Contre la « guerre des ruines » en Palestine :
non à l’instrumentalisation politique de l’archéologie en Cisjordanie
(English version below)
Le Parlement israélien a approuvé en lecture préliminaire le 10 juillet 2024 un projet d’amendement à sa législation qui placerait la totalité des sites archéologiques des territoires palestiniens de Cisjordanie sous la responsabilité directe de l’Israel Antiquities Authority, c’est-à-dire des services archéologiques de l’État d’Israël. Ce projet suscite l’opposition des archéologues israéliens aussi bien que palestiniens (voir plus bas). L’application en territoire occupé de la législation d’une puissance occupante par sa propre administration est une violation du droit international. En outre cet amendement s’inscrit dans une logique de colonisation. En effet, il est courant que des colonies s’implantent autour de sites archéologiques dits « juifs » (Shiloh par exemple) qui sont alors instrumentalisés en justifiant d’une présence juive historique dans ce qui est aujourd’hui la Palestine. Ainsi, à Djabal Sabih, au sud de Naplouse, où des prospections ont indiqué la présence d'un site archéologique datant de l'âge du Fer II et de l'époque perse (première moitié du premier millénaire av. J.-C.), la colonie illégale d'Evyatar a été réimplantée en 2023 avec l’accord tacite des autorités israéliennes, et a été officiellement reconnue le mois dernier. Ce processus d’annexion se développe : à Sabastiya, l’antique Samarie/Sébastè, 150 ha avaient déjà été accaparés au-delà de la zone archéologique, et le 24 juillet 2024, l'armée a informé le maire de Sabastiya de la confiscation de 1300 m² sur la zone archéologique, au sommet du site, pour aménager une zone militaire. Il y a urgence à réagir, car la Cisjordanie abrite plus de 7000 sites archéologiques déjà recensés autour des villes et des villages palestiniens.
L’amendement est argumenté par le fait que les régions concernées seraient « le berceau de la nation hébraïque ». Cette notion même est problématique, et cette pseudo-justification revient à réduire le riche patrimoine archéologique de ces régions à un seul de ses aspects, en omettant l'existence de vestiges préhistoriques, cananéens, romains, byzantins chrétiens et islamiques, et elle nie un des principes de la recherche historique et archéologique, qui est son caractère universel et désintéressé : le passé doit être étudié pour lui-même et non en fonction des appartenances communautaires ou nationales. Le préambule de l’amendement cite un extrait du Premier Livre des Maccabées (1Macc 15, 33), écrit vers 100 av. J.-C. et qui relate la révolte de la Judée contre l’empire séleucide et les débuts du royaume hasmonéen, au 2e s. av. J.-C. Cette citation, qui évoque « l’héritage de nos pères », conquis illicitement, puis recouvré, est en elle-même la revendication d’une continuité entre ce royaume juif de l’époque hellénistique et l’actuel État d’Israël. Cette revendication ne contredit pas seulement la réalité historique, elle témoigne d’une confusion entre le passé et le présent qui est contraire à la définition même de la recherche historique et archéologique.
Ainsi cet amendement concernant les antiquités affirme explicitement une volonté d’instrumentalisation de l’archéologie à des fins politiques et d’annexion, contre laquelle, en tant qu’archéologues et historiens, il est de notre devoir de nous dresser. C’est pourquoi nous nous associons aux protestations de la Society for Palestinian Archaeology et de l’Israeli Archaeological Association, disponibles ci-dessous. Il importe de susciter un mouvement international qui puisse aboutir à un retrait de cette proposition.
- Tribune initiée par les membres de l’équipe de recherche l'Orient, d'Alexandre à Muhammad - OrAM (CNRS, université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Inrap),
parue dans Libération, le 30/07/2024.
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Communiqué de la Society for Palestinian Archaeology
Date: 12/7/2024
A Call to Palestinian Archaeologists
https://www.facebook.com/p/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A2%D8%AB%D8%A7%D8%B1-Society-for-Palestinian-Archaeology-100086137487446/?_rdr
The catastrophe has struck! Two days ago, the Israeli Knesset voted in the first reading, with a majority, to place archaeological sites in the West Bank under the authority of the Israeli Antiquities Authority. This marks a dangerous turn in Israel's ongoing policy of arrogance and appropriation of Palestinian cultural heritage sources, stripping Palestinians of their inalienable rights. In light of the colonial policies of the Zionist entity aimed at seizing archaeological sites and annexing Palestinian lands, we at the Society for Palestinian Archaeology call on you to stand up to your national and historical responsibilities to create a situation that demands curbing the aggressive appropriation of our archaeological and historical sites.
