The divergent fates of wartime Israeli and Gazan (Palestinian) cultural heritage : a preliminary inventory and conceptual analysis of heritagization processes in GLAMs on separate sides of the Israel-Hamas war

Abstract

Divergent fates are befalling Israeli and Gazan cultural heritage during the continuing Israel-Hamas war. This article conducts a case study of the war’s implications for both Israeli and Gazan (Palestinian) cultural heritage sectors, represented by galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs), to help establish a preliminary account and overview of the state of cultural heritage over the war’s first half-year. A tripartite typology of heritagization processes is further furnished in which to situate, examine, and contrast the case study. Specifically, this tripartite typology involves: heritagization that creates or designates phenomena as cultural heritage; re-heritagization that reaffirms, revalidates, or reinforces existing cultural heritage; and deheritagization that damages, demolishes, or destroys cultural heritage. Foregrounding the case study of wartime Israeli and Gazan cultural heritage within this typology serves two purposes. First, it spotlights the parallel processes of heritagization, reheritagization and de-heritagization, to help describe, interpret, and understand them within this volatile setting. Second, it enables a conceptual and practical mapping of the convolutions regarding the war’s productive (heritagization/re-heritagization) and destructive (de-heritagization) effects on cultural heritage on separate sides of the conflict. Ultimately, parallel heritagization processes related to the war are simultaneously unfolding within and between Israel and Gaza, resulting in contrasting consequences on their respective cultural heritage sectors and contexts.