructive yet. Thousands were killed and
more injured. Nothing was immune to Israeli bombs. According to
Palestine Liberation Organization <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/gaza-mosques-fall-to-israeli-airstrikes-without-any-groundswell-of-outrage/2014/08/09/01900458-b403-483d-af1f-1fa2b1121dc7_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b812c251b75b">records</a>,
63 mosques were completely destroyed and 150 damaged in that war
alone, oftentimes with people <a
href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28468526">seeking
shelter</a> inside. In the case of my mosque, two bodies were
recovered after a long, agonizing search. They had no chance of
being rescued. If they survived the deadly explosives, they were
crushed by the massive slabs of concrete.<br>
<br>
In truth, concrete, cements, bricks and physical structures don't
carry much meaning on their own. We give them meaning. Our
collective experiences, our pains, joys, hopes and faith make a
house of worship what it is.<br>
<br>
Many generations of French Catholics have assigned the Notre Dame
Cathedral with its layered meanings and symbolism since the 12th
century.<br>
<br>
While the fire consumed the oak roof and much of the structure,
French citizens and many around the world watched in awe. It is as
if the memories, prayers and hopes of a nation that is rooted in
time were suddenly revealed, rising, all at once, with the pillars
of smoke and fire.<br>
<br>
But the very media that covered the news of the Notre Dame fire
seemed oblivious to the obliteration of everything we hold sacred
in Palestine as, day after day, Israeli war machinery continues to
blow up, bulldoze and desecrate.<br>
<br>
It is as if our religions are not worthy of respect, despite the
fact that Christianity was born in Palestine. It was there that
Jesus roamed the hills and valleys of our historic homeland
teaching people about peace, love and justice. Palestine is also
central to Islam. Haram al-Sharif, where al-Aqsa Mosque and The
Dome of the Rock are kept, is the third holiest site for Muslims
everywhere. Yet Christian and Muslim holy sites are besieged,
often <a href="http://www.maannews.com/often">raided</a> and <a
href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/church-of-the-holy-sepulchre-jerusalem-israel-christian-close-greek-orthodox-armenian-catholic-a8229526.html">shut
down</a> per military diktats. Moreover, the Israeli
army-protected messianic Jewish extremists want to <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/these-are-israeli-leaders-who-want-destroy-al-aqsa/21166">demolish</a>
Al-Aqsa and the Israeli government has been <a
href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180509-israel-to-spend-16-6-million-on-excavations-under-al-aqsa-mosque/">digging</a>
underneath its foundation for many years.<br>
<br>
Although none of this is done in secret; international outrage
remains muted. In fact, many find Israel's actions justified. Some
have bought into the ridiculous explanation offered by the Israeli
military that bombing mosques is a necessary security measure.
Others are motivated by <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/14/half-of-evangelicals-support-israel-because-they-believe-it-is-important-for-fulfilling-end-times-prophecy/?utm_term=.2a56e4655676">dark
religious prophecies</a> of their own.<br>
<br>
Palestine, though, is only a microcosm of the whole region. Many
of us are familiar with the horrific destruction carried out by
fringe militant groups against world cultural heritage in Syria,
Iraq and Afghanistan. Most memorable among these are the
destruction of <a
href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/syria-isis-palmyra-restoration-1338257">Palmyra</a>
in Syria, Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan and the <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCWQIjFSgjw">Great Mosque
of al-Nuri</a> in Mosul.<br>
<br>
Nothing however can possibly be compared to what the invading US
army has done to Iraq. Not only did the invaders desecrate a
sovereign country and brutalize her people, they also <a
href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/iraq-war-archeology-invasion/555200/">devastated
her culture</a> that goes back to the start of human
civilization. Just the immediate aftermath of the invasion alone
resulted in the looting of over 15,000 Iraqi antiquities,
including the Lady of Warka, also known as the Mona Lisa of
Mesopotamia, a Sumerian artifact whose history goes back to 3100
BC.<br>
<br>
I had the privilege of seeing many of these artifacts in a visit
to the Iraq Museum only a few years before it was looted by US
soldiers. At the time, Iraqi curators had all precious pieces
hidden in a fortified basement in anticipation of a US bombing
campaign. But nothing could prepare the museum for the savagery
unleashed by the ground invasion. Since then, Iraqi culture has
largely been reduced to items on the black market of the very
western invaders that have torn that country apart. The valiant
work of Iraqi cultural warriors and their colleagues around the
world has managed to restore some of that stolen dignity, but it
will take many years for the cradle of human civilization to
redeem its vanquished honor.<br>
<br>
Every mosque, every church, every graveyard, every piece of art
and every artifact is significant because it is laden with
meaning, the meaning bestowed on them by those who have built or
sought in them an escape, a moment of solace, hope, faith and
peace.<br>
<br>
On August 2, 2014 the Israeli army bombed the historic <a
href="https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=717666">Al-Omari
Mosque</a> in northern Gaza. The ancient mosque dates back to
the 7th century and has since served as a symbol of resilience and
faith for the people of Gaza.<br>
<br>
As Notre Dame burned, I thought of Al-Omari too. While the fire at
the French cathedral was likely accidental, destroyed Palestinian
houses of worship were intentionally targeted. The Israeli
culprits are yet to be held accountable.<br>
<br>
I also thought of my grandfather, Mohammed, the kindly Imam with
the handsome, small white beard. His mosque served as his only
escape from a difficult existence, an exile that only ended with
his own death. </div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
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