Seizing archaeological sites and historical landmarks is not just an attack on lifeless stones; it is an effort to obliterate and distort Palestinian identity.
Our archaeological heritage and confronting policies of destruction and annexation is a national duty that falls on each of us. Our archaeological sites embody our rich history and cultural heritage, serving as living witnesses to our civilization and existence on this land.
We call on you to unify efforts and stand together to protect our archaeological sites and historical landmarks by all available means, document violations, and expose them to the international community. Preserving our heritage is a defense of our rights and identity, which the Zionist entity seeks to erase by all means.
Let us take our responsibilities with seriousness, awareness, and perseverance, and work together to protect our history, heritage, and identity. Diligent work, perseverance, and unifying efforts are the way to ensure that our national narrative remains alive and vibrant in the memory of future generations.
Together, we can achieve the hope of protecting our heritage and preserving our national identity.
With appreciation and respect,
Your brothers at the Society for Palestinian Archaeology.
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Communiqué de l’Israeli Archaeological Association
Date: 09/7/2024
Members of the Israeli Archaeological Association,
https://emekshaveh.org/en/annexationist-law/ (annexe B)
This week, on July 7, 2024, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation raised for discussion a proposed amendment to the Antiquities Law (Authority of the Antiquities Authority in Judea and Samaria), 2023 by MK Amit Halevi (P/2346). At the end of the discussion, the ministers approved the promotion of the legislation, and it will soon be brought for a preliminary vote.
Out of deep concern for the future of archaeology in Israel as an independent and law-abiding field of research, we wanted to inform you of the content of the proposed law, and present the potential negative implications of the amendment, if accepted.
Content of the Proposed Law
According to the proposal, authority over archaeology in Judea and Samaria will be transferred from the Civil Administration (SOA) to the Israel Antiquities Authority. The justifications are that these areas have extensive Jewish history and numerous findings related to this history. The Palestinian Authority has no historical connection to these findings, nor does it have the necessary means or knowledge to handle the large scope of them, which are in poor condition and also experiencing destruction and looting. According to the proposal, this is a cultural crime that Israel cannot ignore. If the law is accepted, the authority will be responsible for enforcement in the West Bank.
Potential Implications of the Law
The proposed law is a blatant attempt to exploit archaeology to promote a certain political agenda.
According to international law, the territories of Judea and Samaria are occupied areas; therefore, direct enforcement of Israeli law by an Israeli government body in these areas, namely the [Israeli] Antiquities Authority, would be interpreted as a violation of international law. We are concerned about the change in the status quo and the implications of the proposed law on Israeli archaeology. The implications affect not only the employees of the [Israeli] Antiquities Authority but the entire archaeological community, touching on the issuance of excavation and survey permits, exhibitions, and scientific publications from excavations, conservation, and participation in the international research communities.
We, the members of the Israeli Archaeological Association’s committee, oppose this move and call on the Minister in charge of the Antiquities Authority, MK Amichai Eliyahu, and all Knesset members to stop the legislative process.
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(English version)
Against the “war of ruins” in Palestine :
We reject the political instrumentalization of archaeology in the West Bank
On July 10, 2024, the Israeli parliament approved in preliminary reading a draft amendment to its legislation that would place all archaeological sites in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank under the direct responsibility of the Israel Antiquities Authority, i.e. the archaeological services of the State of Israel. This project is rejected by both Israeli and Palestinian archaeologists (see below). The application of the legislation of an occupying power by its own administration in an occupied territory is a violation of international law.
What's more, this amendment is in line with the logic of colonization. Indeed, it is common practice for settlers to set up around so-called “Jewish” archaeological sites (Shiloh, for example), which are then used to claim a historic Jewish presence in what is now Palestine. In Djabal Sabih, south of Nablus, where archaeological surveys have revealed the presence of an archaeological site dating from the Iron Age II and the Persian period (first half of the first millennium BC), the illegal settlement of Evyatar was re-established in 2023 with the tacit agreement of the Israeli authorities, and was officially recognized last month. This process of annexation is growing: in Sabastiya, the ancient Samaria/Sebaste, 150 ha had already been grabbed beyond the archaeological zone, and on July 24, 2024, the army informed the mayor of Sabastiya of the confiscation of 1300 m² on the archaeological zone, at the top of the site, to develop a military zone. There is an urgent need to react, as the West Bank is home to over 7,000 archaeological sites, located in the vicinity of Palestinian towns and villages.
