PLUNDERING PALESTINE - Jerusalem Quarterly

and thereby devising a comprehensive plan to protect Palestine’s cultural heritage, lies
in a detailed analysis of the situation.
This intervention will focus on four different factors currently threatening cultural
heritage in Palestine. The first is illegal digging of antiquities or what we call
‘subsistence looting’. The second is the impact of the Wall as it continues its
devastating path throughout the West Bank. Third is the impact of antiquity laws,
and finally we consider the impact of the Israeli disengagement plan on Palestinian
heritage.
Illicit Digging: Looting in Your Own Backyard
Illicit digging of antiquities is probably as old as history itself, especially in countries
where human habitation stretches back into the Stone Age, as it does in Palestine. This
problem has been intensified in Palestine by decades of political instability and foreign
rule. According to a 1930s British Mandate survey, historic Palestine (Israel, the West
Bank & Gaza Strip) has a total of more than 35,000 large and small archaeological
sites (caves, ruins, tells, sanctuaries, quarries, towers, churches, mosques, etc.) from
all historic and prehistoric periods. The West Bank alone has about a third of those
sites (12,217) (see table below), many of which have been destroyed, particularly
since the occupation of the West Bank by Israel in 1967. The exact number of sites
robbed in the occupied territories since then is unknown, but it is estimated to be in the
thousands. 1 Grave robbers have even vandalized Moslem tombs like Maqam Hasan
al-Rai’ near Nabi Musa, although such tombs are known not to include burial goods of
any kind.
Identified West Bank Archaeological Sites and Features as of the 1930s
No.
of District
Name
of District
Size
of District
in km 2
No.
of villages
No.
of main sites
No.
of features
Total No.
1 Bethlehem 581 71 136 1,228 1,364
2 Gaza 371 42 44 140 184
3 Hebron 1,068 156 357 1,859 2,216
4 Jenin 586 96 212 537 749
5 Jericho 649 16 76 451 527
6 Jerusalem 332 51 181 1,386 1,567
7 Nablus 569 73 266 1,015 1,281
8 Qalqilya 151 35 53 418 471
9 Ramallah 782 80 347 1,788 2,135
10 Salfit 201 23 86 662 748
11 Tubas 415 23 130 359 489
12 Tulkarm 263 42 100 385 485
Total 12 5,968 708 1,988 10,228 12,216
[ 40 ] FEATURES VieLooting and ‘Salvaging’