Ovi Magazine Issue #12: Sexuality Published: 01-03-2006

Connections Palestinians
and Israelis
By Thanos Kalamidas
I’m not sure if this article should go in fArt, our artistic section, or iFormat, our politics and current events section;
that’s because I’m going to talk about a meeting of archeologists in Athens. The meeting was organized by the
Greek Institute of Communication and the participants were the Palestinian workshop for the protection of mosaics,
the Israeli bureau for the ancient heritage and the technical institute of Cyprus.
These people met under the shadow
of the Acropolis and with a lot
of help from the ancient spirit of
Socrates they found out that they
had more in common than they
ever thought. First of all to protect
the heritage of the land they have
to live together. The word ‘protect’
when it comes to their case is a difficult
issue since there is a war that
never ends in this land. A real war
with rockets and tanks.
The programme that started included
19 Israelis, 15 Palestinians
and 12 Greek and Cypriot archeologists,
and it came out of the necessity
to protect all these ancient
monuments.
The land of Israel and Palestine is
hosting a great part of human history,
including Byzantine times,
Christianity and the birth place of
Christ and, in the end, all the Muslim
monuments. The place is really
the place where civilizations and
religions meet.
As a reporter noticed that at least
they talked, they agreed that only
cooperation can help and they
made the first steps by exchanging
e-mails. Something that made me
smile thinking that the internet not
only helps genders to communicate
but the Israelis with the Palestinians
also.
We Greeks know well what it means
to carry a heavy heritage. Each one
of us feels it, feels responsible for
the past and the future of this heritage
and we have given our battles
through the centuries to keep it and
give it to our kids. Our history and
the monuments that are the material
size of our history are there to
remind us all the time and I don’t
think there is a Greek anywhere in
this world who doesn’t carry the
picture of the Acropolis in his soul;
it doesn’t matter when was the last
time he or she saw Greece.
Let’s hope the very same shadow
of the Acropolis will help Palestinians
and Israelis to understand
that despite all their problems they
have responsibilities in front of
the world’s history, and there are
monuments in their land to remind
them. Last, if they want to prevent
the destruction of these monuments
they have to do something now and
do it together.