The justification invoked for this amendment is the fact that the areas concerned are “the cradle of the Hebrew nation”. This very notion is problematic, and this pseudo-justification amounts to reducing the rich archaeological heritage of these regions to just one of its aspects, omitting the existence of prehistoric, Canaanite, Roman, Byzantine Christian and Islamic remains, and denying one of the principles of historical and archaeological research, which is its universal and disinterested character: the past must be studied for its own sake and not according to community or national affiliations.
The preamble to the amendment quotes an extract from the First Book of the Maccabees (1Macc 15, 33), written around 100 BC and recounting Judea's revolt against the Seleucid Empire and the beginnings of the Hasmonean kingdom in the 2nd century BC. This quotation, which evokes “the heritage of our fathers”, illicitly conquered and then recovered, is in itself a claim to continuity between this Hellenistic Jewish kingdom and the present-day State of Israel. This claim not only contradicts historical reality, it also demonstrates a confusion between past and present that is contrary to the very definition of historical and archaeological research.
Thus, this amendment concerning antiquities explicitly asserts a desire to instrumentalize archaeology for political and annexationist aims, against which, as archaeologists and historians, it is our duty to stand up. We therefore join the protests of the Society for Palestinian Archaeology and the Israeli Archaeological Association, available below.
It is important to create an international movement that can lead to the withdrawal of this proposal.
- Tribune initiated by the members of the research team The Orient, from Alexander to Muhammad - OrAM (CNRS, university Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, university Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Inrap),
published in Libération, 07/30/2024.
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Premiers signataires de la tribune
Membres de l'équipe de recherche l'Orient, d'Alexandre à Muhammad - OrAM (CNRS, université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Inrap):
BLANC Pierre-Marie; FOURNET Thibaud; GELIN Mathilde; MOUTON Michel; RENEL François; SALIOU Catherine; TALLET Gaëlle; VILLENEUVE François; AL-ALI Kinan; BERETTA Valentina; BESSAC Jean-Claude; BOMBEAU Valère; BRETON Jean-François; CLAUSS-BALTY Pascale; COMTE Marie-Christine; GHASEMI Parsa; DENTZER-FEYDY Jacqueline; JOBCZYK Marion; KHAN Bénédicte; LAGUARDIA Marie; MADINA Hussein; MARION DE PROCE Solène; PIRAUD-FOURNET Pauline; THEBAULT Gérard; VILLENEUVE Estelle.
S’associent à cette tribune:
ABBES Frédéric, Directeur de l’UMR 5133 Archéorient; ABOU AZIZEH Wael, archéologue, maître de conférences, université Lyon II; AL-HALABI Taysir, archéologue, docteur université Paris 1; BERT GEITH Sandrine, archéologue indépendante; BLETRY Sylvie, maître de conférences, université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3; BRIQUEL-CHATONNET Françoise, directrice de recherche émérite, CNRS, Membre de l’Institut (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres); CABARET Dominique-Marie, professeur, studium des dominicains, Toulouse; CHARLOUX Guillaume, archéologue, CNRS; DEBIE Muriel, École pratique des hautes études, PSL; DERAT Marie-Laure, directrice de recherche au CNRS, Orient & Méditerranée, équipe mondes sémitiques; DESREUMAUX Alain Jacques, directeur de recherche honoraire, CNRS; HAWLEY Robert, directeur d’études, École pratique des hautes études; HUMBERT Jean-Baptiste, archéologue émérite, École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem; KHREICH Maroun, maître de conférences, Université Libanaise; LESGUER Fabien, doctorant, université Paris 1, Orient & Méditerranée; MELLITI Khaled, historien, chercheur Orient & Méditerranée; RIBA Bertrand, archéologue, CNRS, Orient & Méditerranée; ROCHE-HAWLEY Carole, directrice scientifique, Ifpo; ROHMER Jérôme, archéologue, CNRS; ROUILLARD-BONRAISIN Hedwige, directrice d’études émérite, École pratique des Hautes Études; SCHIETTECATTE Jérémie, CNRS Researcher, Visiting scholar at ISAW, NYU; SHABO Shadi, chercheur en archéologie, postdoc CNRS UMR 8167 Orient & Méditerranée; TREHUEDIC Kevin, archéologue, maître de conférences, université Paris-Est Créteil; VAN STAËVEL Jean-Pierre, professeur, université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, directeur-adjoint de l'UMR 8167 Orient & Méditerranée.